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Casu martzu (; ) is a Sardinian sheep milk cheese that contains live fly .
The larvae of the cheese fly ( Piophila casei) are deliberately introduced to pecorino cheese, where their digestive action produces an advanced level of fermentation, including a breakdown of the cheese's butterfat. The cheese's texture softens, and a liquid called làgrima ('teardrop') may seep out.
It is possible that the larvae could survive in the intestine, causing enteric pseudomyiasis, which can manifest as nausea, vomiting and gastrointestinal upset; however, no cases have been linked to the cheese.Petroni. "Casu marzu: The world’s ‘most dangerous’ cheese", CNN Travel, 18 March 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2024. Additionally, these larvae can carry harmful microorganisms that may lead to infections. Due to these risks, Italian authorities have banned the sale of this cheese, deeming it dangerous. Consequently, it is also prohibited across the European Union, as EU food safety regulations mandate that only food safe for consumption can be sold.
Variations of this cheese also exist in Corsica, France, where it is called casgiu merzu; it is especially produced in some Corse-du-Sud villages such as Sartène.
When the cheese has fermented enough, it is often cut into thin strips and spread on moistened Sardinian flatbread ( pane carasau), to be served with a strong red wine such as Grenache. The flavor is described as "intense", with Mediterranean, pastoral, and spicy notes. The aftertaste is strong enough to remain for hours after a single serving. Because the larvae in the cheese can launch themselves distances up to when disturbed, diners hold their hands above the sandwich to prevent the maggots from leaping.
A cooperation between sheep farmers and researchers at the University of Sassari developed a hygienic method of production in 2005, aiming to allow the legal selling of the cheese.
The Guinness World Records listed casu martzu as the world's "most dangerous cheese" in 2009, citing the risk that live larvae can survive digestion and provoke vomiting, abdominal pain, and bloody diarrhea.
The Italian government challenged the sale of casu martzu as early as 1962, when it was prohibited under laws against the sale of infested food. Because of European Union food hygiene-health regulations, the cheese has been outlawed, and offenders face heavy fines. Despite this the laws are sometimes not enforced, and some Sardinians organized themselves in order to make casu martzu available on the black market, where it may be sold for double the price of an ordinary block of pecorino cheese. As of 2019, the illegal production of this cheese was estimated at per year, worth between €2–3 million.
Attempts have been made to circumvent the Italian and EU ban by having casu martzu declared a traditional food. The traditional way of making the cheese is explained by an official paper of the Sardinian government.
Casu martzu is among several cheeses that are not legal in the United States.
Several other regional varieties of cheese with fly larvae are produced in the rest of Europe. For example, goat-milk cheese is left to the open air until P. casei eggs are naturally laid in the cheese. Then it is aged in white wine, with grapes and honey, preventing the larvae from emerging, giving the cheese a strong flavour. In addition, other regions in Europe have traditional cheeses that rely on live for ageing and flavouring, such as the German Milbenkäse and French Mimolette, both of which rely on . An early printed reference to Stilton cheese points to a similar production technique. Daniel Defoe in his 1724 work A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain notes: "We pass'd Stilton, a town famous for cheese, which is call'd our English Parmesan, and is brought to table with the or round it, so thick, that they bring a spoon with them for you to eat the mites with, as you do the cheese."Everyman's Library (London/New York: Dent/Dutton, 1928), Vol. II, p. 110.
According to Rabbi Chaim Simons of the Orthodox Union, kosher casu martzu can be produced provided that all ingredients are kosher, the rennet comes from a kosher animal slaughtered in accordance with the laws of shechita, and that the cheese is "gevinat Yisrael" (made under Mashgiach).
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