Casgiu merzu, cheese with worms

Casgiu merzu, the cheese with worms

Casgiu merzu is a very strong-tasting cheese that doesn't please everyone, starting with the Anglo-Saxons, who voted it into the Guinness Book of Records as the world's most dangerous cheese. Let's not forget that Roquefort is banned in the USA. The EU followed suit, banning its manufacture and sale in 2005.

While Corsican cheese with maggots digging tunnels is no myth, its consumption has become rarer. Casgiu merzu - meaning "rotten cheese" - is a cheese that is left to ferment in a cellar according to a special preparation. Placed in a wire cage (to protect it from rodents), but in an airy space to let the midges through. They lay the larvae that predigest the cheese, giving it a new taste note, modifying its consistency until it becomes runny with a rind that darkens over time. When the larvae are gone, the cheese is ready to eat.

In some regions, it's known as casgiu minatu. Variants are also found in Sardinia, Italy and the Alps, reminiscent of a famous sequence in the film Les bronzés font du ski, a true mountain cheese.