42. Casu Marzu - Italy

42. Casu Marzu - Italy

Also known as 'maggot cheese', this traditional Sardinian dish is sheep's milk cheese famous for containing live insect larvae. Apparently, these wiggling little maggots are supposed to enhance the flavor but are prone to jump when they panic, so watch your eyes. Some people suffocate them or kill the beasties in the fridge before consumption, but others go for the live version. Sometimes they survive in the stomach and burrow into your intestines.

When the cheese has fermented enough, it is often cut into thin strips and spread on moistened Sardinian flatbread. Casu marzu is believed to be an aphrodisiac by Sardinians. Some who eat the cheese prefer not to ingest the maggots. Those who do wish to eat them place the cheese in a sealed paper bag. The maggots, starved for oxygen, writhe and jump in the bag, creating a "pitter-patter" sound. When the sounds subside, the maggots are dead and the cheese can be eaten.

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