Think your favorite cheese is out there? Unless it’s jumping with maggots like Sardinia’s Casu Marzu, as hard as Tibetan yak cheese (rumor has it this stuff can break your teeth), or made from the milk of a mammal not typically used in cheesemaking (Horses! Deer! Alpacas!), you may want to reconsider. If you want to learn about even more international oddities of the cheese world, check out the list of strange cheeses from CNN linked below.
Photo by Joanne LaneLike caviar, Casu Marzu is enjoyed only by a select population. That’s because it’s served with live maggots. It does have a fan base in Sardinia, where sheep farmers for centuries have made pecorino cheese and left it to rot and attract flies. When the flies’ eggs hatch the transformation takes place and the cheese becomes Casu Marzu. It’s then consumed with relish or perhaps trepidation — it has an aftertaste that lasts for hours. Gordon Ramsay called it “the most dangerous cheese in the world.”
Molly Farrar
Molly is a web editorial intern who hails from Virginia, also known as the place with some of best ham in the world, in her humble opinion. She has yet to meet a cheese she does not like. Other interests include drinking craft beer and running, sometimes at the same time.
