I Like My Cheese Still Moving

[plumtreeblossom]

At the honey extraction party that pheromone and I went to yesterday (much like the one I wrote about in the food_porn community last year) the post-extraction conversation went in several wrong directions. And by "wrong" I mean:




There's a reason it's illegal. It's pecorino cheese infested with the busy maggots of cheese flies, intentionally processed that way and consumed maggots-and-all on a piece of flat bread. Its a black market delicacy to be found in Sardinia and two regions of northern Italy (in a slighty different cheese base). It is said to be "the most beautiful gift you can give a Sardinian shepherd."

This revelation, from the vegan mouth of pheromone. This of course isn't the kind of information I can leave alone. I had to thoroughly check Snopes.com, but this is no hoax. It's Casu Marzu. The Italian government doesn't want you to know about it, because you'll go there and eat it while drunk and leave with intestinal parasites that you'll blame Italy for. But the locals pay up to three times the price of "clean" pecorino for it.

Learn more!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu

Comments

[trowa-barton.livejournal.com]

There goes that appetite.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I warned you!!!

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

That made my mind blow.

That's ok. Didn't need it anyway. Not today.



Are the locals not concerned about parasites?

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Not that I could tell.

This is by far the most disgusting food I've ever heard of. Maybe I'll send a link to Bourdain's website to see if he'll eat it. :-)

[komos.livejournal.com]

Just learned about this today.

More about honey

[heliopsis.livejournal.com]

There's a guy who puts hives on my parents' farm, and each Christmas he brings three or four gallons of honey in lieu of rent. It's delicious, light, fragrant, and wonderful. I always have a quart on hand.

As for cheese with worms? No.

[epilimnion.livejournal.com]

For maybe the first time in my life, I'm glad I am allergic to dairy products, and therefore am unable t get a clear picture of what this wold be like. But I do know it's disgusting.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I saw a mention of that on Google today, but was hot on the trail of the cheese. Thanks for the link! Mmmm, a perfect pairing. :-)

Re: More about honey

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

The honey is so delicious. And to think, I used to be afraid of raw honey. I'd never eaten it until last year. Now commercial honey just won't do!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I provided everyone with their daily Dose of Gross! :-D

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

Janet and I originally were originally planning on Sardinia for our honeymoon.

Then she found out I was so enthusiastic because I'd been reading about the maggot cheese. So I haven't tried it yet.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I don't fancy the "yet" part of that, Sgt.-Maj. Morris. :-)

-Mrs. Todd

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

That? Is so very, very wrong. *shudder*

[beowabbit]

A good friend of mine who was living in Sardinia at the time told me about this years ago. I wasn’t quite sure I could believe him, because his deadpan delivery had suckered me on a couple of other tall tales before that.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

There a book called The Devil's Picnic that includes this among many other highly horrifying foods from around the world. I saw the book but, um, didn't buy it.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I would have thought it an urban legend, but it didn't have a narrative hook, i.e., a celebrity who eats it for eternal youth, someone dying from eating it, etc. So I did more investigation than I probably should have, and yes, it really is a treasured guilty pleasure of Sardinians. :-)

[(Anonymous)]

I decided over the weekend, it was time to lose some weight.......now I won't be able to eat for a while...THANKS!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

No problem! :-)