One bite of world's 'most dangerous' Italian dish that's illegal in parts of Europe can have dangerous impact on your health
Travelling abroad gives us the opportunity to broaden our culinary horizons and sample local dishes we might never come across in our day-to-day lives.
From traditional Scottish haggis to Iceland's infamous rotten shark, foods from around the world may leave us feeling a little grossed out but they won't kill you.
Well, except for one illicit item sold on the shores of one Italian island.
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Enter casu marzu, a fermented sheep's milk cheese which is created using maggots.
No that isn't a typo.
Now the process of making most cheeses is pretty grim (looking at you blue cheese), but nothing is quite as dangerous as casu marzu, which won the title of the 'world's most dangerous cheese' in the 2009 Guinness Book of World Records.
Now you may be wondering what person in their right mind would want to eat cheese made by maggots... quite a few people actually.
Created on the Italian island of Sardinia, casu marzu is said to have a strong taste and has been compared to gorgonzola, stilton, or camembert.
The cheese is made by removing part of the cheese's rind and allowing maggots to hatch inside, which in turn begin to eat the cheese from the inside out and give it the, ahem, unique flavour.
Most people prefer to remove the maggots before consuming the cheese, however it has been known that some locals will pin the cheese through a centrifuge device to mix in the maggots.
The cheese is in fact so dangerous to eat that the Italian government have banned the production of casu marzu as it breaks EU food safety regulations.
It shouldn't surprise you that its maggot fermentation is the reason why casu marzu is illegal.
If consumed, the maggots can withstand stomach acid and lead wreck havoc in your intestines, causing lesions and small tears in the organ.
Despite the health warning production of casu marzu is still thriving, with 100 tonnes of the risky cheese being made per year. The illegal trade is even estimated to be worth around €2 and €3 million annually.
As for the reason why Sardinians choose to carry on the tradition of making casu marzu? It's part of their tradition according to Sardinian journalist Giovanni Fancello.
"They ask us: ‘How do you make casu marzu?’ It’s part of our history," Fancello told CNN Travel, adding that he'd traced the dish back to the time Sardinia was part of the Roman Empire.
He continued: "We are the sons of this food. It’s the result of chance, of magic and supernatural events."
It's also worth noting that there are currently no recorded deaths from eating casu marzu at the time of writing, which means that you'll most likely live if you choose to brave the delicacy.
Topics: Food And Drink, Weird
Brenna Cooper