Arrested Development - Ex-Pats Mexico

Casu Marzu is quite real. It's been described in a number of newspapers and magazines including The Wall Street Journal and Bon Appetit.

There are several other regional varieties of cheese with fly larvae in Europe. The most similar is found in Piemonte, Italy, where the fermentation procedure is not always analogous to that of the Casu marzu. For example, goat-milk cheese is left to the open air until Piophila casei larvae are naturally laid in the cheese.Then it is aged in white wine, grapes, and honey, preventing the larvae from emerging, giving the cheese a strong flavour. In addition, other regions in Europe have traditional cheeses that rely on live arthropods for aging and flavoring, such as the German Milbenkäse and French mimolette, both of which rely on cheese mites.


While I realize this is a chemical process that 'might' produce a delicacy, I would definitely suggest some fine red wine in advance of consuming this.