A pecorino left in the heat. A fly that lays its eggs in the paste. Larvae that melt it into a spicy cream. By law it is a food that cannot be sold. For Sardinians it is casu marzu, and it has been eaten for generations.
What casu marzu is
Casu marzu means “rotten cheese”. It is a whole-milk Sardinian sheep's pecorino colonised by the larvae of the cheese fly, Piophila casei. The larvae digest the cheese proteins and turn the paste into a soft, spicy cream, with a smell you can pick up from the next room.
It doesn't come from a recipe. It comes from an accident: an under-salted wheel, an imperfect rind, the heat of the summer months. The shepherds who should have thrown that pecorino away tasted it instead. Since then the accident has been repeated on purpose.
Why you can't buy it
Italian law (no. 283 of 1962) bans the sale of food infested by parasites, and European hygiene regulations make no exception for live larvae. So you won't find casu marzu in shops or restaurants.
At the same time it is listed among the Traditional Agri-food Products (PAT) of the Region of Sardinia, which recognises its historical production method. Production for personal consumption survives in the countryside. In 2009 Guinness World Records called it “the most dangerous cheese in the world” — a label that makes people in Sardinia smile.
We don't make it and we don't sell it. We write about it because it belongs to the same farming culture our wines come from.
How it's eaten
Spread on pane carasau, at the end of a meal, in company. It usually arrives after culurgiones, porceddu and aged pecorino, when everyone at the table has already eaten and drunk. There is always someone tasting it for the first time and someone watching them do it.
The flavour is spicy, with ammonia notes, and it lingers for a long time. It needs a wine that can stand up to it.
Which wine with casu marzu? Cannonau
The traditional pairing is Cannonau: a red with enough alcohol, body and tannin to clean the palate of the cheese's spicy richness. Our Brennas – Cannonau di Sardegna DOC comes from 1.5 hectares of organically farmed Cannonau in Villasimius, where we have been working since 2005.
Skin-contact wines work too: 10–25 days on the skins give C'Alma, our orange wine, the tannin and structure to handle an aged cheese. For the rest of the meal: ‘Entu – Vermentino di Sardegna DOC with seafood dishes, and Zankitai, our sparkling orange wine, to start.
From cheese to wine: the Sardinian table in Villasimius
Casu marzu is one stop on a longer journey: pane carasau, bottarga, mountain cheeses, island wines. In Villasimius, our winery runs tours and tastings: you walk through the rows, see how we work and taste the four wines we make. If you can't make it to Sardinia, you'll find them in our online shop.
