The Worst Tasting Cheese: From Easy Cheese to Casu Marzu

Have you ever encountered those small, cardboard-like packs of 'cheese' between crackers? Often labeled as 'Easy Cheese,' it's hardly a satisfying experience. This article explores the world of industrial cheese, from the bland to the bizarre, including a cautionary tale about the rare but fascinating and controversial Casu Marzu. By the end, you'll question if you've truly tasted real cheese before.

Introduction to Plastic Textured Cheese

Easy Cheese, part of the Kraft Singles family, is a prime example of cheese gone wrong. This flat, plastic-textured orange cheese can be vaguely cheddar-like, if that means anything. Its taste is almost indescribable, a mix of salt and oil with almost no other flavor. It's so bland that you usually need to hide it in a sandwich to eat it, or you might not even notice its presence.

Industrial Cheese: A Cheese in Name Only

One of the worst types of cheese is industrial cheese that has been poorly processed. These cheeses are often full of additives like polyphosphates, which are used to create a smooth, creamy texture. The salt content is usually high, and the fats are often excessive, making it more of a processed food than a genuine cheese. This type of cheese is commonly used as a topping on fast food burgers, where it melts into a runny, unappetizing blob.

Why Casu Marzu is the Ultimate Cheese Challenge

While industrial cheese may win the blandness contest, Casu Marzu takes the cake in terms of controversy and, some would argue, revulsion. This traditional Sardinian sheep milk cheese is intentionally left to decompose, containing live insect larvae. Known as larvae maggot cheese, it's not for the faint-hearted.

Casu Marzu is a form of blue cheese, but it goes beyond typical fermentation to a state of decomposition. These larvae are introduced to the cheese to promote an advanced level of fermentation, giving the cheese a soft texture and liquid content known as lagrima (tears). By the time it's ready to eat, the cheese will contain thousands of live maggots. Some aficionados believe that if the maggots are dead, the cheese is not safe to eat. Therefore, only cheese in which the maggots are still alive is consumed.

The Experience of Eating Casu Marzu

Eating Casu Marzu isn't for everyone. The larvae can launch themselves up to 15 centimeters (6 inches) when disturbed, leading diners to hold their hands above their food to avoid getting a fly-away maggot on their sandwich. Some prefer not to ingest the maggots and place the cheese in a sealed paper bag. The larvae, starved for oxygen, wriggle and jump in the bag, creating a unique dining experience.

While Casu Marzu is a delicacy for some Sardinians and is believed to be an aphrodisiac, it can also cause a condition known as myiasis, where larvae can survive in the intestines. This has led to European Union regulations banning the cheese, as well as hefty fines for those caught producing it.

Attempts have been made to circumvent these rules by labeling Casu Marzu as a traditional food, hence exempting it from ordinary food hygiene regulations. Nonetheless, this cheese resides on the fringe of acceptability and understanding.

A Concluding Thought

While there is a spectrum of cheeses, from the bland to the bizarre, these examples highlight the vast differences in quality, authenticity, and outright unpalatability. Whether you prefer the familiar taste of industrial cheese, the controversial Casu Marzu, or something in between, the experience of cheese tasting reveals much about how we perceive food, tradition, and cultural norms.