Casu Marzu vs Milbenkäse
Casu Marzu
Facts
- Milk
- Sheep
- Texture
- Soft
- Rind
- Natural rind
- Country
- Italy
- Place
- Sardinia
Casu Marzu is a traditional sheep's milk cheese from Sardinia, in Italy, and it is not a cheese for ordinary shops. Makers start with a firm pecorino and leave the wheel where cheese flies can lay eggs in the paste. Larvae then break the cheese down until the center is very soft, sharp, and pungent. You will not find it in a supermarket case. Food rules do not treat it as a normal commercial cheese, and eating live larvae can be unsafe.
Milbenkäse
Facts
- Milk
- Cow
- Texture
- Hard
- Rind
- Natural rind
- Country
- Germany
Milbenkäse is a German specialty cheese, and the name means mite cheese. Makers shape cow's milk quark with salt and caraway, dry the pieces, and ripen them with live cheese mites. The mites work on the surface, and enzymes from them help the cheese firm and take on flavor. The result is a small hard piece with a powdery coat. It is not a supermarket item, and ordinary shops do not carry it.