http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/cool/food_flash.shtmlSo I was bored and started checking out slang in various languages on the intarwub. I was curious about the origin of "Que pasa, guey!" I asked a guy that I work with, a fella from El Salvador, what it meant. He paused thoughtfully, considered a tasteful way to phrase it, and replied, "It means, your wife - she is having an affair." I figured that it had some other meaning and he was trying to be polite, but Lo and behold, guey is slang for cuckold. Thank you Internet, and thank you Sal for your helpful translation services.
Anyway...as the internet goes, I found the BBC's delightful site that provides audio clips of slang in various languages (such as
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/cool/food_flash.shtml). In Italian, "uno spuntino" means a snack, unless you are in Sardenia... then apparently it means
"an all-day eating marathon in the woods with a whole cooked sheep, mountains of vegetables, cheese with worms (I promise there's no better cheese) and rivers of wine."
Intrigued, because I LOVE CHEESE and could not imagine sullying it with worms, and so I wanted to figure out what this was all about...I did a search.
Feast your eyes on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu Casu marzu (also called casu modde, casu cundhídu, or in Italian formaggio marcio) is a cheese found in Sardinia, Italy, notable for being riddled with live insect larvae. Casu marzu means "rotten cheese" in Sardinian.
Derived from Pecorino Sardo, casu marzu goes beyond typical fermentation to a stage most would consider to be decomposition, brought about by the digestive action of the larvae of the cheese fly, Piophila casei. These larvae are deliberately introduced to the cheese, promoting an advanced level of fermentation and breaking down the cheese's fats. The texture of the cheese becomes very soft, with some liquid (called "lagrima", from the Sardinian for "tears") seeping out. The larvae themselves appear as translucent, white worms, about 8 mm (1/3 inch) long. When disturbed, the larvae can jump for distances up to 15 cm (6 inches), prompting recommendations of eye protection for those eating the cheese. Some people clear the larvae from the cheese before consuming; others do not.
Appearance and taste
Yaroslav Trofimov, writing in the August 23, 2000 edition of The Wall Street Journal, describes the cheese as "a viscous, pungent goo that burns the tongue and can affect other parts of the body".Susan Herrmann Loomis reports an encounter (in a 2002 Bon Appétit article):
He … grabbed a piece of pane carasau, the traditional flatbread of Sardinia, rinsed it quickly under water to soften it and went to a large glass jar on a side table. He opened the jar, scooped out a mound of what looked like thick cream, and folded the bread around it. …When he was finished I asked what he had eaten, and he got up to show me. Inside the jar was pecorino, busy with small, white worms. I'd heard about this cheese, but this was the first time I'd gotten so close. … A friend of his … said, 'It's formaggio marcio [literally, "rotten cheese"], cheese with worms. It's a delicacy. It's the most beautiful gift you can give a Sardinian shepherd.'
The cheese is typically consumed with Sardinian bread (pane carasau) and Cannonau, a strong red wine.
Dangers
Several food safety issues have been raised with casu marzu:
* Anecdotal reports of allergic reactions.
* A risk of the decomposition advancing to a toxic state. (Folk wisdom in Sardinia holds that still-living larvae are an assurance that this has not yet happened.)
* Risk of enteric myiasis: intestinal larval infection. Piophila casei larvae can pass through the stomach alive (human stomach acids do not usually kill them) and take up residency for some period of time in the intestines, where they can cause serious lesions as they attempt to bore through the intestinal walls. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, pain in the abdomen, and bloody diarrhea.
Because of these health threats, or simply because it is considered a contaminated product, casu marzu cheese cannot be legally sold in Italy. Within Sardinia, enforcement of the ban is sporadic and the cheese is available as a black market item, selling for about three times pecorino's price.
It's safe to say I will never eat such a thing. Good on ya, brave Sardinians who eat this stuff. It takes all kinds, I guess. Anyone ever traveled to Sardinia?
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Topic: Uno spuntino - a snack in Sardinia (Casu marzu: cheese filled with worms) (Read 6253 times)