Thousand Year Old Egg

We have all heard of the Thousand Year Old Egg, which obviously cannot be a literal thousand years old. So how do you make this delightful thing? Take an egg from whatever bird tickles your fancy and cover it in clay mixed with other compounds such as ash, salt, and lime (not the fruit). Then, like many foods you can eat but should never eat, it gets left to its own devices for several weeks to months.

So what does it taste like? You guessed it, ammonia. Obviously some people like this taste, but it doesn’t matter how you slice it: you are eating a rotten, rotten egg.

Should you eat this? People all over Asia do and they haven’t died yet. But do you want to eat a rotten urine-flavored egg? Do you?

Have I personally tried this? Nope, but I’m going to start trying to obtain some of these foods.

Casu Marzu

Another icky traditional dish for you today. I like cheese. I like cheese a lot. But this cheese is a step too far. Casu marzu is known all over as being gross. So gross that is was banned by the EU. A perfectly normal pecorino cheese has its rind cut off and is left outside for a while so that flies have a chance to get at it. The flies lay their eggs in the cheese which then hatch into maggots. The maggots eat the cheese, making it soft and fermented. It is then eaten. Some people take the maggots out before they eat it. Most people just eat it, larvae and all. You have to be careful though, because the larvae can jump out of the cheese at you. Great, a food that fights back.

Apparently it can leave an aftertaste in your mouth for up to twelve hours. Like other foods (common theme, I suppose) this apparently tastes strongly of ammonia. 

Should you eat this? While one could debate the use of insects as a protein source, I’m thinking you should eat the pecorino before it gets infested.

Have I personally tried this? No.