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Cheese from Italy, Campania

Formaggio coi vermi

A semi-aged cheese of several local types is left where the cheese fly (Piophila casei) can lay its eggs, and the larvae's enzymes turn its paste into a soft cream over 3–6 months. Makers shorten the brining, drill small holes filled with oil and turn the cheese less to draw the flies. When ripe the top is cut off and the cheese is set in the sun so the remaining larvae leave.

Fully documentedCheese3 months – 6 monthsPAT (Regione Campania, 21st national list, DM 15 February 2021)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo fixed amounts; any suitable semi-aged form is used, usually 2–3 kg. Success depends partly on chance.
Semi-aged base cheese of cow, sheep, goat or mixed milk, set with lamb, kid or bovine rennet[asl-sheet][onaf]
OilPoured into small holes in the rind to soften it and attract the fly[asl-sheet][onaf]
Starternone added; the cheese fly lays eggs on the base cheese

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 months – 6 months

Start
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What changes: A semi-hard or stretched-curd cheese is made as the base

Step 1 of 5
Make the base cheese
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Many types serve as the base, semi-hard, cooked or stretched-curd, from cow, sheep, goat or mixed milk set with lamb, kid or bovine rennet.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

A semi-aged cheese of several local types is left where the cheese fly (Piophila casei) can lay its eggs, and the larvae's enzymes turn its paste into a soft cream over 3–6 months. Makers shorten the brining, drill small holes filled with oil and turn the cheese less to draw the flies. When ripe the top is cut off and the cheese is set in the sun so the remaining larvae leave. Made in 5 steps over 3 months – 6 months. The longest step, ripen while the larvae cream the paste, takes 3–6 months (ASL Avellino). Larvae of the cheese fly Piophila casei (an insect, not a microbe), whose enzymes break down the paste does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–6 monthsReported[asl-sheet][onaf]Ripen while the larvae cream the paste

What makes this one different

Ripened by insect larvae rather than by microbes alone, and made from many kinds of base cheese instead of one recipe. It can only be made in the warm months when the fly breeds.

Rind
The base cheese's rind, with holes made by the larvae or by the ripener
Size
Usually cylindrical, 2–3 kg
Season
Late spring to late autumn, when the weather suits the fly's life cycle

Related ferments

Safety

The ASL sheet and the Campania regional sheet treat live, moving larvae as a sign the cheese is sound and motionless larvae as a sign it has spoiled. The regional sheet also says the insects should be raised safely behind fine fly screens, so that other insects do not contaminate the cheese. A case report describes myiasis, an infestation by fly larvae, with marked symptoms in a patient who swallowed larvae of this fly (Nocera and Crotti 2009). Do not eat a wheel with live larvae. This page records a farm practice and is not a method to try at home.

Hazards the sources name: Live Piophila casei larvae, an insect, not a microbe; a case report describes myiasis, an infestation by fly larvae, in a patient who swallowed them.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Known in the inland villages of Salerno and Avellino, where older generations sought it out as a delicacy. It is hard to find because making it depends partly on chance. ONAF notes that EU hygiene rules generally forbid insects in food, and that the PAT listing (traditional for over 25 years) is what allows a national derogation.

Temperature, salt and pH
The sources we found give no temperature, salt or pH figure for any of its steps.
  1. [asl-sheet] ASL Avellino, C.Ri.P.A.T. (Centro di Riferimento Produzioni Agroalimentari Tradizionali), sheet 'Formaggio coi vermi', copy hosted by ONAFgov
  2. [onaf] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), cheese page 'Formaggio coi vermi' (id 1306)web
  3. [campania-pat] Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura, Prodotti tradizionali, Formaggi, 'Formaggio coi vermi' (traditional product sheet, last updated 29 August 2022)gov
  4. [nocera2009] Nocera E., Crotti D. 2009, Accidental miasis caused by Piophila casei, a case report, Microbiologia Medica 24(1), doi:10.4081/mm.2009.2554 (abstract)paper