Like most countries, Italy has some unique dishes that you would not believe are actually edible! Many of these dishes come from smaller or less commonly visited areas of Italy. From maggot cheese to spleen burgers, some of these extravagant meals are described below.
At the top of the list, casu marzu takes the cake. This delicacy is a very specific kind of cheese that consists of thousands of maggots. It originates from the island of Sardinia and is highly delectable, though it is illegal due to regulations made by the EU European Food Safety Authority.
It is made by heating sheep’s milk and letting it sit for almost a month until it curdles. The crust is cut off of it, which makes it appealing for flies to come and lay their eggs in the curdled milk. The product is left in a dark area and two to three months later the eggs hatch into larvae that begin to eat the rotting cheese. It is then the excretions of the larvae that are left in the cheese that give it a distinguishing soft and decadent flavor. The cheese is said to have a taste that is similar to gorgonzola.
If you are able to track down some of this forbidden cheese, it is necessary to know how to eat it correctly. You must make sure that the maggots are still alive, because if they are dead it is an indication that the cheese has gone bad. It is recommended that you close your eyes when eating it as the maggots tend to jump. They also must be chewed adequately so that there is no risk of live maggots chewing through your intestines. Casu marzu can best be enjoyed with red wine and some flatbread, and it is often enjoyed at weddings and celebrations due to its supposed aphrodisiac properties.
Next up we have blood chocolate pudding. Yup, blood. Traditionally in Southern Italy, there would be small “pig festivals” where locals could watch butchers drain and collect the rich blood from the slaughtered pigs. The blood could then be mixed with milk, sugar, and chocolate before being cooked to form a delicious pudding. There are many ways to enjoy this velvety delicacy, like eating it with fried dough or savoiardi biscuits.
It may seem kind of strange to incorporate an animal’s blood while cooking, however it used to be the norm for working class people in many regions of the world. You’ll find that many other countries have dishes where an animal’s (mostly pig) blood is used. This is because they often did not have access to the more “quality” parts of the animal like the muscle, so it was the norm to use all other remaining parts in meals.
Although this dessert was once widely appreciated, it is much less commonly found in current times. Regions across Italy banned the sale of pig’s blood in 1992 due to its short shelf life. In this case, it is mostly those who slaughter their own livestock who currently have access to this necessary ingredient. Sanguinaccio dolce can still be found if you visit more rural Italian towns such as Naples or Campania, though it is not common.
Pajata is guaranteed to be unlike anything you have ever eaten before. In English, pajata can be translated to refer to suckling veal intestines. It is made by first harvesting the intestines from the slaughtered calf, and then tying them into rings in order to hold the digested mother’s milk that remains in them. The intestines are simmered in a tomato sauce, where the milk inside will turn into a curdled cheesy-like filling. It is most often eaten with rigatoni and sometimes it is simply grilled.
When mad cow disease broke out throughout the EU in the early 2000s, it became illegal to serve this dish. Fortunately, in 2015, these laws were repealed and now pataja can be enjoyed by everyone.
Veal intestines are referred to in Italy as quinto quarto. This refers to the additional quarter of meat that doesn’t include the main muscles or four major areas of the animal that we mainly consume today. In ancient times, the main quarters were reserved for the wealthier, upper classes, while the commoners and lower classes could only access the quinto quarto. Previously a dish indicative of poverty, pataja is now considered to be a delicacy.
Pataja is traditionally a Roman dish, so as a result it is mainly sold at the capital today. The best places to find some are at Sartor, a butcher shop in Testaccio Market. Tavernaccia da Bruno and Armando al Pantheon are also great spots that are known for their amazing pataja.
Another dish of the quinto quarto is coda alla vaccinara. This stew originated in Rome and is made from an ox’s tail. Although it may sound strange to consume any animal’s tail, when it is cooked properly, its tender meat has a rich and savory flavor.
This meal also happens to have consistently been legal to make and consume, unlike the previously mentioned ones. The ox’s tail was historically given to the vaccinari, which are the humble slaughterhouses. They would then sell it to the local restaurants that sold affordable and humble dishes. These kinds of restaurants are where this dish originated from.
To cook this stew, the oxtail is first cleaned and chopped into large pieces. It is then simmered with dry white wine and other vegetables for about 3 hours until the meat is super tender and almost falls off of the bone.
You’ve probably heard of people who eat liver, but have you ever heard about eating spleen? This organ is often cooked up as a street food in the Sicilian region of Italy, most commonly as pane con la milza, which is a sandwich made of fried beef spleen. It is served with Sicilian lemon and often times cheese as well.
It is said that this sandwich came about back during the Middle Ages. The Jewish living in Palermo would take home offerings of butchered animals in return for their work as butchers, since they could not accept money due to their beliefs.
Traditionally, other organs such as the lung and windpipe were fried up as well and put in the sandwich with cheese. In Palermo it is still customary to include pane con la milza on the evening prior to the feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 7).
As you can see, there is a lot more to Italian cuisine than just spaghetti and pizza. The country’s amazing and in-depth history results in a wealth of traditions and traditional dishes that are still widely enjoyed today. You might have even discovered similarities that these “weird” dishes share with the dishes of other countries.
For example, eating tripe in Mexico or liver in Germany may not seem that much different from pajata or pane con la milza. In addition, although meals like casu marzu were a delicacy both back then and now, most of the others were originally dishes of the impoverished. Italians developed these meals using what was available to them, and now their legacy lives on through these foods. These plates may seem weird or even disgusting, but they all played a unique part in the complex history of Italy.
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