vermi fromaggia

[pariah_kerry]

Is this offered all over Italy or only in the South? What are the roots of this item?

[Lidia Bastianich]

Worms in cheese is a specialty in different regions of Italy. I remember as a child being a spectator (not a participant) of an Aunt who loved cheeses with worms. She would cut the cheese open, collect the worms with a piece of bread and enjoy it with the cheese. It's not a very common practice--especially in the Western world, but the philosophy is that the worms are born within the cheese and are therefore a part of the cheese. It's one of the same.

I think that we can all appreciate mold in cheese which is a living organism, but when we see actual worms, we get somewhat squeamish.

I don't know how quickly this fad will grow but it has been practiced for centuries