Taiada Silvania is a unique cheese made by a single producer in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Camila Almedia, owner and founder of Estância Silvânia, thought mixing milk with native leafcutter ants would be a great idea, and it turns out she was right. She wanted something that really made her region stand out, and then she remembered that the people of the area had been eating leafcutter ants as part of the local cuisine for decades. Since her farm produced cheese, she decided that adding a few ants to one of their best cheeses would be interesting. Today, Taiada Silvania is known all over the world and has won several international awards. Once dubbed “Brazilian caviar,” the ants are toasted before being added to the cheese. Made from raw A2 milk from pasture-raised GIR cows and toasted ants, Taiada Silvania is a sweet, firm cheese with notes of almonds and chestnuts, a slight fennel flavor, and the unmistakable crunch of ants. It sells for about $20 a pound.
