Steve B > wrote:

> Some
> cultures had hideous practices of burying things and then digging them up
> later, like duck eggs.

Some cultures still have such practices and it is debatable that they
are necessarily hideous.

One such example is formaggio di fossa, Fossa cheese, produced in
Sogliano al Rubicone, in Romagna. The cheese is matured in deep pits or
ditches dug in tufa. The pits are covered with straw and the cheese,
wrapped in cloth, is lowered to the bottom on Assumption Day (15th
August) and left there until St. Catherine's Day (25th November). While
there, the cheese is (partly) eaten by worms.

It is said that the practice of burying the cheese started in 1486, when
the army of Alfonso of Aragon, son of the king of Naples, was defeated
by the French and Alfonso had to seek asylum from Gerolamo Riario, ruler
of the city of Forlì. The asylum was granted, but there was now an
extra army to feed - and the soldiers turned to pillaging. So, burying
the cheese was one way of thwarting them. It was discovered that the
cheese improved greatly in its grave, remaining moist and acquiring an
aroma, taste and colour all of its own. It is said that a pit or ditch
must be used for at least ten years, as only then enough microorganisms
accumulate to deliver the best results.

The cheese is still very highly prized.

Victor