Friday, March 8, 2013
the fear factor food challenge
I recall, many years ago, learning about a Filipino delicacy called balut. For those of you unfamiliar with balut, I will let Mikey Bustos explain:
For those who may not have watched the video, balut is a popular Filipino food, consisting of a boiled egg, usually a duck egg. Now, "boiled egg" doesn't sound so bad, but these particular eggs are fertilized. Yes, that means what you think it does:
Now, I have eaten disgusting international food before. Definitely the grossest thing I've ever tasted is durian, a fruit popular in Southeast Asia. The best way I can describe the flavor is that the initial taste is fairly pleasant fruity taste; a second or two later, however, your tongue is bombarded by an aftertaste that I might best describe as a mixture of strong garlic and onions gone rancid. It also lingers for hours - after I tasted durian (mind you, I took exactly one bite), I burped like eighteen hours later and the aftertaste of durian filled my mouth again. It's totally disgusting, although I've often been told that it's an acquired taste. I do not, however, believe I will ever bother to acquire it.
Thus, when I was working with predominantly Filipino churches in the Toronto area, the topic of balut came up a few times and I said I'd be willing to try it. I found myself at someone's home one Sunday afternoon and they had balut boiling on the stove, but unfortunately we had to leave before I had the chance to try it. Thus, I left Canada having never tried the infamous eggs.
Fast-forward about two and a half years, and I was the youth pastor at a predominantly Filipino church in the Los Angeles area. Once again, balut came up in a conversation, and I said I'd give it a shot. So, one Sunday after church, some of my friends brought out a couple of the eggs, along with a couple of cameras to film the experience.
I brought with me a bag full of peppermints. I learned my lesson from the durian experience, and I was prepared if the eggs tasted as nasty as they look. I was instructed on the proper eating technique:
- First, gently crack the egg open on the top.
- Second, drink the soupy liquid inside the egg.
- Third, eat the embryo and egg yellow inside.
- Finally, discard the hard white part at the bottom of the egg. (Some people say they eat this part, but my friends told me not to.)
I braced myself, cracked open the egg, and drank the soup. It wasn't half-bad - it tasted like regular, traditional Chinese broth. I figured this wasn't the hard part, though - I still had the baby duck, possibly complete with feathers, bones, and so on.
I took a deep breath, and bit into the meat of the egg.
It was delicious.
It tasted like duck, which shouldn't have been a surprise, since it is duck, but it sort of was. I gratefully consumed the rest of the balut, and then obliged one of my friends also trying the egg by helping him finish his, since he didn't care for it. My Filipino friends cheered and applauded - not only had I successfully consumed the infamous balut, but I actually enjoyed it. I don't think I even ate any of my mints. One of my Filipino friends posted this picture, along with a couple of others, on Facebook:
His caption: "my white friend eating BALUT!"
In conclusion, don't be afraid to try crazy foods. If thousands of people in some corner of the world enjoy it, it's probably not going to kill you. You may even like it.
Labels:
balut,
blog a day,
durian,
filipino culture,
food,
los angeles,
mikey bustos,
toronto,
torrance first umc
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