US champ eats 18 ‘balut’ in 5 minutes in NY contest
think they need strength or an aphrodisiac.
A New York Times story described the balut as a snack complete with developed bones, veins and eyes, “a perennial contender on any Westerner’s list of extreme foods” and consumed in the Philippines as naturally as hamburgers are eaten by Americans.
“What’s more American than a hot dog? Well, what’s more Filipino than balut?” said Nicole Ponseca, general manager of the Maharlika restaurant, which hosted the contest in which 10 daring souls took part.
A Times reporter visited Maharlika to try the balut on Friday, the day before the contest.
Describing his experience, Times reporter Alex Vadukul wrote: Nicole Ponseca, 35, sat nearby offering instruction. The egg arrived with salt on the side. Shots of traditional cane vinegar— suka— and lambanog, a strong coconut wine, were poured as palate cleansers for later.
“A Filipino will know how to open it properly,” Ponseca said. The wide-bottom end of the egg should be struck, making peeling easier.
The reporter described how he pulled back the embryo skin inside with his fork and sprin- kled salt into the crack, sipping its fluids. He shuddered when Ponseca described the fluids as “chicken soup for the soul.” The fluids were broth-like and hearty. Then came the yellow yolk surrounding the fetus, followed by the white blob nestled in the yolk’s center.
“The embryo was alien-like: small, brown and with little hair or feathers,” the Times said.
A second balut offered a closer look. It had bulging eyes, impish arms and legs and a rotund belly.
At the shell’s base was a hard white mound: the egg white. The flavorless rubbery taste stayed for hours, according to the Times reporter.
“It’s more of a textural thing,” said Noel Cruz, a Maharlika employee.
Maharlika, an East Village restaurant that bills itself as “Filipino moderno,” hosted the event at the Dekalb Market, where it has an outpost.
Ponseca said that when she decided to serve balut at the restaurant, friends tried to talk her out of it.
“It will scare people,” they told her. “I said, ‘Definitely not.’ This is what we eat.”