MANILA, Philippines - "Good food, good eating, is all about blood and organs, cruelty and decay... It's about danger - risking the dark, bacterial forces of beef, cheese and shellfish," wrote Anthony Bourdain in The New Yorker in 1999.
Or, in the case of New Yorkers this August 25, 2012, "a fertilized duck egg, a Franken-snack complete with partially developed bones, veins and eyes."
Alex Vadukul of The New York Times' City Room blog on August 23 wrote that a Filipino block party in Brooklyn will host a balut-eating contest this Saturday.
"Maharlika, an East Village restaurant that bills itself as 'Filipino moderno,' will host the event at the Dekalb Market, where it has an outpost. For noncompetitors, there will also be lechón, a roasted pork dish. Maharlika seeks to raise awareness about the island cuisine, known for its meat dishes and rich savory and sour flavors," says Vadukul, who went on to try balut himself.
His verdict? He described the liquid substance that we Filipinos love to sup up as "broth-like and hearty."
"The embryo was alien-like: small, brown and with little hair or feathers. Later, a second balut offered a closer look. It had bulging eyes, impish arms and legs and a rotund belly," Vadukul wrote.
When Marhalika general manager Nicole Ponseca told him that friends have advised against serving balut in her restaurant because it would scare people, Vadukul said he responded with "Definitely not. This is what we eat."