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Archives for Tatak Pinoy category

Tatak Pinoy: Balut

Have you ever eaten balut?

Balut has been a native delicacy in our Pinoy culture. Many a Filipino have gone to the streets waiting for a street vendor to come so they can buy it. I havent eaten balut in a loooong time. I was traumatized by my last balut eating :). I think I saw chick feet and it was too much for and I puked. From then on, I dont eat the balut innards, I just get my usual kick sipping the balut soup :D

Balut has been the “shocking” topic of some television shows because of its taboo nature in some Western cultures. In two episodes of Survivor: Palau and two episodes of Survivor: China, separate challenges featured attempts to eat this Asian delicacy. Similarly, Fear Factor frequently uses balut as a means of disgusting contestants. Recently, contestants of The Amazing Race Asia 2 had to eat 8 baluts as a team before receiving their next clue. The Travel Channel show Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern also featured Balut, where the host pronounced 18-day-old balut one of the strangest foods he’d ever eaten in his life, but far better tasting than he had expected. The members of the rock band Switchfoot ate balut on stage at their concert in the Philippines. Episode 28 of the Switchfoot Podcast shows video footage of this occurrence.

Most foreigner head straight to the toilets when they see what balut looks like inside and find out it’s a little chick :)

Tatak Pinoy!: Durian

DurianDurian is a fruit in season found in Mindanao. It has a big reputation for “smelling like hell but tasting like heaven.” Considered an aphrodisiac, durian also is high in cholesterol so make sure you eat it slowly. I have never tried it eating the fruit, as I really cannot stand the smell :), but my parents LOVE the fruit. Friends from Davao make it a point to send a box of durian fruit to us at least four times a year - you can imagine how our ref smells like :)

The durian (IPA: [?d??ri?n, -?n])[1] is the fruit of trees from the genus Durio belonging to the Malvaceae, a large family which includes hibiscus, okra, cotton, mallows, and linden trees. Widely known and revered in Southeast Asia as the “King of Fruits”, the fruit is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk. The fruit can grow up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long and 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter, and typically weighs one to three kilograms (2 to 7 lb). Its shape ranges from oblong to round, the colour of its husk green to brown, and its flesh pale-yellow to red, depending on the species.

The edible flesh emits a distinctive odour, strong and penetrating even when the husk is intact. Regarded by some as fragrant, others as overpowering and offensive, the smell evokes reactions from deep appreciation to intense disgust. The odour has led to the fruit’s banishment from certain hotels and public transportation in Southeast Asia.

I eat the commercialized versions though, especially the durian candy :)