Balut: Fertilized duck eggs and their role in filipino culture

Western Folklore, Spring 2002 by Magat, Margaret

According to Fernandez, about forty years ago chicken breasts and thighs and pork meat were being sold. But as the economic crisis worsened, so did the food. By the 1970s, "almost every part of the pig and chicken came to be used: pigs' ears and intestines; chicken wings, necks, feet, heads, tails, combs, even intestines, meticulously cleaned and looped on thin skewers" (Fernandez 1994:9).

The consumption of balut, therefore, may in recent times be more tied to the economic situation in the Philippines since it is a relatively inexpensive source of protein and calcium. However, this cannot be the reason as to why Filipino Americans continue to eat balut. Other factors must be present. The fact is Filipino Americans choose willingly to eat a food that others consider exotic in a country full of steak and chicken. It may be that for them, balut is a luxury item, along the lines of oysters and caviar. But before expanding on the possible cultural factors involved, I will first turn to balut history.

THE HISTORY OF BALUT

It is impossible to date accurately when the custom of eating balut first began since pre-Spanish records written in syllabic writing by early Filipinos have not survived the burning zeal of the Spanish missionaries. This has forced scholars to consult ancient records of neighboring countries to find references regarding the Philippines. What is known is that long before the Spaniards set foot on the Philippine islands in 1521, Filipinos were already conducting maritime trade with Persia, Arabia, India (directly and indirectly through Indonesia from the 2nd century A.D.) and especially China beginning in 300 A.D. (Garcia 1979:8-34; Jocano 1975b:135-158).

Theorizing that many of the modern world's eating habits are a result of Columbus's journey to the New World in 1492, and the subsequent growth of the Spanish empire which involved the exchange of goods as corn, tomatoes, chilies and livestock, Raymond Sokolov points to the Philippines as being one of the main "centers for gastronomic change" (1991:14-22). Spain controlled the Philippines through Mexico, enabling the Spaniards also to partake in commerce with China. The effects of Spanish colonization as well as the history of exchanges with neighboring countries can be seen in Philippine cuisine with its Spanish, Chinese and Malay-influenced dishes that have been indigenized by the use of local ingredients and Filipino seasoning tastes.

Popular dishes like adobo betray their Spanish-Mexican origin with their names, "dobo is chicken or pork simmered with vinegar, soy sauce and bay leaves. There are rich desserts such as leche flan and a bread called pan de sal. The Philippines owes its noodle dishes, as well as its lumpia (egg roll) and siopao (char su bao, a white bun filled with meat), to the Chinese (Fernandez & Alegre 1988:17). For references to the Philippines in ancient Chinese records, see Wang 1952.

The influence of the Chinese may perhaps explain the presence of balut in the country. Many books on Chinese food tend to mention salted duck eggs, tea eggs and century-old duck eggs (see Chang 1977; Barer-Stein 1979; E.N. Anderson 1988), but a sprinkling of works do mention fertilized eggs. In his work Food in China: A Cultural and Historical Inquiry (1991), geographer Frederick Simoons provides a clue regarding fertilized duck eggs. "Perhaps also of nutritional relevance is the Chinese liking for fertilized eggs in which the embryo is well-developed, a preference they share with certain peoples in Southeast Asia and the Pacific region. Embryonated duck eggs . . . are substantially higher in calcium than ordinary ones" (Simoons 365). In addition to confirming that fertilized eggs were consumed by the Chinese, Simoons also verifies the widely held belief in the Philippines that balut is an important source of calcium, which explains why pregnant women and sick people are urged to eat it as well.