Balut

I saw this on an episode of Survivor when I was eight and tucked it into the back of my mind for a day when this knowledge would finally be useful. Enter balut, a delicacy from the Philippines.

A fertilized duck or chicken egg is allowed to begin to develop into a chick, allowing the embryo to grow a beak and often feathers. Then, it is boiled and the shell cracked open and it is eaten, beak and all, including the soupy embryonic fluid. Are you feeling hungry? I’m not.

I asked one of my Filipino friends about this particular dish for research purposes, and he assured me that the boiling softens the beak so that it only crunches “a little”. There is also a specific way to eat the egg that makes damn sure you see the teeny duckling as a whole. Something about ritualized fetus eating makes me lose my appetite. But can the thousands upon thousands of Filipinos who enjoy this kind of thing be wrong?

Should you eat this? Only if you can stare down the strange aborted bird fetus without flinching.

Have I personally tried this? No.

Available outside of Southeast Asia at some Filipino groceries and restaurants.