Urgent Balut Update
The last time we talked about balut, I left you with the following questions:
- How aware is the embryo of its environment?
- Does it have a developed nervous system that will allow it to feel the pain of being boiled alive?
- Does refrigeration humanely euthanize the embryo?
To answer these questions, I contacted the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Unfortunately, they didn’t know the answers to my questions, but they had some informed guesses:
Dear Jason,
We’re extremely sorry for the delay in getting back to you. These questions were posed to our bird curator and veterinarian and they both didn’t have solid answers, however the general concensus is that in all likelihood the development of the egg would most likely stop when it is not properly incubated. How long for the development to stop was up to debate and would rely very much on the surroundings temperatures and conditions.
In terms of whether this is “humane” they couldn’t really hazard a guess, but death of the embryo would likely result from removal of adequate incubation. You might want to stick with unfertilized chicken eggs!
Sincerely,
Woodland Park Zoo
Seattle, WA
Now, I am not against the slaughter of animals for human consumption, but I am against causing them unnecessary suffering. My next step is to buy a dozen unfertilized farm fresh duck eggs from Pike Place Market and see how they taste hard-boiled. I bet they taste just as good as balut*!
*OK, I’ll be honest here. The last two balut that I ate made me gag. I used to poke fun at Filipino Friend because she told me that the reason she quit eating balut was that she realized that she was eating an entire duck. I thought that was silly. Now, I know how she feels. After I took those graphic balut pictures, I was unable to eat balut again. I’m so disappointed in myself!
Stumble it!
May 6th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I was eating cheerios when I read this. WAS eating cheerios.
May 6th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I’m sorry I keep doing this to you.
May 6th, 2008 at 11:02 am
I will never be disappointed in you for this decision! :)
I was a little disturbed by the first post on balut, but I am glad this one had a happy ending!
May 6th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Boot Doot Balut.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Geoff, I LOLed three feet past my arms!
May 6th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
If you are against causing animals unnecessary suffering, this would put you in opposition towards veal, frog legs, foie gras, and spun crow. (Spun crow is where you grab a crow by it’s legs and spin it until it’s dead. Okay, so I made that one up, but delicious? I think so.)
Foie gras is very much awesome tasting, though.
That said, *I* may not be able to try balut after seeing those pics. It’s okay - I’ll make up for it in whale meat :P
May 6th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I’m against foie gras. Also ortolan.
Veal is iffy, from what I can tell. I’ve eaten maybe once ever, and I was a child.
What is cruel about frog legs? I can’t find anything online. Also, frogs are not endothermic. They are more like fish than birds or mammals. The same standards don’t apply, IMO.
May 6th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
When frog legs are harvested for mass consumption (as they are in France), they split the frogs bellies open and let them bleed to death - it takes about an hour for them to die. Ortalon is on my list - the *only* thing that isn’t are the great apes.
For veal, they suspend the calves so they can’t walk around and burn off fat - their legs become deformed from disuse and their muscles atrophy.
I agree with the “unnecessary suffering” thing, but only as it applies to mammals. I won’t eat balut because of preconceived texture issues, judging from your pics. But foie gras is from a goose(or duck) - I hate geese, and can think of no better fate for them. Seriously, it is delicious, and nothing else tastes like it.
May 7th, 2008 at 5:43 am
Well, I guess.
May 14th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Geese go “HONK HONK HONK!!!”
They do. It’s true.
May 15th, 2008 at 5:43 am
Inside joke!