4/14/2009

I'll just have the salad, please

I was just reading an interesting article about some of the most foul food in the world and was surprised when I spotted that birds eggs had made it into the top 10 most disgusting delicacies. These are no ordinary eggs, though! Apparently, 100-year-old eggs are considered to be quite the tasty treat in China. According to the article, they are created by taking a normal egg and coating it in lime, ashes, and salt before burying it for a few months. Once the egg is dug up, its "yolk will have become greenish-black, while the albumen, formerly white, will now be dark brown in colour". Yummy. Coming in at number 1 on the list is bird's nest soup. Again, people get stuck into this one in China and other parts of South East Asia. And it really is made from birds' nests! Not just any old nests, however. These are the nests of Oriental Swifts, which are not made with twigs and leaves, but with a cement-like substance secreted from the birds' salivary glands. I think I'll stick to chicken nuggets and spaghetti hoops.