Balut: Fertilized Eggs and the Making of Culinary Capital in the Filipino Diaspora

Abstract

Chances are if you've heard about balut and are not Filipino, it was in the context of bizarreness, exoticism, and cultural superiority. In the Philippines, balut (a not-hatched duck that is boiled and eaten from the shell) is both street food and delicacy, a commonly consumed snack with a flavor profile that is now replicated in everyday potato chips. Yet in recent years, particularly in the United States, its popular significance has evolved, first as an item to be feared and gawked at by non-Filipinos, and later as a bulwark of diasporic cultural identity for Filipinos abroad. Margaret Magat's Balut: Fertilized Eggs and the Making of Culinary Capital in the Filipino Diaspora tells this story. On a macro scale, Magat uses balut to trace an example of identity during migration “to tell the story of how globalization and migration interact in a consumption of a street food and create new expressive culture from the old” (p. 165). On an individual level, she elevates consumers of balut as empowered cultural creators who “broker, create, and articulate dynamic and complex identities which are influenced by the forces of globalization, diaspora, and mass media” (p. 165).Magat develops her argument over five chapters. Chapter 1 covers the historical context of balut in the Philippines and its production in the United States. It describes how balut developed from its cultural roots in Laguna Province to its growing consumption in the United States, thanks to a network of American duck farmers, Filipino American restaurateurs, and other immigrant consumers. Chapter 2 considers balut's emergence as an empowering symbol of transnational Filipino identity, showing how Filipino American restaurateurs have worked to remove sensationalized stigmas of the aforementioned “bizarre” and “exotic.” Chapter 3 deepens the cultural and social significance of balut by connecting it to Filipino folklore about creation and the dead, particularly balut's association with fertility. The final two chapters then turn to the spectacle of balut consumption. Chapter 4 examines balut in physical public space, showing how the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest-ization of balut eating is now a staple of Filipino American fiestas and cultural celebrations. Chapter 5 surveys balut in social media, examining how YouTube videos of people eating balut amplify the questions of exoticization, consumable identity, and reclaiming pride in Filipino culture.Magat's research is both novel and impressive. Numerous food studies pieces have discussed the international influences on Filipino cuisine in the past as a selection of ingredients and procedures driven by economics, migration, and race. But Magat provides a compelling case that these forces remain at play in an ironic postcolonial way. For her, the once-colonized now reclaim the meaning of balut from the once-colonizer. She demonstrates how balut, a rare street food that the American media has dismissed, contains worlds of history and meaning not just for Filipinos but for the entire region of Southeast Asia. Furthermore, Magat makes a clear case of thoughtful advocacy by celebrating how Filipino Americans have reclaimed the narrative around balut from reality television exploiters and social media hacks.Magat does posit questions that provide avenues for deeper analysis. A broader study of balut in the Filipino American community would move beyond Magat's focus on the San Francisco Bay Area Filipino American community to other traditional Filipino American communities (such as Woodside in Queens and Cerritos in Los Angeles), as well as newer fast-growing communities (Atlanta, Houston, and Northern Virginia, for example). A deeper analysis of balut in popular culture would have looked at empowering examples of Filipino food journalism, such as the work of journalist Bettina Makalintal or food-writing essays from progressive Philippine media outlets such as Rappler. The book's conclusion could have hypothesized upon balut's role in the dynamic Filipino American community by asking, do folk beliefs about balut travel fully intact during the Filipino diaspora, or do they adapt for Filipino Americans who did not grow up eating balut on the street?As the first close study of balut's cultural significance for Filipinos abroad, Balut is a much-needed scholarly contribution demonstrating the racialization of food. Magat demonstrates how food studies uncovers much larger forces of race, class, and gender by showing how balut has developed different connotations largely based on race and ethnicity.