The World of Rare Food: Bird's Nest Soup

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed)
Jan 30th 2008 at 9:03AM

Call it a delicacy, unusual, strange or down-right gross, some rare foods can turn your stomach or delight the palette. You may have tried escargot, haggis, intestines, liver or tongue but that's nothing compared to these rarities.

Ever tried hedgehogs or cock's combs? Who knew that shark fins make decadent soups... they can be found in Hong Kong, Singapore and North America. Australian's consider kangaroo tail ragout and sugar ants to be a real treat. Camel hump meat which is extremely tough and sour-tasting has been enjoyed by Arabs and western Chinese for years. And although elephant meat is tough, it's feet and trunk surprisingly are not.

One item I think is truly bizarre and has garnered the name of "Caviar of the East" -- bird's nest soup. Served in China for over 400 years, the primary ingredient are saliva nests built by cave swifts. Among one of the most expensive animal products consumed by humans it is believed to aid digestion, raise libido, and even alleviate asthma as it is dissolved in water to create a gelatinous soup. In Hong Kong, a bowl of bird's nest soup would cost between $10 and $30, a kilogram of white bird's nest can cost up to $2,000 per gram, and a kilogram of red bird's nest for as much as $10,000!

I've tried alligator, rattlesnake, and rocky mountain oysters but that's the extent of my culinary tasting prowess. There are rare culinary dishes all around the world to test your boundaries and your wallets.

Tags: birds-nest-soup, camel-hump, cock's-comb, hedgehog, kangaroo-tail, rare-food, shark-fin, sugar-ant

Filed under: Dining

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Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)

ararzee Feb 3rd 2008 8:42AM

If we are what we eat, then vegetarians are vegetables & fruits. I don't want to be called fruit or vegetable! It doesn't sound better than cow, or pig, or any animal. Some people can eat anything they want, as long as they don't force me to eat what they eat, the hell I care. Let us just love each other as humans and respect our beliefs as long as they don't insist to bother you. If other people eat something gross, Just don't look. I was in Beijing in Dec.1998 & went to Capitol Hotel. It's a 5 star hotel and they have a restaurant that serves "authentic" Chinese food. By the entrance there were two real big glass jars with brown liquid that looks like tea. The waitresses kept coming back to that glass to fill up some stem glass to be served to customers. When I got closer to the glass I almost fainted. There were 2 snakes, some lizards, some little turtles, & other little reptiles. They look like specimen in the laboratory. I don't want to make a scene, & I felt awkward to get out of the restaurant because it would be very obvious. The place is so private and luxuriously decorated. People come in formal wears & you can tell that it must be an expensive place. After we were seated & given the menu, I was looking for anything familiar. The only thing I knew was shark fin soup which is the only one we eventually ordered in a very small cup as much as 3 spoonful for 280 yuan ($46.67). In the menu we also saw turtles head, elephant's stuff, crocodile's penis, etc. What really got my attention the most was the live monkey placed under the hole of the table fit enough to dig the moving brain with a spoon. I told my wife, let's go before I finally throw up or fainted.

Marilyn Terrell Feb 3rd 2008 10:34AM

From TED case studies:
"Today Hong Kong is the biggest official consumer of birds' nests, importing about 100 tons (grossing about $25 million) annually. In Hong Kong 55 pounds of top quality white nests (the most prized) can be worth $50,000. The value of the nest has become so great that harvesters no longer wait until eggs or chicks depart the nest. Both are simply discarded and the nest taken. This practice
has decimated many younger bird populations in some areas...The nests are so valued that shipments are usually shrouded in secrecy for fear of hijackers. It is believed that there is a "world kingpin" or at least a key group of brokers in Kowloon, Hong Kong who control much of international trade in Swiftlet nests. This kingpin is supposed to have contracts with governments, kings, princes and private owners of islands.

The rising price and rising demand for these nests have
resulted in a decline in the swiftlet population. Poachers and the cutting down of forests where Swiftlets feed contribute to the decline. Indonesia is the biggest supplier of swiftlet nests with Thailand ranking second, followed by Vietnam, Singapore, Burma, Malaysia, southern India and Sri Lanka. In most nest-producing countries swiftlet colonies are dwindling. Kong Yun-Cheng argues that if harvesting continues at its current rate the species may
die out in 5 to 10 years."
http://www.american.edu/ted/SWIFT.HTM

Etienne Feb 3rd 2008 6:24PM

2-03-2008 @ 2:35PM

Knight121757 said...
Listen Boy..............You don't know anything about me. I'm entitled to my opinion like you are to your own stupidity. You obviously fit into one of those classes. Truth hurt huh ????....Lol
Knight121757 said...
Animal all........White is right....witness what the animals do !!
lol, lol i don't need to know you but your words speak for you . I am black and I came from the island of course you are in tittle to your opinions but you did not say anything about the fact what they are talking about . I am not going to seat here agree with the dog or cat or animals killing eating all kind of crap , you said Asians , black and Hispanics are animals and where I came from I don't hear we ate anything like that and also the same way you are in title to your opinions I am sure they are in title to do feel please to them. how many country you been , sure none so you don't have any idea what are you talking about because if you did you will stick to whatever they are talking about it. I don't have anything about white or Asian or Hispanics we are all have our differences and I have respect for all of you. you better check how many time you reach to a point you heard stories about your owe people you so call yourself white , lol eat their own people. listen Mr. what I am reading is some poor guy still leaving in the past , feel sorry for himself , have nothing to do didn't have a life and still don't and want to go out there kill black people . GROW UP PAPY NEED YOUR PANTS JUST PEE ON IT , LOL I AM 100% BLACK EDUCATED AND MADE IT WHERE YOU WILL NEVER REACH.

Sears101 May 13th 2008 4:07PM

I think it's pathetic there are so many ignorant, ill-informed, closed minded people blabbering about things they don't even understand. America is the most wasteful country in the world.. so instead of complaining about the price of "bird nest soup" being able to feed starving Africans.. think about how the food we waste in a day here could probably feed them for months! I think if everyone was informed correctly, then we would all have a better appreciation of other cultures. It just breaks my heart to see how this country of opportunity still harbors so many stupid ignorant pests!

RichD Feb 6th 2008 10:15AM

The big question is why does man feel they have the right to decide the fate of every other living thing on this planet?

slydoggy Feb 9th 2008 6:24AM

Eating monkey brains while the creature is stil alive is an urban legend. There are no documented proof such practices exist in Asia. If you can prove otherwise, please show me rather than regurgitating myths as facts.

Ames Feb 22nd 2008 1:16PM

How racist are some of these people?!? Because the people of the third world countries might not have means to support themselves and their families on HAMBURGERS or STEAKS, they are "the most despicable, dirty, disgusting, unclean, inhumane people on the face of the planet."(comment 16)??? Please, spare us your racist views. Have you ever thought that just maybe they can't afford steak every day, or they can't afford to eat out every week? And even if it comes to eating dogs, how is that ANY different from slaughtering chickens and cows? These "exotic foods" are favored in their countries because that is what they are used to eating. I would never eat any of these things, but I wouldn't begrudge them when they are trying to support themselves either. And to say that "your race" (comment 19) is better than everybody else's.... I think I'm going to vomit. Please, if you're so much more superior why don't you go seclude yourself with others of your race and save us the humility of having to know there are people like you out there.

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