Please believe....BALUT IS A LABOR OF LOVE

Sometime, somewhere, a person have heard a balut vendor shouting, "Balut, penoy, balut!" How tempting to stop him and buy one or two of the delicious egg. If you give in to your instinct, in less than five minutes, the eggs are on their way to your big intestines. But have you ever wondered how that wonderful eggs came to be?

This morning, my husband (on vacation from his job) and I went home to Pateros to pick up the balut and red eggs I have ordered as Christmas presents to friends and relatives (my husband's relatives because mine live in Pateros). It is already a tradition on my part to give these eggs for Christmas and New Year to my friends and relatives. When I was still working, there were two batches of orders I had, one was for Christmas for my officemates and the second batch is for special friends and relatives for New Year! Can you imagine how much eggs those were? I used to order 300 pieces of balut and 300 pieces of red eggs in those past years. Since I retired, I have smaller number of orders.

If you want to buy balut, you have to order them from the balut factory in advance, otherwise, even if you have gone to all the factories, there is a 100 % chance that you will go home empty-handed. I give my orders 3 or 4 weeks before I pick them up. You see, the balut factories have regular vendors that they supply the eggs so those who are walk-in buyers and taking a chance to buy some have a very nil chance of success.

It is a tiring exercise giving balut as gifts but I don't have the heart to disappoint my friends and relatives who are looking forward to having these eggs on their tables for the holidays. My friend and former boss Dolly is always looking forward for her balut that right after she lands at the airport,(she takes her vacation in the US but goes home for Christmas) she calls my friend Terry to say she is here already and will pick up her balut and red eggs at Marcelo. Dolly knows that I always leave with Terry her share. After getting the eggs from the "balutan", the next step now is to wash and clean each and everyone of the eggs before I put them in water to boil for one hour or more. Did it not occur to you how come the shells are so clean you can sip the soup from it? Have you noticed that the eggs you buy from the stores are with stains and patches of dirt while the balut are so clean? That is right, each one of the eggs you eat is gingerly washed and cleaned (mine with scotchbrite). So if your arithmetic is right, the 300 balut eggs I bought would take at least one hour to 1 1/2 hours to clean. Then, another one to two hours in cooking them. The next step is to pack them carefully so that not one would break.

The time is now to explain why you should believe me when I say "Balut Is A Labor of Love." I cannot say that what I am saying is 100% accurate because what I will tell is from what I have seen and observed when I used to live in Pateros where my parents used to have a small balut factory. First, there were thousands of eggs being delivered three times a week. The "balut-maker" would then examine each one of the eggs that will be part of the "subo". "Subo" means the batch that will be put in the "taong" to be processed as balut. In my parent's case, the "subo" is three times a week. For bigger balutan, the number is more. The eggs that did not qualify were then classified as "sariwa" that would either find their way to the vendors' bags, or to the salty-mud to be made into red eggs. Then, the "mambabalot" or the balut-maker will see to it that the eggs are in the right temperature morning and afternoon. He knows that the temperature of the eggs is right just by putting the egg in his cheek. ( I wonder how he knows this!) Those eggs that did not maintain the right temperature have a chance of being spoiled so they need to be separated from the "panyo" (the cloth where the balut is placed). He does this by putting each one of the thousands of eggs under a light to see if the egg is still alive. But the "silaw" as the practice is called is only done in the morning (from what I remember). Those eggs that died are then removed the "panyo" and from the taong and are being labeled penoy. Penoy might be called "higupin" or tuyo. So, for 18 days, each one of the thousands of eggs are carefully handled one by one to monitor that the chick is alive. After that day, they land into the streets and being sold as "Balut sa puti".

The balut factories are also faced with problems specially the weather. In this time of the year, December, it is hard to maintain the right temperature because of the cold season. Sometimes, you will buy balut and find the "sisiw" too big and the "bato" too big also. It is not of good quality. In this case, the balut-maker wasn't able to get the right temperature to sustain the proper growth of the egg. In some seasons of the year, like the rainy season, balut is sometimes "bahora" which means that the supply is too much when the demand is too little. I remember that to solve this, my parents and the other balut operators would join hands to keep the over supply in cold storage.

But I have good news to share. A few months ago, at ShopTalk, Pia Hontiveros had as her guest Andy Concio, a neighor of ours, who is now into preserving balut and has a vision of exporting balut to other countries. I just don't remember if he has already done this. There is now adobong balut and other varieties. He has an outlet at Tiendesitas. So those of you who would like to taste this novelty, try to visit him there.

If ever you happen to eat balut, try to think of how the egg was lovingly handled by each one who processed it before it landed on your hands. Then, savor the taste, then thank those who made it possible for you to eat the delicacy.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!