Betel and the red smiles
For once, we will not really eat in this article. We’ll just chew. The subject of the day is betel, a vine originating from South East Asia. The leaves of this evergreen creeper plant have medicinal…
Category: Ethnology
The coconut paradox
Coconuts are everywhere in the Philippines. The are used in many ways that can sometimes be quite surprising for European people. Filipinos know how to make the best of the whole coconut tree, from its leaves…
Even the mussels look better here
A lot of things look better in the Philippines: the pigeons, the fruits, even the mussels. It’s not only because they look new to me, it’s objectively because they have a brighter color, which makes them…
Birth of the balut, in Pateros
Carlito Capco has been surrounded by balut his whole life. He’s the head of the biggest traditional balut factory in Manila, in the lively district of Pateros. Before him, his father was doing the same thing,…
Steak tartare, a taste for the raw
Eaten raw food is not an issue for anyone. Well, as long as we’re talking about fruits or vegetables. But as soon as you step out of the vegan world, things can get weird. In France,…
Balut, the ugly duckling embryo
Along with insects, balut is probably the Asian delicacy that creeps out westerners the most. It’s a fertilized duck egg in which the embryo has developed for around 3 weeks, sometimes a bit less. It depends…
Taming your pineapple
French people don’t have any idea how to peel pineapples. If you give them a knife and wait, you might end up seeing a real massacre. So, for them and all the people who are lost…
The durian, stinking fruit, killing fruit
“Durians are not allowed inside the building”. In South-East Asia, you’ll find this kind of sign in hotels, travel agencies, etc. Judging by the drawings, it’s the smell of the fruit that seems to be the…
One-day-old-chick on a stick
These little chicks are so cute. It is one of the Filipino snacks I was dying to try. It’s made of mini-chickens, barely out of their egg and already on a stick. Just born, just killed,…
Saba banana can do anything, even ketchup
Banana is one of the pillars of Filipino food. In France, it is the third fruit in consumption behind apples and oranges. Here, a banana is much more than a simple fruit. First of all, Filipinos do not only consider banana as a dessert. And here, it is…
