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Thanks to Stella for the alert!

Tom Parker Bowles writes about Manila and Filipino cuisine in the August 2011 issue of Esquire (UK). Parker Bowles is the food editor of Esquire and stepson of the Prince of Wales. Friends warned him that Manila was a “cesspool, hellhole, armpit, dirty dive” but he came here anyway. And he liked it! Thank you.

Here is his description of balut. “Street food is not a big draw here, certainly when compared to Thailand or Vietnam. But then there’s balut, the pavement equivalent of Animal Farm—the porno version you saw as a teenager on grainy VHS. It’s fertilised duck egg, complete with embryo, and like the porno (and Manila, too), suffers from a wildly exaggerated reputation. . .I’m nervous. And have certainly thrown up over less. I’ve something to prove, though I’m not entirely sure what it is. But if not a delight, then balut is certainly a surprise. The broth is rich, tempered with a hint of shit and decay. But no worse than a decent Époisses cheese. . .A soft-boiled egg in mink cape, packing a gold-plated AK-47. One more Filipino myth destroyed.”

Get the hard copy.