- Okay, so we're gonna get into it, right?
- No!
- You ready?
- I don't think we should do that.
- Yes! Why?
You're in a Filipino restaurant.
- It's like eating fetus remains.
- No, no, it's not fetus remains, it's a whole fetus.
What up y'all, I'm Timothy DeLaGhetto
and this is Acquired Taste.
I'm on a mission to expand my horizons
by trying unique foods from all different types of cultures
and share them with my friends.
Right now, I'm in Woodside, Queens,
also known as Little Manila because of
the huge Filipino population.
Shout out to my Filipino people.
Today, we're gonna try a Filipino delicacy called balut.
Balut is a fertilized duck fetus
that you eat right out of the shell.
It's a Filipino delicacy that people
have been eating for over 200 years.
It's fertilized for around 12 to 18 days,
which means you could crack one open
and see beak, feathers, wings,
just a little birdie peeking up at you.
My boy Charlamagne Tha God is gonna be joining me,
he's a TV personality, author,
and host of The Breakfast Club.
Some say he's an intimidating dude,
so we gonna see if we can intimidate him with this food.
But first, I'm gonna meet up with Chef Nicole from Jeepney
at a little local Filipino grocery store so she can show me
some of her favorite foods, and tell me all about
this little crazy thing they call balut.
Ready? Let's do it!
- So, this is Phil-Am Market here in Queens.
You know there's not many markets anymore.
- What do you have at the Filipino markets
that they don't have at maybe like
the Asian market, you know?
- Well, they'll both have skin whitening.
- Skin whitening?
So they always want you to be all pale and (beep).
- Lighter and whiter.
So here they also have the balut.
- Oh, the, I see it, I see it right there.
What is the history of the balut egg?
Like, why did these even become a thing?
- So, this is a duck egg.
They'll catch it just before it's about to hatch, 14 days.
So it's like borderline chick,
and borderline egg yolk and egg white.
I've seen balut where the beak
is fully formed and there's feathers.
- First of all, how old were you when you first tried it?
- I identified being Filipino because of
the food that my father served me.
I can't remember how old I was, but I can remember
being in the car, and my dad with his Carrera glasses
and Members Only jacket, and then he was just like,
"Enjoy this, oh Nicole".
And I loved how he didn't make a big deal about it.
I love when our cultures can be part of everyday culture
without it being exoticized or like crazy.
It's just like, eat this. Try it.
- Yeah, it's just food.
So show me, what kind of ingredients
would you normally pick up at this store?
- Well, let's get a basket.
- Let's get a basket.
How do you say basket in Tagalog?
- Basket.
- Basket!
- I think what's most important is the funk.
- The funk!
- Somehow, when we translate the food for audiences
that are not our own, we somehow get rid of the funk.
In Thai restaurants, maybe in the early-late 90s and 2000s
they wouldn't have the funk.
But now, that's changed.
- I know, I agree, I think it's because back then, you know,
people were really, they weren't sure
if the American tastebuds could handle it.
But now I feel like everyone realizes how important that is
and how unique of a flavor that is.
- So I think we're good with the funk.
I got you some vinegar.
I'm gonna pick out some snacks for you.
Filipinos eat like eight times a day.
- Why?
- Because we hungry!
So the meal between lunch and dinner is called merienda.
- Merienda.
- Yeah, and that comes from our Spanish and Mexican roots.
The granddaddy of all pancits for me, it's Palabok.
The word pancit just means noodles,
and the second word usually means preparation.
That's like my mac and cheese.
It's simple but.
- Real simple. Salty.
I want you to show me the good stuff that you made.
Let's get it.
I'll have somebody clean that up.
What's up, dog?
- What's up, my brother?
What the (beep) is this?
- I know this looks like a lot of food right now,
but I actually have something coming out
at the end as a surprise.
- Why are you doing this to me?
- You know what man, I just feel like everybody should try
something maybe you're not used to doing,
a little outside of your comfort zone.
Not gonna lie, this is even outside
of my comfort zone, a little bit.
What I'm bringing out later, I've tried it before.
You gotta be a little brave.
- I'm a creature of habit though, Tim.
I'm a Cancer.
- Well I'm a Pisces, though.
Don't water signs go with the flow?
- Yeah, but you got a big fish on here.
You are what you eat?
- If I am what I eat, then I'm a (beep).
So would you say you're a picky eater?
- Not picky, I just know my body well enough
to know what certain things will make my body do.
- Okay well, let's call in Chef Nicole to tell us
what it is we're actually gonna eat right now.
- Chef Nicole!
- Hi, how's it going?
- How are you? Peace.
- So what do we have here, what are we about to eat?
You don't have to eat, but I'mma partake in everything.
- So, this feast is called Kamayan,
it's when you eat with your hands.
Underneath all of this is garlic rice,
our staple in the Philippines.
I'm gonna break down Filipino food for you a little bit,
because I know a lot of people out there
don't even really know what Filipino food is.
- Can I eat off that while you're breaking it down?
- So while we get into it,
I'll show you how we actually eat.
So, there's a technique.
We just don't pop it into our mouth,
you almost make a nigiri, like a sushi nigiri.
A little rice, put it together with your fingertips,
and then you push it forward with your thumb, like this.
- Oh, you're good at that.
- You know, those are good.
- You like it?
- These are good. What's in this?
- Fresh taro leaves, and then we stew it with coconut milk,
ginger, onion, garlic, and what we call Bagoong,
which is a fermented shrimp paste.
- Yeah. I was just gonna say, I taste the shrimp paste.
- That's the funk!
You know I look at Filipino food
as a symphony of instruments,
but this is the funk right here.
- Why is it the funk?
- Because it's like (grunts), it's like, guttural, you know?
- No, it is.
- It makes you go (hums), but in a good way.
That like, stank face. - It's the funk!
You know, every culture has some sort of funk,
cheese for French culture, but this is our funk right here.
- That's good.
- Thank you!
This is what we call Kamayan Feast here at Jeepney,
and it started off really humble,
and I really wanted to practice how we would
present it because I was so embarrassed
of my dad eating with his hands.
- Why? - Were you?
- Because I grew up with Americans, and it was different.
I mean, it's really about what your show is about.
- I mean, I remember even growing up having leftovers
of my food, of my mom's cooking,
and people just thinking it was so gross and stinky.
I was embarrassed at first.
- I mean, this restaurant is an homage
to everything I was embarrassed about,
to turn it around, flip the script, and really honor it.
So if I was embarrassed about it, let me turn it around
and make it something I'm really proud about.
- What's crazy is that when you're a kid,
the majority of the food that you love
is food that you eat with your hands.
Hamburgers, french fries, - Pizza.
- Chicken tenders.
- Peel-and-eat shrimp.
- Tacos.
- When you enjoy Filipino food,
know that you're enjoying history,
because of the influences and the interlopers,
we have Spain, Mexico, Malaysia, even Dutch, British, India.
- I'm a fried fish connoisseur,
'cus my father used to own
a seafood restaurant back in the day.
He fries fish really good, and my uncle fries fish
really good, my aunt fries fish really good.
This is good fried fish right here.
- Thank you, Charlemagne.
- The flavors, - Not even lying to you.
- You can break off a little piece
of skin and you get that flavor in there.
Okay now don't get too full,
'cus this is just the warm-up, all right?
- What do you mean this is just the warm-up?
- Yeah, I'm gonna come back.
- I got the pièce de résistance coming later.
- I don't know what that means.
- We're gonna bring you to the Philippines,
that's all we have to say.
- This ain't no appetizer, this can't be the appetizer.
- First course. - What?
- Okay, I'll be back.
- Lord have mercy.
Filipino food ain't too far off from what I really enjoy.
- Was there anything you ate growing up that people maybe
looked at you funny, and thought was weird?
- Oh yeah, I'm from the country.
I grew up in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, so I ate possum.
I had a squirrel dumpling.
I had bear shoulder.
- Bear shoulder?
Out of all the parts of a bear, why the shoulder?
- I mean, think about how a bear looks.
Look at all that meat in the shoulder.
I'm from where, like my father used to say,
"If you're walking down the street,
"or driving down the street, and you see an animal
"on the side of the road that's dead,
"you get out and you put your hand on it.
"If it's cold you leave it there, if it's warm, it's dinner".
- Huh.
- That's just the way it used to go.
- Well that's perfect, bro.
I feel like you were raised right for this show right now.
Some might know you as an intimidating dude.
So I picked a dish that might be
a little intimidating to people,
to see if maybe you might get a little intimidated.
- Okay.
- Charlemagne Tha God.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- When you see it, it's gonna be a little,
it's gonna be cool at first.
- See, I see shows like this and you'll probably
bring something out that's looking back at me.
You talk about when I see it,
but then it's when this thing sees me.
- Oh don't trip, it's not a weird animal, though.
- Okay.
- It's just a, well let's just bring it out.
- Oh my God, what a setup.
- I don't like where this is going.
- What a setup!
- What a setup.
- It looks like an egg.
It is an egg.
- Seemingly innocent enough.
- Man, I hope nothing alive jumps out of that (beep), man.
- So I'm gonna clear this really quick,
so we can get a really clear shot of the balut.
- Let me help. What do I need to do?
- Oh, thank you!
- I'm gonna sit here and eat the rest of this.
- Oh, you're pulling it to the side?
- Yeah, that way.
- Oh okay, okay, okay, okay.
- Okay so, this is balut.
- Balut.
- And it looks easy enough, right?
It's an egg.
The difference is, this is 14 to 21 days from hatching.
So you're gonna have the egg yolk,
you're gonna have the egg white.
Two additions. Two cameos!
You're gonna have a little bit of broth,
and you're gonna have a little bit of Howard the Duck.
Remember Howard the Duck? - No!
- So something not right.
- Let's just put some context into this.
So when I went to the Philippines,
I've done so much research for the food.
I want you to know that in an impoverished country,
that people are really depending on
a food like this for protein and sustenance.
I don't want to get all sappy on you, but that's the truth.
So when I had coins in my pocket,
I could buy them, you know, this, for the kids.
- Are you telling me there was nothing else you could've
bought them that gave them their daily dose of vitamins?
- I gotta give them something a little bit more nutritious.
Okay, so we're gonna get into it, right?
- No!
- You ready?
- I don't think we should do that.
- Yes! Why?
You're in a Filipino restaurant.
- It's like eating fetus remains.
- No, no, it's not fetus remains, it's a whole fetus.
- People get really polarized,
but I hope that you'll try it.
- It's not cooked! Is it cooked?
- It's cooked! It's fully cooked.
- If it's cold, you leave it.
If it's warm, you eat it.
- Okay, it's definitely not gonna be the cutest thing.
Oh, wait.
Can I get a spoon?
I need three spoons.
- Why are y'all doing this to the chicken?
- Duck.
- Duck!
- So this is little baby duck?
- Little Donald, yeah.
- That's (beep) up, man.
- All right, so I'm gonna teach you how to eat it.
- Yes, ma'am.
- I'm not promising I'm eating this.
- This looks gross.
- Charlemagne, do you like hard-boiled eggs at all?
- Yes.
- Okay, so you're gonna try the yolk at the very least.
- At the very least, I'll eat the yolk.
- I don't even eat the duck.
- You don't?
- But I grew up loving the egg yolk and the broth.
- So why you lying to the kids,
talking about they can eat protein if they eat the duck,
and you haven't ever eaten the duck?
- I just personally don't like it.
I've tried it.
- Okay.
- Okay, so.
- Can you feel stronger?
- You know they call this Viagra.
- All right, I'm in.
- Let's get it!
- So you want to get the fat bottom up.
- Fat bottom up. - Fat bottom up, okay.
- This is a good segue from Viagra, I want you to know that.
- Yeah, it is.
- You said "this is Viagra," then you said "fat bottoms up".
- You can do it with the spoon,
or I'm gonna tap it like they do in the street.
This is a street food.
However you want to do it.
- How's that?
- There you go.
Okay, that's it, that's it.
Now we're gonna peel out, gonna throw a little salt.
- Oh, a little salt!
- That looks like a butt.
- Cheers.
- So do it like a shot?
- Just sip it like a broth.
- Man, mine's dry.
Oh, I didn't bust the egg.
- Yeah, get the membrane.
- There we go.
Yeah, get the membrane.
- Come on.
- It tastes like,
like a broth,
Like the, - Like a,
- Not chicken broth, miso!
That's what it tastes like.
- It's not bad, right?
- I just don't like looking inside of it.
- Yeah, don't even look. - It's not the cutest thing.
- That is crazy.
Like this duck almost made it.
- Almost.
- This could've been the next Howard, the next Donald,
the next Daffy. - The next Daffy!
- But no. You wanted soup.
Nicole.
- So what's the next step?
- There's more to this?
- Yes.
So normally you would just keep peeling it and eating it.
- That's a feather!
Is this not a feather?
It is. What is this?
- It's a beak.
- That's not a beak!
So now what?
- I wanna do this for you,
because I want you to try the yolk.
- You see this?
Hard-boiled egg, is what that is right now.
Put a little salt, okay.
- Choo-choo train. - I thought he was gonna do it
Like my mom used to do it. - Exactly!
Okay, and for you.
- Oh, yes ma'am!
Yeah, no, you wouldn't have that.
- You're not having it.
- Not good.
- But you like the broth?
The broth was okay for you.
- The broth was good.
The texture is like something you should not be eating.
Like that's not supposed - It's like a chawanmushi!
- to be in your mouth.
I don't even know what that is.
- What's that?
- Yeah, I know you're not gonna do this.
- No, what's that right there?
- What is that?
- That's Howard.
- I actually like duck.
- So you gonna do it?
- Sure.
- You're gonna do it? - You wanna try it?
- Sure.
- Wow, wow, wow.
Okay wait, I'm gonna--
- Why are y'all so excited about this?
- Because I feel honored.
- Am I gonna start quacking after I eat this (beep)?
- Oh, like a G! Let's go!
I really thought you was gonna do it,
just spit it into the glass, you good.
Where's mine?
Y'all should get a shot of this right here,
because you can see his whole situation
beginning to come to fruition right now.
So I've had balut before, but never this developed.
- Actually, this is very young.
- Is it?
- There's more that are like chickadees.
- The one I had didn't have a face like this one.
- Wow.
- Do I chew it?
Or do I suck it in like an oyster?
- You can do it like an oyster.
- All right.
Interesting.
- I can hear the cartilage.
- Got the little crunch of the beak.
As it slides down like an oyster
with the aftertaste of some duck.
- The whole point of my restaurant is to turn everything
that I was embarrassed about into something
that I can be proud about, or I can share.
- All of this?
Something to be proud of.
That?
You have every right to be embarrassed,
but that is not good.
- Charlemagne, you like the broth!
- The broth is good.
The broth is good.
- There you go. - Yeah.
- Why is that considered embarrassing, though?
What's embarrassing about it?
- Well, I mean, look at your reaction.
You're telling me it's disgusting,
you're telling me it's gross.
As a five-year-old, in America, and my teacher,
the only thing she would say to me, was
"oh, I saw that duck egg on Fear Factor."
So I was mortified, the only time I'm getting called out,
is to tell me how disgusting my food is.
- So you're telling me that that was on Fear Factor?
- Yeah.
- Rogan was all over it.
- That explains everything.
Thank you. - I enjoyed it.
- This was great.
- Thank you!
- Phenomenal.
I would come here and eat.
Like when I was eating this,
I was like "(beep) my wife would enjoy this."
This was good.
- I'll take another one of these.
- Wow.
- Yeah.
Thank you. - Good stuff.
Thanks guys. Thank you.
- Thank you.
I appreciate you being open-minded,
I feel like at the end of the day
it's all about trying it out, whether you like it or not,
I'm just glad you opened your mind and--
- Listen, you don't know whether
you like things or not unless you try.
- Exactly.
- That's it.
And I don't like to knock something until I try it.
- There you go.
Hell yeah.
- My brother, love.
- Appreciate you.
- I can shake your hand now since we already ate.
- That's right.
I'm eating some more, though.