The balut may be a symbol of our Filipino-ness, but one animal rights activist in New York City may not think so. According to Gabrielle Hardy, even balut has rights, and wants it off the menu of Maharlika, a popular Filipino restaurant in the city.
As part of her campaign to get balut off the menu, Hardy created an online petition, saying that it is disgusting and should not be served in a restaurant. The full text of the petition reads:
Maharlika, a restaurant in Manhattan, New York is selling what seems to be the strangest food one can possibly eat in the Big Apple. The name of the dish is called balut. It’s essentially a hard boiled egg that contains a partially formed duck fetus inside. In other words, the baby duck has not yet even been born!
The official name you will find on the menu is ‘fertilized duck egg with embryo’
A team from ‘Business Insider’ met with Nicole Ponseca, the restaurant’s owner, and learned how to eat and enjoy this dish. The owner is really proud of selling this food, claiming it is delicious and full of vitamins and proteins essential to humans.
The truth is that this food is disgusting an should not be served in restaurant. I am therefore asking the restaurant to get balut off the menu as soon as soon as possible!
Sign now if you find this food disgusting and distasteful!Â
Out of its goal of 5,000 signatures, the petition now has 4,620 signatures, or 92.4% of the goal. However, the petition is no longer available on Yousignanimals.org, and can only be accessed using the cache option.
Nicole Ponseca, the owner of Maharlika, said:
From where I stand, diversity in food is as important as our religious beliefs. This is not pro-balut or anti-balut. This is pro-culture, pro-Filipino, and pro-diversity.
Watch Maharlika’s feature on the balut below:Â
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