Balut-eating contest in New York
Restaurateur Nicole Ponseca
NEW YORK CITY — Nicole Ponseca, owner of two Filipino restaurants Jeepney and Maharlika in New York’s East Village, is on a mission to popularize Filipino food and delicacies and part of it is introducing balut to the mainstream.
Her two eateries on the weekend of September 20-21 hosted the 3rd Annual Balut Eating Contest at the Hester Street Fair to a mixed crowd of Filipinos and curious passersby.
A delicacy in Asian countries, balut is a developing duck embryo that is boiled and eaten out of its shell it has been featured in reality television shows such as “Fear Factor” and “Hell’s Kitchen.”
Queens nativeWayne Algenio, the 2012 and 2013 contest winner, emerged the undefeated champion at this year’s challenge. This year’s first runner up, 61-year-old Thomas Canaria from Manila, told NBCnews.com that he feels like a champ because he competitively ate 35 balut for his country.