The Caviar of the East
Residents of an East Javanese village find a way to make a decent living feeding the bizarre habits of the wealthy. These rare nests of the swiftlet are sold at astronomical prices in the finest Chinese restaurants.
As Achmad Basuni and his wife were building their new house, great fortune suddenly flew in the window.
Literally
A pair of swallows darted into the half-finished kitchen and cast knowing eyes around the walls and rafters. Like all astute real estate buyers they knew exactly what they wanted: Security, space, a cool atmosphere, friendly co-tenants and easy access.
While any Westerner finding feathered friends moving into their kitchen would probably call a pest exterminator, this couple rejoiced. ‘It’s a blessing from God,’ exclaimed Achmad.
The kitchen was given to the visitors and the home rapidly re-designed. When the swallows laid their first clutch, Achmad substituted a pair of swiftlets’ eggs bought for Rp 60,000. The reason? Depending on the quality and season a kilo of swiftlets’ nests can fetch around Rp. 10 million at the barn door.
Unlike their bigger and better travelled cousins, swiftlets build edible nests that are highly prized as the raw material for the Chinese Bird’s Nest Soup. This is the Caviar of the East.
Swiftlet nests are made from the birds’ saliva produced by glands under the tongue. The nests’ edible qualities have been known for at least 700 years. What’s not known, however, is how the discovery was made and why anyone would think a dirty nest could make a tasty dish. Our ancestors must have choked on a lot of sticks encrusted with dung and vomited feathers and broken eggs before they found an edible variety.
Since diners want more than a lip-smacking experience, though, it’s no surprise the nests are supposed to possess extraordinary characteristics from improving skin tone to warding off tuberculosis, curing consumption, dysentery, malaria … the list has no full stop. And, of course, enhancing sexual performance.
The catch is that promoters say a regular diet of 10 grams a day is necessary. As well, the cooking process is critical. A microwaved or boiled nest will be nutrition-free so it’s best to steam slowly after soaking. This will expand the nest. The taste is said to be sweet, more like a dessert.
In Jeru, about 20 kilometres west of Malang, news about the swallows’ arrival flew around Achmad’s village. Soon a stranger was making a startling offer; he’d buy their house for Rp 300 million, double its market value.
No sale.
From those first two substituted swiftlet eggs, the population has grown dramatically. There are now more than 40 birds flashing in and out through small holes about the size of two bricks set high in the flat grey windowless concrete walls. After daybreak, the birds zip across to Balekambang Beach on the south coast to catch insects. They return at nightfall, covering 160 kilometres a day.
Some villagers use recorded sounds of swiftlets broadcast through speaker systems to entice passing birds to enter their barn, guiding them with a system known as echolocation.
While there are a few other lucky folk in Jeru, some rejected families are finding their neighbours’ good luck difficult to swallow. ‘The big problem is thieves after nests and eggs,’ said Achmad. ‘One farm spends Rp 2.5 million a month on security, five times the normal rate for guards.’
Jakarta Java Kini Magazine
Add comment June 12th, 2007