Saturday, August 18, 2007

Turtle Eggs (Not in an Environmentally Friendly Way)

I went to eat lunch in the kitchen the other day and was mystified by the little saggy ping pong balls people were carrying around on their plates. Günther said something about turtle eggs and I just laughed… and then stopped.

We were eating turtle eggs!


They had been boiled, the only way anyone there knew how to fix them (I asked around), but the whites were still liquid. So you make a little tear in the soft papery shell, suck the liquid out, and then peel it back farther to take out the soft, but congealed yoke (just like a soft boiled egg).

I didn’t make it that far. I usually can try just about anything, but a tiny bit of the liquid was enough for me. It tasted sort of like the spun egg soup I’ve had in Asian restaurants.


The eggs were from the coast of Nicaragua and had been confiscated by the police, since they are completely illegal to eat. They apparently then made their way to our kitchen because lot’s of things are donated to NPH when they can’t be sold or made use of in any other way.

I don’t think this is what the eat local food movement meant.

3 comments:

Nora B. said...

I have to admit that I've eaten that before while I was in the state of Terengganu, Malaysia, and actually enjoyed it (served warm & gooey). That was a long time ago, I feel a bit guilty about it now.

Nicole said...

It's one of those things I would think I would have realized more quickly, but when it's there sitting in front of you, it seems ok!

Laguna de Apoyo said...

Thanks for the story. Anyone selling or serving turtle eggs in Nicaragua should be "outed". We could be looking at the end of a species, the situation is that serious. See our blog on the issue: http://lagunadeapoyo.blogspot.com/2011/04/dont-eat-turtle-eggs.html
We are interested in knowing of any case of turtle egg commerce.
Thanks again. Jeffrey