Comments on: Bird’s Nests – The Most Expensive Local Ingredient?

By: michael

michael — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:51:57 +0000

where i can uy it here in the philippines?
thank you

By: Henry

Henry — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:30:55 +0000

There are also socio-political issues surrounding these very expensive bird nests…The “cave nests” are traditionally harvested from high up on cave walls. There is a tremendous risk to the collectors who stand on bamboo scaffolding that is sometimes hundreds of feet tall and centuries old. Over the past years, the demand, the price, and the overexploitation of these nests have increased parallel to the increased of deaths in the process of harvests due to the risks involved in harvesting the latter. Sad really.

By: weng

weng — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 07:11:37 +0000

Hi, just surfing and decide to search more about this tiny birds. just curios coz i have them in my place for few years now in in bsement. our house is not done yet dats why .I love to see dem flying in n out of the house. their sounds is my music. A magical feeling i would say being able to witness them how they live nd build thier nest, lay their eggs and being able to hold them in my hands, the cute tiny birds with their unopened eyes, pink color and featherless, so delicate nd innocent. having them at home gives me a sense healing just by witnessing them so closely. Watching them how dey patiently build der nest, gain my respect for these little ones. More or less i have around 200 nests and more or less 500 birds lately. Maybe more than a thousand if my not for my gourmet mother and daughter cats discovered them where they live and gradually consume them for more than a year. thank god my husband decided to send our lovely cats to our parents . my problem will be , how to keep them at home when our house will have complet windows and we, living together. We plan though of having one or two basement window wth grills for their access in getting in and out without entering in our living area. Thanks for the information. God bless you.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Thu, 03 May 2007 01:47:38 +0000

cecil, if you read the entire post, you would know that I don’t eat it, why would I help encourage selling it?

By: cecil

cecil — Wed, 02 May 2007 03:50:31 +0000

heyy!!!i wonder if you can help me get a buyer of birds nets.plss..plsss..plsss–marketman

By: benj

benj — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 03:26:59 +0000

what could those be? Chicharon? hehe

By: Marketman

Marketman — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 01:01:03 +0000

benj, I can’t imagine that an instant knorr soup would have much of the real thing in it at all…it is just way too expensive to have in a modestly priced preparation…

By: benj

benj — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 12:44:37 +0000

I’ve always wondered about this so please fill me in. Nido soup is the same as bird’s nest soup, right? If it’s so expensive, how come Knorr sells them at fairly low prices? If the “bird’s nest” that Knorr uses isn’t the real thing, then I have yet to taste the real “bird’s nest”. hehe

By: pixeldose

pixeldose — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 07:51:30 +0000

The last time I had a grilled Chilean sea bass was some two years ago in my favorite local seafood resto here in the SF Bayarea. And even back then, I could understand why people loved it so much. It’s almost ‘melt-in-your-mouth’ taste is just out of this world. It’s a cold-water fish so it’s got so much fat on it’s skin … you could actually hear it sizzle on the hot grill as they get cooked. Okay, enough with the visuals here … :)

I did give up on it since then as I’ve become more aware of its precarious and threatened existence. From what I could gather, this fish has a slow growth rate. The females may take up to ten years to reach sexual maturity, thereby potentially hampering the flock’s recovery once the stock has been depleted.

I still see them large filets of sea bass at the local asian stores though. And they’re not cheap … but yeah, they’re still selling them around here. As for my favorite seafood resto, I’ve yet to re-visit them to find out if they still carry the item. I’m thinking the boycott is probably still in effect.

By: i'lltaketwoplease

i'lltaketwoplease — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 05:49:30 +0000

Great write up. We’ve all been guilty of over-consumerism (is that a word?) which is resulting in our resources being depleted. Chilean seabass was banned several years ago (around 2000) in California menus when it became apparent they were being overfished. I was surprised when I started seeing it again in menus in Las Vegas and other cities (including CA cities) in recent years. In fact, when I had my wedding in Makati in October, we served seabass. There actually is a difference and there are several types of seabass, and there might be some mis-identification going on. I would not have served the endangered variety. I think there was a debate as to whether or not Chilean seabass are indeed endangered, but at the rate that all kinds of food sources are being consumed without thought of re-stocking or the consequences, I wouldn’t be surprised it they will be soon if not already.

It’s sad how the attitude of “it’s not our problem” can cause the ripple effect which can lead to extinction or depletion. If we can each take a stand and realize the power of one person and the choices we make, we can preserve our resources so that many, many, many more generations can enjoy what we have now.