CHINESE DELICACY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 August 1940, Page 6

CHINESE DELICACY

•BIRDS’ EDIBLE NESTS. HALT. MARK OF OPULENCE. T'o say in China that a man eats birds’ nests is equivalent to saying that he is a grandee or a person of opulence. The nests which are in such repute are not formed of clay, like those of English swallows, but are made of a substance resembling isinglass, which is understood by some to be gathered from certain marine matter. "The birds' nests." states a writer, "are those obtained in deep damp caves,, and are taken before the birds have laid their eggs. The coarsest are those obtained after the young have been fledged. The finest nests are the whitest, that is. those taken before the nest has been rendered impure by the food and faeces of the young birds. "They are taken twice a year. and. if regularly collected, will produce the same amount time after time. "Some of the caverns are extremely difficult of access, and the nests can only be collected by persons accustomed "from their youth to taking them. In one place the caves are only to be approached by a perpendicular descent of many hundred feet by ladders of bamboo and rattan, over a sea rolling violently'against the rocks. "When the mouth of the cavern is attained, the perilous task of taking the nests must often be done by torch light andby penetrating into the recesses of the rock, where the slightest, trip would be instantly fatal to the adventurers. The only preparation made to the birds’ nests is that of simple drying; without direct exposure to the sun. after which they are packed in small boxes. They are assorted for the Chinese market into three kinds, according to their qualities. "They are consumed only by the great: and. indeed, the best part is sent to the capital for the consumption of the court. The Chinese use them under the imagination that they are powerfully stimulating and tonic: but it is probable that their most, valuable quality is their being perfectly harmless. The people of Japan, who so much resemble the Chinese in many of their habits, have no taste for the edible nests, and how the latter acquired a taste Cor this foreign commodity is no less singular than their persevering in