Key Points
- Doja Cat has released a new single titled Balut, which she says was inspired by a Filipino street food she’d eaten.
- She describes it as a bird being eaten alive.
- But social media users have pointed out Balut doesn’t involve live birds.
US rapper Doja Cat has released a new single titled Balut, which she says was inspired by a Filipino street food she’d eaten, but some social media users have accused her of misunderstanding and misrepresenting food and culture in the Philippines.
Director of Filipino Food Movement Australia Anna Manlulo explains Balut is the fertilised embryo of a duck, which is a popular street food in Filipino and Vietnamese culture.
Balut is the Tagalog term for the dish which Manlulo says is indigenous to the Philippines.
“I named the song ‘Balut’ because it signifies a bird that’s being eaten alive,” Doja Cat wrote in an Instagram Story on Sunday.
“It’s a metaphor for Twitter stans (obsessive fans) and the death of Twitter toxicity. The beginning of ‘X’ and the end of ‘tweets.’”
But social media users have pointed out that the dish is cooked and doesn’t involve a live bird.
“Eaten alive? Who eats balut alive? Girl, you don’t need to shame my culture if you don’t understand it,” said a user on X.
Posts about the new single on X had a note added to them indicating: “Readers added context they thought people might want to know.”
“Balut does not signify a ‘bird being eaten alive’. It’s a food in Filipino culture, often seen as a delicacy. Balut is a fertilised bird egg (usually a duck) which is incubated for period, and then steamed. The contents are eaten directly from the shell.”
Manlulo said people are often squeamish about Balut, because it doesn’t look like a regular white and orange egg when you crack it open.
“I think Doja Cat’s a creative artist. And she would have the license to write songs, sing songs … but I don’t really see how Filipino food is relevant here,” Manlulo said.
Misconceptions around Filipino food are ‘common’
People often think about Filipino food in a simplistic way and are surprised at how much diversity there is within the cuisine, Manlulo said.
“The stereotype is Filipino is brown, it’s greasy it’s fatty, but it’s not, that’s a misconception.
“A lot of people are surprised when they learn about our food because they’re so unfamiliar with it and so many people don’t know about it even though Filipinos are the fifth biggest migrant group in Australia.”
Manlulo said the Filipino restaurant scene is growing and being celebrated in Australia, beyond small pockets of Sydney.
“It’s the ultimate fusion cuisine, which came from colonisation, from the Spanish and Chinese Malay, Japanese and US influences and there are indigenous influences as well.
“We want people to know that restaurants are opening up and pop-up events are happening all the time.”
