The main – and very likely only – consumers of bird’s nest are the Chinese, including the diaspora, who prize the expensive by-product of avian spit for its nutritive properties.
Anecdotal evidence attests to its efficacy in maintaining a youthful appearance if taken over a long period of time.
Given the long-held belief among the Chinese of the value of bird’s nest, which is shown by its price – a premium variety retails at HK$2,990 (US$380) per tael, or 37.8 grams, at a popular bird’s nest shop in Hong Kong – one cannot but wonder why evidence of its remarkable effects, beyond the anecdotal, remains elusive.
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A popular story purports that Zheng He (1371-1433) – the Ming dynasty mariner, diplomat and eunuch who led seven naval expeditions from China to Southeast Asia and the littoral states of the Indian Ocean – was the first Chinese person to consume bird’s nest.
During one of his voyages, Zheng’s storm-battered fleet anchored at an uninhabited island in the Malay Archipelago. Running low on food, Zheng ordered his men to forage.
They found large quantities of swiftlets’ nests on the walls of a cave. They picked them and boiled and ate them.
A few days later, the members of the fleet had glowing faces and were all in the pink of health. Zheng brought some of the nests back to China, where he presented them to the emperor. Ever since then, the Chinese people have enjoyed the rare delicacy.
This account sounds like a product’s “brand story” made up by marketing professionals. Zheng was appropriated simply because he was the most famous personality in the history of China’s interactions with Southeast Asia.
However, the fact is that ordinary Chinese had been sailing to the Malay Archipelago centuries before Zheng. It’s not inconceivable that some of these buccaneers, traders or economic migrants brought bird’s nests back to China.
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The myth that Zheng introduced bird’s nest to China is easily disproved. Jia Ming (1269-1374), who died when Zheng was a toddler, wrote in his book, Essential Knowledge of Food and Drink, that “bird’s nests are sweet and mild of taste. Those that have turned yellow, black or mouldy are poisonous. Do not eat them.”
We don’t know for sure if bird’s nest was already widely known in Jia’s time, but by the middle of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), bird’s nest had become a luxury food that featured prominently on palace menus.
On an autumn morning in 1884, a palace log book recorded that seven out of more than 30 breakfast dishes prepared for Empress Dowager Cixi contained bird’s nest.
Today, demand for bird’s nest remains high despite its prohibitive price. As long as Chinese people today are convinced that the fountain of youth gushes with expensive bird spit, it may be wise for me to consider that investment opportunity.
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