Recently, at Costco, we ran across a case of an unusual-sounding drink: Golden Nest brand “Swallows Nest Beverage,” nestled right next to the Frappuccinos for the price of 8 bottles for $20. We thought the “nest” part was perhaps just a brand name or a metaphor, but it turns out that this drink is actually made from an edible bird’s nest, a prized culinary ingrediant in China. This ingrediant is more commonly known as “Edible bird’s nests,” and are actual bird nests created by varieties of swiftlet birds out of hardened saliva. Yep, you read that right. The nests are prized for their purported health benefits and contain a large amount of amino acids. Birds nests can go for hundreds or thousands of dollars per kilo, so a price of less than $3 per bottle seems quite reasonable!
Eating The World 