With that, 27-year-old Hollis resident Wayne Algenio set a record for balut-eating in New York, the first competition of its kind in the city.
In a YouTube video, Wayne could be seen focused at stuffing his mouth, drinking bottled water and occasionally dancing. At the end of the Maharlika-organized contest, he was awarded the championship belt, bits of ‘balut’ or days-old duck fetus still stuck around his mouth.
“I’m very excited about being the balut champ of New York,” Wayne told The FilAm. “I didn’t realize how much media coverage there was.”
“This contest was my first experience with ‘balut’ and I didn’t really get the full taste of it because I was just shoving it into my mouth and eating it as fast as possible,” he described the summer afternoon contest held in Brooklyn’s DeKalb market. “I did not have a tummy ache afterwards; actually I was still hungry.”
Wayne works as a sterilization technician at SurgiCare of Manhattan. He studied at CUNY’s John Jay College.
He has participated in a Dani’s pizza-eating contest and placed fourth, winning $100.
He has participated in a Dani’s pizza-eating contest and placed fourth, winning $100.
For this competition, Wayne won a belt and no cash prize. “Just receiving a belt was more than enough for me,” he said.
He vowed to be back next year “to defend my title.”
