Birds nest soup

This has been a much sought after delicacy in Chinese cuisine for over 400 years. The nests in question are made from the saliva of two Indonesian species of swift. One species builds white nests and the other red. The red nests are five times the price of the white and a bowl of soup made from the former can cost over 100 US dollars. Soups made from both nests are very rich in iron, magnesium, calcium and potassium. Indonesia has a very lucrative export market for these nests, which mainly go to Hong Kong and the United States.