Average Jane Goes to the Market

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Do you ever wonder who buys the organic brown eggs that cost three times as much as the plain white store-brand eggs? Well, that would be me.

I grew up on what my parents referred to as a “gentleman’s farm,” with cats, dogs, horses, peacocks and chickens. When the last of the elderly chickens finally died off, we were forced to begin buying eggs at the grocery store. It was then that I discovered that most grocery store eggs taste awful.

On the farm, you feed chickens corn so the yolks will be a rich, dark yellow. Most store eggs have pallid, flavorless yolks. Also, there’s something much more aesthetically appealing about an egg with a brown shell. Even more fun are araucana eggs, which have blue or green shells. My aunt raises araucanas and is always willing to send me home with several dozen eggs whenever I visit. Here’s hoping she brings some with her when we celebrate her birthday this weekend…

As long as I’ve been doing my own grocery shopping, I’ve bought brown eggs. Until recently, our local store offered a couple different brands of supposedly free-range chicken eggs. One brand looked like it was an offshoot of a larger poultry operation; the other was so down-home that cartons often included little slips of paper with notes about how the flock was doing. (I always thought that if I were an investigative reporter, I would do a story on the “cage free” egg industry to see if the chickens are really as well-treated as all that. How do we know? Are there really a bunch of conscientious chicken-whisperers out there, or is it all a big marketing ploy?)

Anyway, we’ve lately been limited to only one choice of brown egg at my usual store, and there’s nothing about them that says “small farm.” They come in clear plastic cartons (now that’s environmentally friendly!). The insides are pale and flavorless. They’ve been handled so throughly that each egg has a logo rubber-stamped on its tip. The labeling says they’re lower in cholesterol and higher in Omega-3 fatty acids than other eggs. Whatever. All I know is that they make an inferior omelet.

Now that the weather is getting nicer, I think it’s time I made more of a point of going to farmers’ markets for my eggs and veggies. It’s an extra stop, but I think it will be well worth it.

Comments

4 responses to “Average Jane Goes to the Market”

March 17, 2004

Byron

Besides taste, another great thing about brown eggs (and why I prefer them) is that you can more easily pick out any stray egg shell fragments, especially if you’re using a white bowl.

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March 18, 2004

Bakerina

Oh, I love arucana eggs, too. I used to get them from a stand at my farmer’s market, but the price kept getting dearer and dearer, and the stand was selling out earlier and earlier. When the time came that I had to get to the market by 6:45 in the morning to pay $6.00 for a dozen eggs, I knew that I would have to find another way. I haven’t found it yet, but I live in hope.
I once met a food writer who I will not name, but he told me that a darker yolk does not mean a better egg, that the color is determined by the color of the chicken feed, and that if chickens were fed white corn, their yolks would be almost white. Sorry, dude, I’m not buying it. When I crack an egg open and see a brilliant orange yolk, I know that that’s a good sign.
Fortunately, there’s another poultry farm at my market, and their eggs are brilliant. I have to queue up for them, but they are worth it. These eggs taste like a concentrated form of themselves, with flavor notes that almost suggest butter, marigold petals and freshly-cut grass. Lovely, lovely.
I do quite like your page, btw. Thanks for the link. 🙂

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March 26, 2004

tab

Back in the 80’s I raised arucana chickens for the “easter eggs” they laid! The hens themselves are very lovely and colorful. They laid very distinctive colored eggs, including blue, green, pink and lavendar eggs, very rich large yolks and they were the best tasting eggs in the world.

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May 21, 2006

jane sherman

Love the blog, I think every kid should have the chance to experience life as it unfolds and the simple but finer things of life. We ‘ve got a “gentleman’s farm ” as well, dutch rabbits,an embden goose, turkey named “Dinner”(though he’s permanantly been pardoned)three black labs who love all of the above,and a flock of chickens. We had rocks and rhodes, but we have recently started rearing some arucana chicks. My little ones ages 4,3, and 19 mos, love greeting their baby chicks every day for feeding and watering, I love watching my whole gang interact. And the eggs, never tasted better than those collected in your own back yard by your munchkin in his muck boots and footie pajamas grinning from ear to ear beaming with pride!!!

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