Speaking of eggs

Whilst waiting for my double macchiato this morning, I spotted the cover of today's Good Living in the SMH which said How To Pick A Good Egg. Further proof that this is indeed a topical blog and that Junior is onto something with his weekend egg binges. Perhaps I can make "Junior's Thoughts on Eggs" as a regular blog topic. Sydney cafes be warned. We are coming to check out your eggs.

Junior will be pleased to see that I used a brown egg in the picture because he has a strange phobia about white eggs. If you see a weirdo in the egg aisle of your local supermarket, re-arranging cartons of eggs, it me making sure our dozen is all brown.

A panel of experts got together to wax lyrical about eggs and rate them out of 100. I won't go into all the detail but suffice to say there are many factors that make a "good egg". One thing to note in particular is the viscosity of the white because I love that word viscosity.

I was particularly chuffed that Jared Ingersoll of Danks Street Depot was on the egg judging panel as I am a big fan of not only his food but his passion for produce and bringing sustainable practices to the forefront of his industry. And quote "Ingersoll was particularly excited when he picked up a ''lovely herbaceous or green taste in the white and the yolk''. How can you not like the guy? I really look forward to when he is on Ready Steady Cook. I could rabbit on about that show forever so I shall save it for another post. The producers of Ready Steady Cook did the right thing by putting Peter Everett at the helm to host the show as without him it would not be half as entertaining. So many accidental double entendres!

Anyway, back to the eggs. And the winners are:

1. Farmer Browns Pastured $8.95


2. Glenrose Biodynamic $11.95
3. Cornucopia $9.50
4. Coles Free Range $4.49
5. Woolworths Select Caged $3.99
6. Woolworths Select Barn $4.69
7. Pace Farm Cage $4.62
8. Pace Farm Free Range $5
9. Clarendon Farms Organic Free Range $7.50
10. Coles Barn Laid $4.79


I am surprised to see caged eggs feature prominently and was also surprised to learn that without packaging guidance, sample tasters could not distinguish between a free-range, barn-laid or cage eggs. ''There were no significant differences in the overall liking of the three different types of eggs,'' it says. ''However, overall, the cage egg was directionally more preferred".

You can read the whole article here and learn many more fun facts about our little yolky friends:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/good-living/how-to-pick-a-good-egg/2009/08/24/1251001848564.html

Verdict: Eggs are where it's at. And as an aside, visit Jared at his restaurant and sample his ever changing menu. Don't be put off by the giant Hillsong centre diagonally across the road! If you are lucky enough to get the Spaghetti with Breadcrumbs, Capers, Anchovies and Chilli as an option- do yourself a favour and order it. Delicious.

Danks Street Depot
1/2 Danks Street
Waterloo NSW 2017
http://www.danksstreetdepot.com.au/