A note on choosing eggs: Wherever they appear in your meal, spare no pennies to get the freshest, tastiest eggs you can. I want yolks the color of saffron that sit plump and high on the clear, thick, jellylike whites. If the white is thin overall and watery at the edge, the egg may be too feeble to turn into a fluffy omelette or frittata. Eggshell color is about hen variety and is no guarantee of great flavor, but the best eggs we get are from well-tended and well-fed hens that produce brown or blue eggs. Try all the different colors and "brands" of eggs you can find, then choose the one that delivers flavor and freshness. Even the most expensive egg makes a very economical meal.
Judy Rodgers, The Zuni Cafe Cookbook
One thing that I haven't missed during the Eat Local Challenge is eggs - we have plenty of options here in the Bay Area for local eggs: Marin Sun Farms, Petaluma Farms Eggs, Nash's Eggs, Ludwig Avenue Farm to name a few. Now, there is a newcomer to the egg scene: Eatwell Farm, which is a familiar certified-organic vendor at several Bay Area farmers markets, is now selling eggs under the brand of "Three Wise Hens". I initially heard that these eggs would only be available to CSA members, but they were available at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market on Saturday and the farmer, Nigel, expects them to be available on a regular basis from this point forward.
I didn't do a side-by-side comparison, but I found them to be just delicious. We taste-tested them by poaching and setting atop a portabella mushroom (Solano Mushroom Farm), roasted tomato (New Zealand Pink Paste from Eatwell - my current favorite tomato), Capricious cheese and basil (Eatwell). I modified this recipe by using less oil and the ingredients aforementioned.
At $6/dozen, prices rival Marin Sun Farms as the highest in town.
Who's up for a Bay Area Egg Taste Test?
Photo by flourphoto.
