What You Need To Know About Eggs

The glorious, unadulterated, sheer perfection of the egg, but here’s what you need to know about eggs. The French celebrity of egg in cuisine and culture is both intensely emotional and intellectual. The egg arrogantly embodies flavors of cream and cheese while being neither. The original town and country companion as it comforts with great sophistication. It’s an irritatingly perfect balance of fat and protein. As a result, it demands organic.

As a chef, I bow to the egg in all cuisine. But one would be hard pressed to approach or dominate French cuisine without the use of an egg. French culinary triumphs rule the day with the soufflé, mayonnaise, merengue, creme brûlée, cake, omelette, salad nicoise, croquet madame — all impossible without the egg. Certainly, this is a short list.

Small children and beginner cooks throughout the world first learn to do one simple thing — crack and scramble an egg. French cuisine celebrates eggs from a variety of birds but for a moment, we celebrate the chicken egg.

Oh precious hen — we love you!

What You Need to Know About Eggs: From Farm to Market

What You Need To Know About Eggs, Chef Missy, The French Magnolia

STEP 1. Hens ovulate to reproduce. In chickens, an unfertilized egg is eliminated. There are many misconception about chickens. For example, they are not always naturally “giving” eggs. Hens at large commercial hatcheries experience fear, trauma and anxiety and their breeding is forced. Modern hens are forced to lay around 300 eggs per year. Natural hens from small organic farms lay around 150 to 200 the first year with a decline the following years. Wild hens lay only 10 to 15 eggs per year in the spring —enough eggs to assure survival of their genes.

STEP 2. Eggs are collected. Ideally, eggs should be collected the day after they are laid. The USDA requires processing within 30 days of lay. High-quality eggs are collected and processed within seven days of lay.

STEP 3. Eggs should be completely cooled at room temperature.

STEP 4. What you need to know about eggs is that they are then cleaned and disinfected to prepare for selling in a commercial market. Most importantly, the cleaning process separates the good eggs from the bad. Consequently, during this process chemicals and contaminants are introduced to conventional that compromise your eggs.

Local farmer eggs are usually unpasterized and may have a coating on the outside of the shell. Most importantly, can be quickly rinsed with tepid water and stored not he counter.

STEP 5. Candling and Grading. Candling is a measure for assessing the interior quality of the eggs whereby eggs are held up in front of a high-intensity light and visually examined in order to receive a grade, like ‘Grade A’. After that, cracks are identified and eggs is discarded.

STEP 6. The eggs are packed, labelled and then travel to the market.

The Big AHA: What You Need to Know About Eggs

ORGANIC

The guidelines for organic producers and organic pasture raised eggs is strict. They must perform a wet-cleaning using non-synthetic detergents (there’s a list). Most of them use a mixture of vinegar, water and hydrogen peroxide. This is a very quick process. Subsequently, a dry brushing technique is highly recommended for small producers.

CONVENTIONAL

Conventional eggs and omega-3 ‘enriched eggs’ are cleaned and disinfected with synthetic chemicals such as chlorine and lye. Cheap factory farms are reckless negligent when washing with chlorine and lye. For instance, when chemicals raise higher than 40 degrees, the egg risks thermal cracking. The egg literally sucks the washing solution into it without an actual physical crack.

Quick Labeling Guide

Conventional or Factory Farms Eggs: These are your standard supermarket eggs. The chickens are usually raised in an overfilled hen house or a cage and never see the light of day. They are usually fed grain-based corn crap, supplemented with synthetic vitamins and minerals. In addition, they are cleaned in lye and chlorine and usually treated with antibiotics and hormones.

Omega-3 Enriched Eggs: These are Still factory farms. They are like conventional chickens except that their feed is supplemented with an Omega-3 source like flax seeds. May have Omega-6 added which is not beneficial and can be harmful for human consumption. Usually treated with antibiotics and hormones.

Organic Eggs: Were not treated with antibiotics or hormones and received organic corn-free feed. Live both an indoor and outdoor life.

Pasture-Raised Organic Eggs: Chickens are allowed to roam free, eating plants and insects (their natural food) along with some corn-free commercial feed.

Nutrition at a glance – one egg has:

About 70 calories. It has 5 grams of excellent fat – 2 grams of saturated fat (required for organ function) and 0 trans fats (what you get from fried food).

About 200 mg of cholesterol (the GOOD kind), a little natural sodium, 0 carbs, 0 fiber, 0 sugars and 6 grams of protein.

Vitamin A, D, E, a little Calcium. Iron which transports oxygen to cells. Excellent source of phosphorus and B12.

Selenium which is an antioxidant and regulates the thyroid hormone. Zinc which helps with healing wounds and blood formation.

Why French Eggs Are Cleaner

French farming laws are very strict. As a result, there are literally hundreds of pesticides and dangerous chemicals commonly used throughout America that are illegal in France. French air and soil is simply cleaner. The chickens are smaller, but breathe a cleaner geo-bacterium. Geo-bacterium is natural bacteria that rises up off the soil and settles on animals…or cheese (or humans).

French law protects and celebrates the farmer, so in general, there are more local farmers and farmers markets. French people have access to fresh produce, eggs and meats that were grown and raised closer their homes.

Dispelling The French Omelette Myth

1. Omelette ‘alumete’ is a French word, and was first officially used in a French cooking publication, Cuisine Bourgeois in the late 17th century. The word ‘alumete’ was used as early as the 14th century but could have come to the French language and culture from the Romans. The Romans claim to have been making omelettes before the French. That is to say, they claim to have introduced it to what is now modern-day France. Hmmm…sounds like an old, personal grudge. Best leave that one alone.

2. Perhaps the omelette’s most famous historic moment was that Napoleon Bonaparte and his army were traveling through a small town, where a local innkeeper served him an omelette. Napoleon was so impressed that he ordered that all the eggs in the town to be gathered to create one huge omelette for his army the next day. Whether or not this actually happened, it did mark the beginning of an annual festival in the town of Bessieres, France where every year a giant omelette is made for all the townspeople to enjoy.

3. A true French omelette celebrates just the egg. A French omelette is plain, cooked in a little French butter with fresh herbs, good sea salt and pepper. Cheese and meats are served on the side along with some seasonal mixed greens and baguette.