An egg's an egg, right? Not quite, as they're not equal in weight or taste.
One of the hardest tasting panels you could ever agree to be on is surely the epic tasting of coddled eggs from 14 unknown egg farms.
We judges gathered at 9am to see if, in a blind tasting, we could identify differences between eggs from free-range, barn-raised or caged hens.
Ten of us examined the colour, sheen and viscosity of the yolk and the setting strength of the egg white as well as the flavour. Before I declare our findings, let's look at where the egg has travelled.
A recent Close Up poll surveyed Kiwis on whether farming practices influenced their shopping decisions. Of the respondents, 59 per cent said it did, a lot. To meet this increased buyer awareness, the SPCA has started a Blue Tick certification programme which identifies animal products, including eggs, produced in a cruel-free manner. In other words, the animals have had a good quality of life with freedom from hunger, thirst, discomfort, pain, injury, disease, fear, distress and the opportunity to express their natural behaviour. To earn the blue tick, producers must meet the SPCA's welfare standards, monitored by qualified inspectors.
When it comes to cooking with eggs, size definitely matters - especially in baking. New Zealand eggs range in size: jumbos, or size 8, are about 68g; large 7s are 62g; standard 6s are 53g; and medium 5s are 44g. As baking needs precision and most recipes don't specify egg size, these variations can very easily ruin your creme caramel or choux pastry.
Your best bet is to carefully weigh and measure your eggs in millilitres - it takes a bit of trial and error but with frequently made recipes using whole eggs, you'll soon work out which size works best.
But back to the egg tasting, the winner, by a wafer-thin margin of half a point, was an IEP barn-raised egg, ahead of tied second placing of Frenz and Zeagold free-range eggs.
* Paul Jobin will be making "Bugger! I dropped the pav" - a reworked version of the English classic Eton Mess at the Indulge Food Festival at Pt Chevalier School, Auckland, 6.30pm Saturday December 4. indulgefoodfestival.co.nz
