Eggs, organic (with recipe)

            A good egg is hard to find! Today most hens liver in overcrowded, disease-ridden, factory-type conditions-where a flock of 15,000 is considered small – without fresh air, natural light, or fresh food. They are fed antibiotics, Methedrine, tranquilizers, chemicals to make the yolk appear more yellow, and additives to make the shell harder.

           

            How does one find eggs from chickens whose feet still touch the old-fashioned earth?

            If you live in the city this is often a problem, and while a health food store can often provide you with a tasty (if expensive) solution, just as frequently it cannot. “Organic” egg production itself is often industrialized; the result – eggs that are undoubtedly healthier, but just as tasteless as the supermarket special. Try to find a store that deals with a specific farmer; or better still, take a drive and find the farmer yourself, or go to a local farmers’ market. It is worth the effort. Though free-range and omega-3-enriched eggs (these eggs have come from chickens fed an omega-rich diet) have become increasingly available, the fact remains that they still do not rival a farm-fresh egg either in color or flavor.

            A healthy egg not only tastes better but also is rich in protein, vitamins A, B, and D, and contains sodium, phosphorus, potassium, and lecithin – without contamination by cancerous cells and noxious chemicals. Fertile eggs are better for you than nonfertile eggs; but in mechanized egg production the rooster is just a nuisance – he eats too much and causes too much excitement among the lucky hens. And fertile eggs cannot be made to last for weeks and weeks they way nonfertile ones can – all in all a poor risk in our money – conscious society. If your child is allergic to nonfertile eggs, try searching out some fertile ones for him or her; often those who are allergic to one can tolerate the other.

            Tell how fresh an egg is by putting it in a bowl of water. If it sinks, it is fresh. If it floats, it is rotten. If it wavers in the middle, it is okay- but cook it well, and eat it in a hurry!

            Free-running chickens are also a tremendous natural insect control – one of the factors that makes their eggs and meat that much richer than the ersatz products of the egg-chicken factories of today.

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HOMEMADE MAYONNAISE

2 egg yolks

5 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 ½ cups olive oil, approximately

• Mix all ingredients except the olive oil in a blender, or preferably, with a hand mixer. Slowly add the olive oil as you beat the mixture, until the mayonnaise reaches the desired level of thickness – smooth and thick enough to work as a dipping sauce. As soon as you have reached the desired thickness (homemade mayonnaise will never be thick and gelatinous like conventional, store-bought mayonnaise), stop beating! Like whipping cream, mayonnaise can be taken too far and will separate from overbeating.
• Use as a sandwich spread, a dip for artichokes, or spread directly onto crackers for a delicious treat.