Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Duck eggs, duck eggs, wherefore art thou duck eggs


Fat Guy

Recommended Posts

Awhile back I had a dish at a restaurant in New York, Casa Mono, that was topped with a sunny side up duck egg. It was amazing. I realized then and there that duck eggs are bigger, richer and more interestingly flavored than chicken eggs.

Presumably, there are a lot of ducks out there. I see duck sold in many different supermarkets and gourmet shops, not to mention Asian markets. Duck is a popular restaurant dish. So is foie gras, which in the US is duck liver.

Yet, I almost never see duck eggs in restaurants, and I can't recall ever seeing them in the supermarket.

Why not? They're great. I'd buy them.

Steven A. Shaw aka "Fat Guy"
Co-founder, Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, sshaw@egstaff.org
Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code
Director, New Media Studies, International Culinary Center (take my food-blogging course)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fat Guy - here in the UK duck eggs are pretty popular both in restaurants and in many supermarkets. I agree that they have a luxurious taste and feel that far surpasses chicken eggs. If you boil them for 7 minutes you get a perfectly textured egg that is just delicious - no yucky watery stuff like you sometimes get with a chicken egg. They need a little longer to cook as they tend to be larger.

Also great in a salad with some frisee and lardons - yum.

You could try your local chinese market - I believe that they are commonly used in Chinese cuisine.

PS Have you tried Gulls eggs - they are delicious. I've eaten them at Fergus Henderson's restaurant with some smoked salt. Sublime!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think people get grossed out by unfamiliar animal products. Why waste the supermarket shelf space if they won't sell?

I recently bought some turkey eggs and was wondering why I'd never heard of them before. A little googleing suggested that it's more profitable to raise turkeys and slaughter them than to use the eggs for food (the turkey eggs were really cheap). Maybe it is the same for ducks?

My mother knows a girl who has a pet duck who sells the eggs to pay for the feed. When my sisters lived at home they refused to eat them. My grandmother thought this was funny as she had been feeding them the eggs, but didn't think to tell them they were from ducks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sure they're at Fairway or Citarella. Not mainstream enough to be in a supermarket. Quail eggs too. Both available from D'Artagnan. Ostrich eggs, now there's one I want to see on the shelf! Use a large paella pan to serve sunny side up :laugh:

Lisa K

Lavender Sky

"No one wants black olives, sliced 2 years ago, on a sandwich, you savages!" - Jim Norton, referring to the Subway chain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think at least one of the main reasons why duck eggs don't turn up in big numbers in supermarkets is simply because it's not possible to farm ducks - for eggs or for meat - by the kind of intensive, battery-cage methods that are used to produce cheap poultry and eggs.

And without doubt, the best eggs I've ever had are duck eggs - sold by people keeping them in the garden and feeding them scraps etc; even better than chicken eggs produced that way, richer and generally just all-round yummier!

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.

Virginia Woolf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have seen duck eggs in Farmer Markets all over the country!...the larger egg venders will usually have at least a few boxes of duck eggs ..also I have seen them at produce venders where they might a few boxes as well off to the side...

....in my opinion based only on a extensive history of egg consumption... it is worth it to me to search out eggs chicken duck or even the giant goose eggs from people who sell produce and just have a few chickens ..those eggs are a big score to me..usually dirt cheap ... those chickens, geese or ducks have been eating the trimmings off those veggies ..have insanely beautiful yolks and taste wonderful...

why am I always at the bottom and why is everything so high? 

why must there be so little me and so much sky?

Piglet 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Quattro Farms stand at the Union Square greenmarket almost always has duck eggs. I wasn't wild about them. You practically needed a hammer to break them, and at least the ones from Quattro weren't that "interesting."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[pendantic] Off-topic, but I must point out that the word "wherefore" does not mean "where", it means "why". When Juliet says "Wherefore art thou, Romeo" she is not asking where he is! [/pedantic]

Si

Oh thank you...it was bugging me too :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

As for 'where' to get duck eggs, I second the Asian market suggestion. I'm pretty sure I've seen duck eggs at my big Asian supermarket (and quail eggs, if anyone is after them).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...