Since I visited B in Virginia back in last September, I've been habouring a small obsession on duck eggs. You see, we went to the farm for his herd-share and I saw that occasionally they have duck eggs available for sale. I know that duck eggs are prized for their incomparable flavour and some pastry recipes even specifically ask for duck eggs instead of chicken eggs for better taste. That trip made me realize my key to duck eggs lies in the hand of small local farms.
Then winter came along and I still couldn't get those duck eggs out of mind. Shopping regularly at Greenbarn Market and getting farm-fresh free-range chicken eggs from my CSA only made me more determine to find them. My logic goes, if fresh chicken eggs already taste this amazing, then farm-fresh duck eggs must be out of this world!
After months of obsessing, my wish has at last been granted. Stoddart Family Farm comes to Wychwood Greenbarn Market every last Saturday of the month. I signed up to be on their mailing list and last week, I received the news I've been waiting for. Since the oncoming of spring, the ducks start laying eggs again! I made arrangement to reserve a dozen for me immediately. Needless to say, I was smiling ear to ear when they handed me my long-awaited duck eggs this morning.
It was not a hard decision coming up with ways to enjoy my first taste of duck eggs. Fried sunny-side-up, of course. I want to be able to discern the taste of the eggs without distraction. Once upon a time, I received a mini frying pan as a gift. I never used it because it seemed a little silly to me, especially with the egg figure handle. I do like my fried eggs perfectly round...perhaps the pan is not that silly after all.
Well, removing the packaging material of the frying pan was unexpectedly messy. There is something ironic about an overly hardworking sticker that simply refused to part from the nonstick pan surface. I had to boil it off. Hmm.
I cracked an egg into a small bowl and marvelled at the differences between duck and chicken eggs. The yolk is noticeably bigger and the white is perfectly clear. The way the shell cracked also felt different...a little softer and more pliable. As a testament to the egg's freshness, the yolk stands tall and firm.
I heated up a small pat of butter in the hot frying pan and gently slid an egg into the pan. It sizzled and cooked up in no time. I sprinkled just the tiniest pinch of salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.
It was everything I hoped for. The egg tasted so rich and so eggy, like something that a supermarket chicken egg can only dream to be. The best way that I can describe the taste is they take a few regular eggs and smoosh them into one. A concentrated essence of eggs. Of course it was still just an egg. But it was the best egg I've ever tasted. If only B can taste it too.
