My farm fresh eggs after their bath. Daniel Lane photo

Several weeks ago, I bought a dozen farm fresh eggs at the farmers market. I didn’t open them up at the stand because I’ve grown accustomed to trusting local farmers. I just paid for them and put them in my bag. They were going into a Spanish omelet for dinner, along with some young onions. When I got home, I opened the recycled, grocery store carton, and was alarmed to see bits of dirt, and what I imagined to be poop, clinging to the eggs.

My first thought was, “UGH! There’s got to be salmonella on these shells! When I crack these eggs open, it’s going to get inside!” I carefully laid them in a sink full of water, and scrubbed them clean. Then I scrubbed my hands and the sink. I was horrified, and immediately called one of my favorite farmers.

Lee and Sky at North Country Farms. Daniel Lane photo

“A chicken’s egg is porous,” says Sky Roversi, who’s grown up on farm fresh eggs. “When it’s laid, it has a thin, wet coating that is powdery when it dries. In this state, the egg is stable and hygienic because it will sit for two weeks or more before the hen tries to hatch it. They’re designed to be laid directly into a nest, and sit there in a dry, sheltered spot, at ambient air temperature, for a couple of weeks.”

I met Lee Roversi and her son Sky when I went to their farm to interview them for MidWeek Kauai. I also posted “Redefining CSAs and B&Bs on Kauai” which describes their unique Community Supported Agriculture program and vacation cottages. Lee and Sky are organic farmers, longtime residents and well-respected members of the community.

The powdery coating that Sky told me about is known as bloom, and it protects the egg from harmful bacteria while allowing it to breathe. Once the egg gets wet, that protective coating gets washed off , and the porous shell becomes vulnerable to invasion.

“The eggs from large egg operations are pristine on the outside because they’ve been washed with a cleansing agent,” Sky explains. “They put the eggs into a big, rotating vat that spins them around and washes them off with little mechanical brushes.

A free range chicken at a local farm on Kauai. Daniel Lane photo

“While they’re in that vat, they’re bouncing around in the water,” he continues. “with broken eggs, rotten eggs, manure and chemicals from the cleaning agent. So all of that, in tiny amounts, routinely penetrates the eggs. Those pristine eggs may actually be dirtier on the inside than farm fresh eggs that were never washed.”

In April of this year, a New York Times op-ed columnist, Nicholas D. Kristof, reported on the pending results of an undercover investigation by The Humane Society of the United States against Kreider Farms, an egg factory farm that house millions of chickens and produces 4.5 million eggs every day. Kristof was privy to photographs, video footage, and interviewed  the investigator who found rodents in hen houses, countless flies at the facilities, dead birds among the living in cages, and massive waste piles.

“Mice sometimes ran down egg conveyer belts, barns were thick with flies and manure in three barns tested positive for salmonella he said. (Actually, salmonella isn’t as rare as you might think, turning up in 3 percent of egg factory farms tested by the Food and Drug Administration last year.),” Kristof writes.

According to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, salmonella lives in the intestinal tract of humans and other animals, including birds. Salmonella is usually transmitted to humans by eating foods contaminated with animal feces. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says approximately 42,000 cases of salmonellosis (an infection caused by the bacteria salmonella) are reported in the United States each year, and most people recover without treatment.

“If you buy eggs from a small flock, or someone’s back yard,” explains Sky, “you don’t have issues with the pathogens that you do at large egg farms.” That makes sense to me. Before factory farms, families lived on farm fresh eggs for over a thousand of years.

“We don’t wash our eggs, and we don’t refrigerate them,” he continues. “Chickens have a strong instinct to avoid fouling their nests. Sometimes, they have an accident. I wouldn’t put those eggs in a carton to sell, but I would eat them myself within a couple of days.”

Organic, fresh egg on left; factory farmed egg on right. Daniel Lane photo

Sky says an unwashed egg that comes from a clean nest will last 2-weeks if stored at room temperature, out of the sun, before the protein starts to break down.

“If you crack an older egg into a frying pan,” says Sky, “the yolk will be a little bit flat, and kind of sag, and the white will also. With a really fresh egg, there’s usually two parts to the white. There’s an inner part, that’s a little thicker, and there’s the outer part that’s more liquid. A fresh egg will stand up in the pan, and not spread out.”

If you happen to get some dirty looking farm fresh eggs, don’t freak out. Those eggs are an authentic gift straight from Mother Nature. If it makes you feel better, clean them before you use them.

Hukilau Lanai’s Herb Mayonnaise

Hukilau Lanai’s homemade mayonnaise. Marta Lane photo

My aunt in Spain taught me how to make allioli, a traditional sauce similar to the mayonnaise recipe below. You may be familiar with the French term aioli, but neither one requires egg whites. We serve allioli on grilled lamb chops, chicken and fish; boiled potatoes; fried breadfruit and fresh or steamed vegetables. A dollop is even good on our Hawaiian Paella.

Ron Miller, owner of Hukilau Lanai, shared his recipe for homemade mayonnaise with me. “I love mayo because it can be used for so many things,” he says. “Add a few drops of truffle oil, or a pinch of curry powder, and you can take it in any direction. We make an herb oil by blending fresh herbs and a few quarts of oil. A pinch of salt helps the herb oil last a little longer.”

This recipe makes a generous 2 1/2 cups, and it’s addicting. It’s so good, you’ll look for any food to act as a delivery system! I think it would be lovely as a salad dressing, elevate potato or macaroni salad, and delicious spread on BLTs, or tossed in tuna sandwiches.

• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2  cups herb oil*, or any oil
• 
2 garlic cloves, minced
• 
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 scallion
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot, or onion – optional
• 1/2 teaspoon vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

In a food processor or blender add: eggs, garlic, Dijon, salt, pepper, cayenne, and shallots. Puree for 20 seconds. With the motor running, slowly add half the oil. Then slowly add the lemon juice and vinegar and then slowly add the rest of the oil. The aioli should be thick like store bought mayo. If not add more oil. Store in the refrigerator.

* Herb Oil: Blend 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil with 1/2 cup of neural flavored oil and herbs to taste. I made the mayonnaise pictured above with 1/2 cup of fresh Mexican oregano.