If you think hen's eggs are the only option when you want to fry, scramble or poach, think again.
Eggs are a staple in our diets, a great source of protein and there are dozens of ways to cook them. Now, there’s nothing wrong with hen’s eggs, don’t get us wrong, but why not try some of the new eggs that are coming on to the market?
Farms up and down the country are producing turkey, quail, pheasant and even ostrich eggs so have a look at our top producers below and introduce your frying pan to some new friends.
Kelly Bronze – Turkey eggs
Turkey eggs haven’t traditionally made it onto the supermarket shelves. Turkeys lay fewer eggs than hens and most of them are used for breeding our favourite Christmas birds.
Turkey eggs are about one and half times the size of a large hen’s egg and are strongly recommended for baking, giving cakes a light and fluffy texture.
Kelly Bronze started breeding turkeys back in 1972 and have been winning awards left right and centre since. We wanted to know whether award winning turkeys mean award winning eggs. “A turkey’s health is so important,” Paul Kelly told us. “If the turkey is not healthy then it will not lay eggs. It’s nature’s way of not breeding from poor stock.”
Fed on a diet of oats and barley and bedding down in deep straw, Kelly Bronze turkeys are all free range, having the run of the entire farm and roaming in the surrounding meadows.
You can find Kelly Bronze turkey eggs at Waitrose.
Clarence Court – Goose eggs
When you see a Clarence Court crown on your egg, you can be sure it will be top quality. Their family run farms have an incredibly responsible ethos on livestock welfare where all their birds are free range.
Clarence Court goose eggs are sourced from their specialty farm in Praze an beeble, West Cornwall. A goose egg is typically 2 ½ times the size of a hen’s egg with a much richer yolk. Richard Kempsey from Clarence Court told us: “Kids love them! They make the ultimate egg and soldiers.”
You could also try soft boiling them with shavings of truffle or fresh seasonal asparagus. Delicious.
Richard recommends using them in baking and, like turkey eggs, they give a lovely softness to cakes and sponges.
You can find Clarence Court eggs at Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Morissons as well as several smaller retailers.
Garden Quails – Quail eggs
Quails were kept domestically in Ancient Egypt but have since found their way to West Sussex where Sylvia and Charlie Tobutt of Garden Quails have been nurturing them since 2005.
The quails have migrated from their original digs in a rabbit hutch and now play in an open air run before bedding down in deep straw houses. One of the best things for Sylvia and Charlie is to see the quails playing in their straw. “It’s wonderful to see them dive straight in, poking their heads out and chirping happily!” they say.
Garden Quails may have failed to come into existence had it not been for a trip to an agriculture show where Sylvia and Charlie stumbled upon a box of quails. After finding out they didn’t need masses of space to rear them, Sylvia promptly bought the lot!
The Tobutts have been keen to recreate the quails’ natural environment to keep them as comfortable as possible and in order to produce the best quality eggs. Garden Quails supply many retail outlets in West Sussex as well as exhibiting at events across the county.
Mill Farm Pheasants – Pheasant eggs
While many of us will have enjoyed pheasant in a casserole, far fewer of us will have tried their eggs.
With their olive green shells, pheasant eggs almost look too pretty to eat, but you’ll be glad you do once you’ve cracked into one. The deep yellow yolks are larger than a quails but about half the size of a regular hen’s egg.
“Each breed of pheasant produces slightly different tasting eggs,” George West from Mill Farm Pheasants said. “They are such a beautiful looking bird but they don’t come without their problems – they are more challenging to rear than chickens, and they are also more likely to die which obviously creates some problems!”
Mill Farm Pheasants is a family run business situated right on the English/Welsh border. Operating as a commercial farm to begin with, the foot and mouth epidemic meant they diversified and started rearing pheasants instead.
They offer the freshest eggs with none being any older than 24 hours when packed. As well as buying the eggs, you can buy the pheasants themselves if you fancy a bit of DIY egg producing!
Mark Hix encourages people to use pheasant eggs, insisting there is nothing complicated about them, they are simply smaller and richer than a hen’s. They don’t work so well in baking but taste delicious when added to salads.