Raw Eggs...mmm Tastes Like Chicken

(CLICK PICTURES TO ENLARGE AND ENJOY)

Maybe it's from watching Rocky do it as a kid, maybe it's my animal instincts crying out, but whatever it is I've always wanted to eat a raw egg.  Growing up at the height of the supermarket era, believing eggs magically appeared by the dozen in cartons, I was always told to never eat a raw egg because it was dangerous.  This deterred me long enough, I finally faced the challenge this week, but what rekindled my desire to devour a raw egg, or three, was actually a...

lovely story that's been circulating lately pointing out some of the not so fun flaws in our mass producing food industry here in the US.  Now I'm not here to preach about right and wrong, I'm much more interested in taking you through my first raw egg experience.  Nevertheless, I think it's interesting to point out that when food is mass produced on big industrial "farms" or factories, whatever they are, it tends to be much more difficult to monitor and trace an outbreak, such as salmonella, back to its original source.  This is something we discussed a few months ago regarding the last Spinach E.Coli outbreak.

I may have gotten more than I bargained for when I finally came across Chris, a livestock apprentice recently hired out of Wyoming.  Although he had never eaten a raw chicken egg himself, he did tell us a story about eating a turtle egg out in Costa Rica.  At the time I couldn't figure out if that made me more or less comfortable with my endeavor so I chose to use it as motivation.  Luckily for me, Chris had a couple of extra chicken eggs lying around, which tends to happen on a farm (not so much anywhere else).  The only issue was, all he had were jumbos and minis.

Now when I say jumbo, I mean wow, I've never seen a chicken egg this big or hard-shelled before. When faced with the decision to choose the jumbo or the mini, it was a no-brainer.  As the saying goes, go big or go home and that's exactly what I did.  This was not your normal one tap crack egg either, I had to really smack this thing to get it open.

Little did I know, inside my extra jumbo egg were 3 yolks aka a "Triple Yolker" as all the cool kids call it these days.

This little chick was no joke.

And here we go, just look at those skeptical eyes.

A moment of reflection and discombobulation...

victory!

Well after a long debate I was told that even though I went big, I still had to go home, so clearly they need to rework that saying.  In any event, it's always hard to leave this beauty to go

back to the grind and back to the reality of a city with over 9 million residents and a whole mess of recently recalled eggs.    

I think it's important to note here that I'm not saying you should just eat raw eggs left and right from the farmer's market, there is always a risk when eating raw food, but knowing where your food comes from at least gives you the best chance of protecting yourself as well as the rest of the community.  The 500 million + eggs being recalled all over this country are finally being traced back to factory "farms" that have a long history of health violations, particularly Wright County Egg.  I just don't understand how someone with a long track record of violating the health code can continue to supply food throughout the country with nothing more than a few large fines.  In a more recent article, it was stated that Wright County Egg tested positive for Salmonella about 426 times in just the last two years.  The article also goes on to say that the owner of this egg producing plant, Austin "Jack" DeCoster, has paid millions in fines for violating environmental, health, immigration and safety regulations.  Some "highlights" include a recent finding of an 8 foot tall pile of manure and rat infestation along with sweatshop like labor conditions and to top it all off sexual assault on workers.  I'm still shocked that a company like this is still allowed to exist.  There are a lot of things we can't control, but I believe the more you know the better equipped you are to face life's challenges and make the best decision for yourself.

Enjoy the farm fresh eggs and please share any of your raw egg eating experiences below in our comments section...