Ode to the Egg, My Shining Sun

Hard-boiled, soft-boiled, poached, fried, scrambled, over-easy, sunny side up, steamed, or baked, I love eggs in all its glorious forms. Eggs are the perfect food. The creamy, silky, runny, gooey yolk is so good, you could even say they're eggsellen.

But all eggs are not created equal.

Recently I stumbled upon a vendor at the Union Square Farmer's Market that sells Peruvian eggs. These yolks are not only bright with brilliance but are bursting with flavor. At $4 for a half dozen, they better be; I made the vendor promise they would be worth every penny. And they were! Every subsequent trip to the market I've made it my mission to obtain more Peruvian eggs, justifying my pricey purchase as a way to express gratitude to farmers committed to biodiversity.

The only other eggs that were better than this were from the Garden of Happiness community garden in the Bronx. There they have a chicken coop with two or three hens that produce the most delicious eggs I have ever tasted. Although the eggs were small in size, the yolk was grand and gorgeous. It was the thickest, brightest yolk I have ever seen. I close my eyes in delight just remembering those eggs, with yolks like the shining sun. And because of those six little eggs, my mission once I get a some outdoor space is to raise chickens for egg production. Yes it's legal here in NYC, and possibly better than having a dog. You can eat their eggs! (Learn all about raising chickens in The City Chickens guide from Just Food, the organization I currently work with and spent my AmeriCorps service with in their Community Supported Agriculture program.)

THIS IS my afternoon snack: a soft-boiled Peruvian egg served with fresh baked bread (which I dipped into the runny yolk). Below are Garden of Happiness eggs and the chickens in which these eggs came, and the coop in which the chickens dwell (notice Bronx housing projects in the background). Happy birds make tasty eggs.