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$20 Emu Eggs Fly off Shelves at Farmers Markets

Della Hasselle

By Della Hasselle on March 5, 2012 7:18am

 
Slideshow

UNION SQUARE — For Lower East Side artist Gianberto Vann, the ostrich egg — a behemoth work of nature weighing up to three pounds — has long inspired some of his most adventurous dinner parties.

That was until this past Monday, when Vann, 81, bought his first emu egg. 

Dark green and black on the outside, and creamy on the inside, the egg first caught his eye as it glinted in the sunlight at the Roaming Acres Farm stand in the Union Square Market. Ever the adventurous cook, Vann couldn't help but buy the six-inch, nearly two-pound egg which he planned to serve scrambled with shrimp and bacon alongside his duck breast entree.

"This I haven't tried," Vann, 81, said, cradling the egg with one hand, debating how to explain his choice to his dinner party of eight. "It's very interesting. I'm going to tell them it came from a very extraordinary duck."

Vann hasn't been alone in his quest to try the highly sought after, and very expensive, emu egg, according to Roaming Acres Farm salesman Lou Braxton.

Despite their $20 price tags, emu eggs have soared in popularity in the past year as both amateur and professional chefs seek the next big thing to spice up their kitchens with the exotic and colorful novelty.

"There's definitely been a surge in emu egg purchases," Braxton, 61, said. "Lots of people are experimenting with them. Most of them go to independent people planning a party — people trying to outdo their neighbors or friends for dinners or brunches."

The egg has become so popular, in fact, that the farm hasn't been able to keep up with the orders that have come surging in since the emus first started laying late this season, in December.

"We haven't had any stay with us over a week," Braxton said, explaining that he's been selling the novelty items as quickly as the 6-foot-6 birds have been producing them.

Altogether, Braxton has received more than a hundred eggs this season from the 22 emus that reside on the New Jersey farm. The emus, which are transported from their native land of Australia, are aggressive and territorial but profitable, as each lays between 10 and 20 eggs a season.

The basket of ostrich eggs in the Union Square Market.

Related Items

Gianberto Vann
Grace Palescandolo
Lloyd Taplin
Lou Braxton
Peter Tochet
Victoria Rospond
Africa
Australia
Blue Hill Farm
Cleveland
New Jersey
Roaming Acres Farm
Union Square Market
wd-50
boiled
Chefs
chicken eggs
duck eggs
emu eggs
Green Eggs and Ham
market
ostrich eggs
scrambled eggs

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