We don't visit the local Whole Foods very often, and we hadn't inspected their loose selection of local eggs very closely. So we were in for a shock when we wandered over last night and realized that those giant greeny-blue ovals weren't out-of-season melons, but honest-to-goodness emu eggs. What's more, they're local.
More photos of outlandish eggs, fresh from the farm, below...
Does your Whole Foods have a local egg bar? Ours does, complete with little wire baskets stuffed with dried moss to keep your eggs gently cushioned. We kid you not.
There are plenty of white and brown eggs from locally raised Ohio chickens.
Here's a half dozen sampler of several varieties.
There were also miniature quail eggs (which we've blogged about before - so tiny and delicious!)...
...and hefty goose eggs, which our shopping companion snatched up to cook for breakfast. We're curious to see how it's cooked!
And then there were the famous emu eggs! So beautiful. We loved seeing these in the Gourmet slideshow we mentioned at Easter, but we didn't think to see one in person so soon. These and the ostrich eggs up top were $19.99 each. They are both from locally raised Ohio birds - just like the chickens. Except larger, of course.
Our final basket, nestled in the cart as if we'd just been picking fresh eggs out from under hens in the chicken coop. We find the basket picturesque yet slightly ridiculous. The cashier put the eggs in a small paper carton when we checked out - why couldn't we just do that ourselves?
Oh well - it's part of the Whole Foods Market experience we suppose! We are itching now to go back and buy an ostrich or emu egg. How would you cook one of these, and what would you use it for? Do you have any stories to tell about any of these kinds of eggs?
(Images: Faith Hopler)
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I've had ostrich eggs before and they taste the same as chicken eggs. My mother didn't tell me she was serving me ostrich eggs because I am squeamish about trying new things.
view jems's profile
Reminds me of that sketch on Chappelle's Show, where Dave fixes a dinosaur egg for breakfast, just because he can.
view Julie's profile
Oooo, I want one of the blue ones! I'd probably eat it, but I'd love to keep the shell as a decoration. Maybe saw it in half with a dremel and use it as a planter.
view Tiamat_the_Red's profile
I've never seen anything like this at my Whole Foods. So neat!
view erin79's profile
Is this at a WF in NYC?
If so, I wonder why you get the Ohio farm eggs and not Chicago - I have never seen this here, and I've been to several of them in the city. (Chicago is much closer to Ohio, and I'd think there would be some farms in upstate NY that have eggs...)
Anyone?
view any such name's profile
Ah - no - should have clarified. This store is in Ohio.
view faith's profile
One of my closest friends works at a Whole Foods in Columbus! She told me it was a bit cooler than the store here in Tempe (Phoenix metro).
view OneWallKitchen's profile
Probably the one we were at then. This one is insane - Disneyland, I like to call it. It just goes on and on. There's a nut butter bar too - grind your own!
The other WF in central Ohio is a (former) Wild Oats that is smaller and still getting absorbed into the WF system.
view faith's profile
I wish we had that here. But then, I'd probably buy a $20 egg, which is ridiculous. Another example of my love/hate relationship with WF.
view SFGail's profile
Why isn't WF in Dayton, OH yet? This would be so nice because sometimes Trader Joes just doesn't cut for certain items.
view Signe's profile
Wow! We don't have this in Baltimore yet!
view rachel's profile
I once got lost in central NJ (near Colts Neck) and happened upon a huge ostrich farm. I have heard from others that there are quite a few ostrich and emu farms here in NJ.
view robyn's profile
Love to see Columbus being represented on thekitchn.com!!
i shop at WF all the time!
view Lindsay722's profile
Egg bar!! I would love to see this at my DC WF. I could see this being a win-win there. We do have an olives bar aside from the hot and salad bars but I guess just about every WF has that?
view s in DC 's profile
We don't have this in SF - I have NEVER seen an egg bar. This looks really cool. Now it's my turn to be jealous of you. :)
view Kathryn Hill's profile
torn between rolling my eyes or grinning ;-)
view Barbara S's profile
We have an egg bar in the Alexandria, VA WF. I'm hesitant to pay $20 for a giant egg just for the novelty of the size, though.
view gjdsalinger's profile
I friend of mine's parents have an emu farm. She made her wedding cake using one emu egg.
view Shawn's profile