why do french eggs taste stronger than american eggs?

March 27, 2009 6:51 AM

It seems to me that French eggs taste much stronger than American eggs. And therefore, any dish with eggs that I prepare in France tastes bad because the strong egg taste overwhelms all the other flavors (this especially ruins sweet dishes). Does anyone have advice on how to get rid of the taste (or better yet, to find eggs in Paris that don't have the strong taste)?

I'm guessing that it has to do with the fact that French eggs are not refrigerated at the supermarket. I've tried all 3 kinds of eggs (Organic Free-range, "non-caged", and caged) and there isn't much difference in terms of taste.

Of course, it's possible that the eggs actually taste the same, and I am cooking things differently without realizing what I have changed...

posted by helios to food & drink (15 comments total)

Can you use fewer eggs in your recipes? You can try using an egg substitute as listed here.

But really, french eggs taste like eggs. You are tasting recipes the were they were meant to taste for the first time. Try to enjoy it. =)
posted by sid at 7:03 AM on March 27 [7 favorites]

I would definitely say that American eggs tend to be flavorless and have paler yolks because of the feed chickens are given. But on the other hand I wouldn't say that eggs I've eaten from better sources taste "strong"...fresher maybe, or tastier, but never anything that would interfere with other flavors. Maybe you're just not used to it?

You may be interested in David Lebovitz's blog, especially posts like Ingredients for American Baking in Paris. He's an American pastry chef (formerly of Chez Panisse) living in Paris. I've been reading his site and using his recipes for a few years and don't recall him saying anything about eggs being so different in France that they result in any alterations to his baking. And he's a pretty picky (not to mention world-class) baker. If you don't get a good answer here you might drop him a line via his website to see if he has any ideas.
posted by bcwinters at 7:04 AM on March 27 [1 favorite]

Maybe when you're using whole eggs, you could separate out a few of the yolks and increase the whites content of your mixture, if you don't like the taste.
I for one prefer farm eggs as opposed to commercial eggs, I like the more substantial flavor
posted by lizbunny at 7:13 AM on March 27

When I started eating local yard-hen eggs from different breeds of chicken (it's kind of wonderful to get a dozen eggs and have some of them be the elongated pale turquoise of the Araucana, some of them be the almost-spherical dark brown eggs of the Barnevelder, with some of the more familiar white Leghorn and pale-brown Buff Orpington), I noticed a real difference in taste. Since I don't bake much, I felt like it was all to the good--every omelet has big flavor! No cheese or whatever necessary.

And so now I understand why omelets in France are so much more amazing than omelets in the US. Part of it's the feed, part of it is that farmers in France keep different species of chicken than farmers in the US, and part of it is the non-refrigeration, as you surmise.

Anyway, to get a milder taste while baking, the answer is to cut back on the number of yolks and increase the number of whites.
posted by Sidhedevil at 7:20 AM on March 27

"Breeds of chicken" obviously, not "species of chicken." Though it is hard to imagine that some of these birds are related to each other--there's so much intra-species variation.
posted by Sidhedevil at 7:22 AM on March 27

If the taste you don't like is the "eggy" sulfuric taste, you should get rid of the whites, not the yolks. The Hydrogen Sulfide you smell/taste is a result of the albumen in the whites releasing sulfur when cooked. If it's a fishy taste, it could come from some brown-egg breeds that can't metabolize soy or rapeseed in their feed.

[straight from Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking]
posted by gyusan at 7:38 AM on March 27 [3 favorites]

I'm guessing that it has to do with the fact that French eggs are not refrigerated at the supermarket.

Almost certainly not. Eggs are just fine as long as they are stored below 20C. Most French supermarkets (in Paris, at least) will be cooler than this, so the eggs will be fine. By all means refrigerate them at home, because your home is probably warmer. The flavour of the eggs will be almost entirely determined by the diet of the hens, and to a smaller degree by the breed.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 7:44 AM on March 27

I have almost no evidence to back this up, but I think the water in France tastes different. Evian tastes sulfury to me, French champagne tastes sulfury, and I would expect that eggs made by chickens drinking that same water would also taste similar.

Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on whether you like that flavor or not.
posted by gjc at 7:59 AM on March 27

You are just tasting the eggs. Enjoy them!

This is akin to someone eating a heritage turkey and then complaining about the "turkeyness" because they are used to US supermarket turkey breast.

You make me miss the croque-madames that I ate when I lived in Paris.
posted by charlesv at 9:25 AM on March 27 [1 favorite]

I've never had french eggs, but I have had (and prefer) farm-fresh and organic eggs in the US.. have you tried adding a bit more cream/sugar/butter to your sweet recipes to balance out the flavor? Keep an eye on proportions of course, but most recipes have a bit of give and take.
posted by shownomercy at 9:44 AM on March 27

I read recently that extra-large eggs are tasteless compared to smaller ones (and harm chickens more). Are French eggs smaller?
posted by klanawa at 11:08 AM on March 27

The taste of the eggs can vary with what chickens are fed. Ask anyone with a good sense of taste who has eaten an egg from a chicken whose feed was supplemented by a large amount of fish meal. Chances are, feed is the issue. Lack of refrigeration is not- we raised chickens, and rarely refrigerated eggs for our own use, as long as we used them quickly.
posted by oneirodynia at 12:22 PM on March 27

It might have to do with how the chickens are raised, most eggs here are from grain fed chickens while chickens in other countries are allowed to eat their "natural" diet of worms/plants/whatever. This would dramatically raise the omega-3 fatty acid content of their eggs.

I notice when buying eggs here in the states, the omega-3 labeled eggs have a more orange and richer color yolk that has a lot more flavor.
posted by zentrification at 12:47 PM on March 27

gyusan wrote: If the taste you don't like is the "eggy" sulfuric taste, you should get rid of the whites, not the yolks.

Yes! I hadn't thought of that.

If the taste you don't like is the rich yolky taste, cut back on the yolks; if the taste you don't like is the hydrogen sulfide "egg salad" taste, cut back on the whites.
posted by Sidhedevil at 12:48 PM on March 27

Thanks guys. I'll try using extra yolks (and if that doesn't work, extra whites). And I'll try adding more cream/sugar and less egg as well.

I do appreciate the fact that the eggs here have a better flavor; and in fact, I love it when I'm actually eating dishes that are almost entirely egg-based (like omelets).

Also, I realized after asking this question that when I eat French dishes in French restaurants, I rarely taste the strong egg flavor. That would suggest that it has more to do with the relative amount of ingredients rather than the eggs themselves.

klanawa: French eggs are always small and brown (at least that I've seen).
posted by helios at 4:55 AM on April 2