Please help me get over my egg loathing

[pointybird]

I have a tough time eating foods with certain strong smells and the sulfur of eggs gets to me. Would better eggs (i.e. fresher, pastured chickens) reduce the sulfur smell? Can anyone recommend a San Francisco egg source if so? There is a seller that brings eggs to the Heart of the City Farmers' Market twice a week but I haven't tried their eggs yet. I'm a bit suspicious of the low price, I think it's $3.50 for two or three dozen?

It seems like such a shame I don't like such a cheap non-meat source of protein that cooks so quickly.

[dhoffman1421]

I love eggs! However my recommendation is to fry them in bacon grease! I could eat cardboard fried in bacon grease.

[cosmogrrl]

I am not fond of eggs. Sometimes I hate them. I don't mind the yolks at all, but hate the whites. However I do like eggs "en cocotte". Basically eggs that are cooked gently with cream and butter. Chez Maman in Potrero hill does an egg-cellent job of them (sorry couldn't resist). They also add things such as smoked salmon and other things. This makes the eggs more of carrier of flavors rather than the main flavor.

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Chez Maman
1453 18th, San Francisco, CA 94102

[pointybird]

Hmm, cream and butter. I DO like those things!! Thank you.

[ML8000]

Not sure if it's been mentioned but you might try a different brand of eggs like Judy's Family Farm eggs which are organic and fed with the flax seed (high omega 3s). I eat eggs if they're served or come with a breakfast plate but really don't buy them unless I need them for something specific.

Any way I bought some Judy's and scrambled they're very mild, tasty, no sulfur taste. I've compared them to other eggs since and the eggs make a big difference. I've also found a teaspoon of good butter really helps. I think you have to keep trying different brands.

[pointybird]

Hmm, if a teaspoon of butter helps, helps, how about a tablespoon?

[jimmyz]

I feel your pain, I can't stand eggs but I would love to eat them...especially since I'm a chef. Did you get yourseld to eat them yet?

[pointybird]

NO! The only time I was able to choke a couple of down is when I had "eggs in purgatory," (boiled in tomato sauce), but even then it made me gag a bit. Sigh. I am not overly picky, I don't think, but I do have a pretty strong sense of smell and sometimes can smell things others can't. Tilapia tastes like dirt, etc. It's interesting what you say, rworange! I've tried eggs so many times I just can't imagine that I'm having badly cooked eggs EVERY time!

[grayelf]

Tilapia often tastes like dirty, or muddy, to a lot of people, so you're not alone in that one :-).

[pointybird]

Beet and catfish are also on my no list. Such a pity, because I know so many people who worship beets. I have tried them at least several dozen times. Can't do it.

[Paul H]

One of the advantages of growing up is that you are able to chose what foods you will eat. I will try anything once, but if I don't like it, I don't design a training program to see if I can force myself to eat it. Food is too much of a basic pleasure and there so many great foods in the world that it seems perversely Puritan to force yourself to eat things that you don't like.

[urbavore]

I don't like eggs much myself and I have access to free-range, local eggs--as in I actually collect them from the chickens. They *do* taste more nutty and eggy than any commercial eggs I've had.

That said, I don't like eggs much and neither does the rest of my family. The idea of a runny egg in my salad is somewhat repellent. I tend to use them in dishes where I can balance the egg flavor with something else--so baked goods, custards, bread pudding, rice pudding and then over on the savory section--fried rice, spinach salad (bacon and dressing help), doro wat. Occasionally, I'll scramble one--add cream and lots of salt and pepper.

From what you describe, you may be a "supertaster"--a third of women are--so, yes, various foods do taste "stronger" to you.

[cornflower55]

i think you might be eating a lot of poorly cooked eggs. the only time i ever smell sulfur in eggs is 1) when they're boiled, but incorrectly, or 2) when they're rotten. but they have to be pretty rotten to give off a sulfur smell.

maybe you should try a simple experiment, to get two fairly fresh eggs, and simply fry them up. are you really getting a sulfur smell? or is there something else going on?

[rworange]

Maybe pointybird has a mild form of eggallergi

From this link
http://www.naaf.no/en/Information-on-...

" Some individuals with egg allergy may also suffer symptoms from the odour of eggs cooking or the steam from boiling eggs ... Sometimes simply the smell of cooked waffles (egg and the milk allergen in vapour form) may be sufficient to trigger an allergic reaction."

Given some of the foods she does eat with eggs, it might just be really mild, but she might be picking up on odors other people don't detect. Have you checked with a doctor?

It might not just be pickiness. Sometimes you have to listen to your body when it rejects something. Egg allergies can cause kidney failure. Maybe forcing yourself to like eggs might do more harm than good.

[cakebaker]

I'm a little confused at what you are trying to accomplish. when you speak of sulfur smell..that comes to mind when i think of over done hard boiled eggs. overcooked eggs in other forms have a smell that i don't liken to sulfur. so are you trying to enjoy eggs in a specific prep or all in general? the reason i ask is that pastured eggs are miles away from battery cage eggs...both in humane care and flavor. their whites are firmer, the yolks are richer and more colored and i would try to find those...Soul Food farm eggs are legendary and Riverdog farm eggs at the Sat. Berkeley farmers market are wonderful too. Soul Food farm has a pick up CSA in SF but you need to order at least one chicken (albeit amazing chicken) as well as eggs but you can order anytime as opposed to every delivery so you might check that out. what prep are you shooting for specifically?

[Cicely]

I feel you - I have a similar love-hate relationship with eggs. Well, more like tolerate-hate. Anyway, I feel like if you can do tortillas, custards, and French toast, is it really that important to enjoy other egg dishes?
But since you asked, have you tried the eggs that they serve at ramen restaurants? They're hard-boiled, but the center isn't totally hard, and infused with the flavor of the broth. Or Chinese-style tea eggs (you can buy at 99 Ranch), which are infused with slightly different flavors.

[pointybird]

Cicely, I'm going to try the ramen eggs and the tea eggs. You never know! It's not that vital that I like them but it's embarrassing to be a food-lover and not like this one very basic foodstuff. I feel picky, like my five year old child!

[wolfe]

Perhaps chicken eggs are too big. You could try with smaller eggs.
http://lacocinadeinma74.files.wordpre...

[phwib]

Get some fresh eggs and good bacon and make some pasta carbanara. Eggs and Parmesan make a sauce that is really great.

[grayelf]

Hey PB, no real advice but perhaps some hope: I hated eggs of ALL kinds (unless in a cooky batter of course!) till my early 30s. I can see you are keeping on trying them, which is half the battle. If you are lucky like I was, one day you will "get" eggs. Good luck!

[pointybird]

Aw, you're nice! I keep trying! I keep trying and trying!

[ML8000]

Try using eggs in dishes that use more then just eggs. The egg taste in Spanish omelettes/tortilla Espanola is very low IMO and if you make a big one it'll last a few days. .

[Paul H]

"Try using eggs in dishes that use more then just eggs."

Good advice. Personally, I can't stand the texture of fried (over easy) eggs, so I just avoid them.

Things to try containing eggs: Frisee Salad with lardons and poached egg (break the egg and stir into the dish); Quiche; eggs scrambled with piperade (or other delicious things), custards (e.g. cream brulee, etc.), souffles, both sweet and savory, etc.

It is hard to imagine fine dining without eggs.

[pointybird]

I do seem to like eggy things where the flavor is covered up. Like custards with cinnamon or whatnot. So sad! I wish I could just hold my nose and enjoy it.

[pointybird]

funny that you hit on the exact egg dish that I like, and make, and was hoping to branch out from, ha ha ha! I do love tortillas, and I haven't found a good source of them in SF besides mah own kitchen.

[ML8000]

The thing about getting a Tortilla Espanola at a restaurant is they serve one slice for a chunk of dough. Making your own is was more economical and since eggs are inexpensive protein, I think that's part of the deal.

You might try French toast with really fresh eggs mixed with a little milk or cream and really good bread (cinnamon bread or brioche).

[pointybird]

I love french toast. Sigh. Maybe I am doomed to sticking to tortilla and french toast and frittatas like milklady says.

[pointybird]

PS there used to be a restaurant at Guererro/16th, I forget the name of the place, it's closed now, and they had a terrific tortilla. The rest of the food, not so good, but a very high perfectly cooked tortilla with a wonderful zippy Romesco on the side. I've tried to replicate it so many times but I haven't been able to.

[SteveG]

Alma?

[pointybird]

I don't think that was it.

[maigre]

Was that Esperpento? If so, they moved a few blocks down Valencia quite a few years ago, so it might still exist. I'm not sure.

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Esperpento Restaurant
3295 22nd St, San Francisco, CA 94110

[ML8000]

I think you might be thinking of Cafe Piccaro (aka Cafe Pick Your Nose) which is also owned by the Esperpento people. Esperpento has been at 22nd/Valencia for as long as I can remember.

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Esperpento Restaurant
3295 22nd St, San Francisco, CA 94110

[milklady]

I have the same issue. I recently braved a vegetarian tasting menu, that including a perfectly poached farm fresh egg. I hated it. Itried so hard to like it. Per ny times/ washington post, farmers market eggs don't taste much better than grocery store ones. http://community.nytimes.com/comments... good luck though, I hope you fare better than I did in this endeavor!

[pointybird]

Oh milklady! I hope you're wrong. You may not be. I went to Mexico a couple of years ago for 2 weeks and I was on another egg-liking kick so I tried eggs every day for two weeks. EVERY DAY. In all kinds of ways. And I never liked them. Sigh. But thank you very much for your information.

[milklady]

It sounds like we're very similar in this regard! I am realizing that I can often handle a few bites of intensely flavored quiche or frittata that is mostly vegetables, for example. But eggs on their own, I just can't do it. I'm just happy my kids haven't inherited my aversion!

[jujul]

actually the flats of 20-30 eggs at civic center plaza are great. fresh and tasty. slow oven baking--under 200 degrees for 2 hrs or so, produces a very nicely hard egg with much less "sulfur" flavor

[pointybird]

You guys are the greatest. Now I wish I'd bought a big bunch of eggs at the market yesterday! In my defense I had just spent $35 on honey from Marshall's and I wasn't sure how to get that and the eggs home, heh. They have fresh-fresh honey from Berkeley that's just haunting.

Will report back with my eggs-periments. Sorry.

[wolfe]

Here's an old thread on sulfur ring reduction.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/477253

[OldTimer]

The sulfur smell is not mandatory...comes from overcooking. Try this, perhaps the most delicious way to eat eggs. Boil eggs for 4 minutes, scoop contents into bowl, add butter and trffle oil, salt and pepper, eat with focaccia toast. Secret...eggs should be a bit runny. If too runny for your taste, zap bowl in microwave for just few seconds.

[pointybird]

Trying to get over ick factor of runny eggs...want this to not bother me! Is this one of those things that grosses you out and then you eat it and fall in love, like marrow?

[rworange]

Runny eggs gross me out as much as swallowing a raw egg ... or that mucus looking film covering sunnyside up eggs. I never fell in love with them. I'm not a fan of egg whites and don't want to see white pieces in my scrambled eggs.

But I also think over-cooking brings out the worst in eggs. There is a happy medium where you don't have to eat slimy eggs.

Anyway ... do you like ceasar salad or have you never tried it?

No souffes? You might consider Betty's Oceanview Diner for their souffle omelets.

I'm in the camp that it doesn't matter taste-wise that much where you buy the egg. It is more visual thing with some yolks being brighter.

If you like French toast how about a Croque Monseur or a Monte Cristo.