WRONG!
Ok, let me go back. I was a foreign language major in college and studied four languages. I lived with a family in Spain for six months, spent a short time in France with a family, and have traveled extensively throughout the United States. Romas has traveled a lot too…more than me, actually. His travels had brought him to Italy, England, The Netherlands, and Kenya, as well as most of the United States. He had also been to Iraq twice. So when the military moved us to Germany in 2007, we were ecstatic! Sure the outlets are different, but you buy an ugly transformer and voila! you can use your American appliances. That's it. Simple, right?
WRONG!
We have found that there are too many differences to keep track of. Sure the power is different, but did you know that the light bulbs are therefore also different? We found out after we blew up a couple American lightbulbs! Oops!!
What else is different? Here's a short list:
- Germans don't use credit cards. Not even Ikea accepts a debit/credit card!
- The windows open like doors and NEVER have screens
- The televisions are different (we cannot get European signals on our TV, thus no German TV)
- DVDs are coded differently (we cannot play DVDs bought in Europe)
- The lawn mowers are generally electric and sound like a vacuum!
- A "queen" bed in a hotel consists of two twin beds pushed together with two separate blankets!
- Box springs are not common - we actually had neighbors come look at our big bed!
- Dryers are "condensers" and you have to empty the water after every couple loads
- Toilets are normally built into the wall and have a "#1" and "#2" button
- Even the phone rings differently here!
I could go on and on!! But let's talk about eggs. They too, are different. Does this carton look a little small to you?
Eggs come in a carton of ten…not twelve. Germans never use a "dozen" as a measurement. "Base 10," right? I love the metric system and wish we used it in the States…although I do prefer buying a dozen eggs!
Each egg is stamped with its country of origin (in this case, DE for Germany) and then the lot number. It also has the "best by" date stamped below. This egg says to use by 10.6 (or June 10th). Are the eggs in the States stamped like this? I don't ever remember eggs being stamped. But it's been a while...
The eggs sold at the American commissaries are from Denmark, NOT from Germany. I think I know why. Take a look at the two yolks below:
The yolk on the left is from the German egg and the one on the right is Danish. Notice how much redder the German yolk is?? I imagine that selling red yolks in the American commissary would evoke some panic. The commissary tries to sell items that we are accustomed to. We have a lot of food shipped in from the States (including loaves of bread!!!) but I'm pretty sure eggs wouldn't survive the trip. My guess is that the company that has the contract to supply our eggs is either a yellow yolk producer or required to be one based on the contract.
The German eggs were a little stronger smelling than the Danish eggs. They taste a little stronger (for lack of a better word), too. I put German eggs into one cake and the batter tasted disgusting. I guess I've found a cure for the finger-in-the-batter problem I have!!
Maia won't eat the German eggs. I bought her organic eggs at the German grocery store because it was a little cheaper but she refuses! Each time she puts a piece in her mouth, she grabs it and throws it back onto her tray!! Oh well. Back to the commissary to buy organic Danish eggs!
Do you know why the eggs are different? What makes the color and taste vary so much??
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The yolk colors has to do with their feed. If you buy an egg from a person who allows their chickens to roam wherever, without feeding them grains, the yolk will be darker, thicker and stronger in flavor. Chickens like to eat little bugs and grubs and such. The more protein that they get in that manner affects the flavor. :) Sounds to me that though your Danish eggs are organic, they are supplemented with grains and allowed only to roam in a certain plot, instead of allowing them to roam more freely.
ReplyDeleteI never knew that!! My husband and Maia don't like the German eggs. I think we're too used to the American way :(
DeleteI've read it's from their natural diet. They very much appear to be Pastured or grass fed eggs. A chicken eats bugs and the things that it's suppose to, as opposed to commercial chicken feed. Takes dusts baths and roams freely. We use to purchase these eggs and they are so much healthier and the taste is very different. You appear to have superior eggs. You can read more on Weston A Price Foundation or Mothering.com.
ReplyDeleteSorry for such a short choppy answer, but it's 4:00 am here and I'm in desperate need to get off to bed!
Thank you so much for the information!! Germans tend to have a more natural approach to life, so it makes sense that their eggs are the result of a natural diet. I wonder if I can convince Maia and my husband to give the German eggs another chance?
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