Tuesday, February 5, 2013

The incredible, edible, uovo

Food is an Italian passion, bordering on an obsession. That much is obvious from everything I have written about it. Many Italians will rarely eat out, since who can cook better than Nonna (grandma)? One thing which makes authentic Italian cooking so good is the ingredients. Fresh produce, local meats, etc. The Italians might well have been the original slow food producers. So, it should come as no surprise that they are quite particular about their eggs. Here is the part which is hard to fathom. EVERY egg, except those you get from a friend, is marked with a code so that you can tell all the information you need about it.


The number for the egg in the picture begins with a “0”. This tells you that it is “biologico”. I’m not sure exactly what it would take for an egg not to be biological, but it has a definite definition within the world Italian which is "organic". If it had begun with a “1”, it would have been free range, “2” is on the ground (but penned) and “3” is in a shelter (henhouse). The next two letters are “IT”, signifying that it is from Italy. I guess if you are nearer to a border you might get an egg from outside the country. The next three number, “028”, are the community code from within “BO” (Bologna) the district. Finally, “010” tells you the specific producer. All of that information, coupled with the lot number and consume by date will pretty much tell you exactly what chicken that egg came from should there ever be a problem.

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