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Are real eggs for omelets going the way of fresh ok?


KirkNC
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Currently on the Zuiderdam, having a great tine. The dueling piano guys are amazing.

 

So on the Zuiderdam you can not get the omelet maker to crack real eggs for an omelet, they can only use the egg goo that comes in a can. First tine we have seen this, just a month ago we got real eggs on the P’dam. Had to ask for them like always but they were an option. Is this wide spread and our concentration on smaller ships has spared us so far? Are real eggs going the way of fresh OJ? Inquiring minds want to know. I just find they egg goo to look disgusting.

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The "goo" is real eggs. The difference in the taste is due to the stabilizers they add. If you order enough "stuff" in your omelet, you shouldn't be able to taste much difference.

 

When a cracked egg is seen on a production line it is taken out of the pathway that leads to cartons of whole eggs. Instead, it is broken open and added to other eggs, which are then scrambled. Or it could be separated to make egg white and egg yolk product. And don't worry that the egg was cracked. It's discovered only an hour or so out of the chicken, so it's fresh. Being able to make use of otherwise unsaleable eggs helps the producers keep the cost of eggs down.

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Just another example of HAL's heavy reliance on processed food stuffs. It makes taking longer cruises virtually impossible for those of us who chose whole foods.

 

I guess if one demands whole, fresh foods, one isn't going to take long cruises. I wonder if all the restaurants you frequent use "whole foods", whatever that is.

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... I wonder if all the restaurants you frequent use "whole foods", whatever that is.

 

I truly don't understand the purpose of this statement. I read it as being passive aggressive - was that your intent?

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The "goo" is real eggs. The difference in the taste is due to the stabilizers they add. If you order enough "stuff" in your omelet, you shouldn't be able to taste much difference.

 

When a cracked egg is seen on a production line it is taken out of the pathway that leads to cartons of whole eggs. Instead, it is broken open and added to other eggs, which are then scrambled. Or it could be separated to make egg white and egg yolk product. And don't worry that the egg was cracked. It's discovered only an hour or so out of the chicken, so it's fresh. Being able to make use of otherwise unsaleable eggs helps the producers keep the cost of eggs down.

 

The eggs in the carton are pasteurized (at least in Canada they are). Makes them a much safer product. I agree, you shouldn't be able to discern the difference.

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The USPH requires that a disclaimer be placed in sight whenever shell eggs are being served, that point out the hazards of eating undercooked foods (which up or over easy eggs are, and scrambled can be). If the disclaimer is not posted, they are required to use "pasteurized egg product", which as others have said, is real eggs, taken from the shell, scrambled, and a homogenizer added to keep it from separating like eggs do at home between scrambling and the pan. Some times the homogenization process is done using pressure, so there is nothing added to the eggs. There are also pasteurized eggs in shell, but this adds to their cost. So, things like hollandaise sauce, Ceasar dressing, egg nog, and the like where the eggs are uncooked or undercooked have to be from pasteurized egg product. It may be that the ship was wanting to save their supply of shell eggs for those wanting fried or benedict eggs, and anything that was scrambled would use the egg product.

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The op posted about omelettes....eggs benedict are still available from fresh eggs....as are scrambled eggs, eggs over however, etc.

 

Actually scrambled use the goo as well.

 

Poached and fried are still from cracked eggs. Which leads me to dismiss any sanitation reasons for the change.

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The "goo" is real eggs. The difference in the taste is due to the stabilizers they add. If you order enough "stuff" in your omelet, you shouldn't be able to taste much difference.

 

When a cracked egg is seen on a production line it is taken out of the pathway that leads to cartons of whole eggs. Instead, it is broken open and added to other eggs, which are then scrambled. Or it could be separated to make egg white and egg yolk product. And don't worry that the egg was cracked. It's discovered only an hour or so out of the chicken, so it's fresh. Being able to make use of otherwise unsaleable eggs helps the producers keep the cost of eggs down.

 

 

Why does this explanation make me think of the movie Soylent Green...

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Actually scrambled use the goo as well.

 

Poached and fried are still from cracked eggs. Which leads me to dismiss any sanitation reasons for the change.

 

See my post about the sanitation reasons for using pasteurized egg product, but of course when serving a fried egg, this is not possible, so the disclaimer must be on the menu or posted at the buffet. Another reason is cost control, of course. Pasteurized egg product is not really any cheaper than shell eggs, but the handling and storage is simpler, and the loss ratio (broken eggs) is less, so the end cost of providing an omelet to you is less.

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The USPH requires that a disclaimer be placed in sight whenever shell eggs are being served, that point out the hazards of eating undercooked foods (which up or over easy eggs are, and scrambled can be). If the disclaimer is not posted, they are required to use "pasteurized egg product", which as others have said, is real eggs, taken from the shell, scrambled, and a homogenizer added to keep it from separating like eggs do at home between scrambling and the pan. Some times the homogenization process is done using pressure, so there is nothing added to the eggs. There are also pasteurized eggs in shell, but this adds to their cost. So, things like hollandaise sauce, Ceasar dressing, egg nog, and the like where the eggs are uncooked or undercooked have to be from pasteurized egg product. It may be that the ship was wanting to save their supply of shell eggs for those wanting fried or benedict eggs, and anything that was scrambled would use the egg product.

 

Thank you for always adding the view from the inside of ship operations. Always helpful.

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I guess if one demands whole, fresh foods, one isn't going to take long cruises. I wonder if all the restaurants you frequent use "whole foods", whatever that is.

 

In case you don't know, processed and ultra-processed foods are a major cause of obesity:

 

https://www.shape.com/blogs/weight-loss-coach/why-ultra-processed-foods-obesity

 

What we eat may not be good for us!

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Actually scrambled use the goo as well.

 

Poached and fried are still from cracked eggs. Which leads me to dismiss any sanitation reasons for the change.

 

I'm with you Kirk, I can taste the difference between the "goo" and cracked eggs too. So can DH. And if they homogenize it doesn't agree with me for some reason.

 

I have been able to get the real eggs by asking for cracked eggs for my omelet in the past but my most recent sailing was on an R ship so even though I was successful on the Vistas it was a couple of years ago.

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Processed foods are just as bad for you as cigarettes. I hope cruise ships consider this when they serve us "food."

 

The amount of fresh offerings on HAL ships is very good and has been constantly improving as passenger tastes have also changed. No one expects anyone to eat everything they put out. Pick and choose to your own tastes and needs.

 

Processed foods have probably saved more lives than you are giving it credit in terms of food safety, seasonal access and available nutritional variety, but then I am not sure what you mean by "processed" foods. Canned, stabliized ingredients, chemical additives, reformulated end products from natural sources, ....????

 

Pretty sweeping statement - "processed foods are bad for you".

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If it is possible to serve an egg over-easy, or poached, or any other way, without using processed egg-product... Then it should be possible to serve an omelette without using processed egg-product.

 

I agree that there is just no rational justification.

 

I am hoping that what was reported here is just a flash-in-the-pan.

What is all of this hype about all of the Culinary interests and improvements????

Surely this won't be be the case, mandated, fleet-wide.

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See my post about the sanitation reasons for using pasteurized egg product, but of course when serving a fried egg, this is not possible, so the disclaimer must be on the menu or posted at the buffet. Another reason is cost control, of course. Pasteurized egg product is not really any cheaper than shell eggs, but the handling and storage is simpler, and the loss ratio (broken eggs) is less, so the end cost of providing an omelet to you is less.

 

Apparently it's all about cost. Displaying a little disclaimer sign would be such a minor matter.

 

...not that I mind. I'm not a big fan of omelettes, especially since the conventional wisdom says they should be fluffy (I prefer them, errr... totally "unfluffy").

Edited by SetAnOpenCourse
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Last August, while on the Rotterdam's VOV cruise, we asked (several times) at the Lido breakfast if we could have an omelet made with real eggs. Several different cooks told us, no! One day a senior supervisor (in the Lido) stopped over at our table to say hello and ask about our breakfast, service, etc. We asked him was there anyway to get an omelet made with real eggs. He told us, No....and that they were only using real eggs for items where they "were necessary" such as fried eggs, and eggs benedict. He explained that it was company policy.

 

We have run into this issue on several different cruise lines, but on other lines if you made a specific request for real eggs they would fulfill your request. The problem with the commercial boxed eggs is that they are pasteurized and have a consistency that is unlike real eggs. I am OK with that stuff in scrambled eggs, but the texture of an omelet is just all wrong. Bottom line is that real eggs (in omelets and scrambled eggs) have gone the way of real fresh squeezed OJ.....off the ship!

 

Hank

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