A GOOD EGG

Popular cookbook author Julie Biuso has been recognised as one of the ‘good eggs’ of the food industry.

Julie was one of 38 recipients (and the only food writer) of the inaugural Good Egg Awards presented at a special ceremony last night by the Royal New Zealand SPCA Blue Tick scheme and Compassion in World Farming.

The awards recognise food industry businesses and personalities that support animal welfare and act in sustainable and responsible ways by sourcing cage-free eggs throughout the supply chain.

Julie had always wanted to have chickens, for their eggs, not least because of the distinct difference in quality between fresh free-range eggs and battery-farmed eggs, and the increasing confusion with terms such as barn-free and cage-free. She decided the only way to be sure was to raise her own chickens in her Northcote backyard.

“My husband Remo and I collected three chickens from a poultry farm, saving them from a life of misery,” said Julie. “And they have blossomed into three gorgeous girls: Hortense, Clothilde and Henrietta. They lay an egg each a day, 21 eggs a week. It’s enough for my cooking school and for all my magazine shoots and the family. I haven’t had to buy an egg since April this year.”

They have wreaked a bit of havoc with her herb and vegetable supply though. “They have on occasion demolished the parsley and mowed the silverbeet down to stumps. They ate all the leaves off the chilli plants, leaving just the chillies, although they pecked at a few of them, too!”

But it is not just her chicken coop and run that won Julie the award. “I’ve supported ‘free-range’ as a concept all through my food career, and ethically farmed products too – specifically calling in my recipes for free-range eggs and chickens, New Zealand pork and bacon and Australian prawns. Both Your Home & Garden and Taste magazines have in turn supported me in this endeavour,” she said.

“Raising chickens is easy enough, and the rewards are obvious – we’re never short of something to eat, something ‘home-grown’ that has been well-fed and ethically farmed.”

Sweet Feast , Julie Biuso’s 15 cookbook, will be published by New Holland in November this year. And needless to say, the mouthwatering collection of her favourite and most popular dessert and sweet baking recipes from Taste magazine call for free-range eggs throughout.

 Above: Celebrity chef Peter Gordon was on hand to present Julie Biuso and the other recipients with their Good Egg awards.