The egg ball goes national. Producer Uildriks from Sappemeer has found a method to make the popular typical Groningen snack in a factory and now also wants to introduce it to the rest of the Netherlands.
The egg ball is a purely Groningen invention: a hard-boiled egg coated with curry ragout with a crispy deep-fried breadcrumb layer. However, sales have so far been mainly limited to their own province and Drenthe. The problem is that the snack has a limited shelf life.
The egg ball cannot be frozen, because the egg loses its structure and taste. As a result, it was never possible to introduce it to other parts of the country. Snack bar owners who tried it always gave up because they had to throw away too much of the purchased goods.
Shelf life had already improved, production can now also be done in a factory
Thanks to the introduction of a new low-oxygen packaging, the shelf life has now been extended to several weeks. Sausage and meat products producer Uildriks in Sappemeer has now also found a method to also make the egg ball in a factory. This means that production can be increased enough to also serve the rest of the Netherlands.
From next summer, Uildriks owner Jan Peter van der Zee expects to be able to start an automatic production line. His company spent almost two years developing it. The snack manufacturer does not want to reveal technical details. “That is the chef’s secret.”
Main issue: ‘Not every egg is equal’
According to Van der Zee, the main issue is: “Not every egg is the same. It took some time to find a way to get the ragout around it in an even layer and then get a nice breadcrumb crust on top. We have now found something about that. What exactly? We don’t say that.”
Uildriks has high expectations of the new egg ball line, for which the province of Groningen is providing a subsidy of 45,000 euros. The company has been making egg balls for about eight years, but so far they have all been turned by hand. Owner Van der Zee does not reveal any figures, but he believes that the new line will allow production to be increased ‘enormously’.
Eierbal was the discovery of Eurosonic/Noorderslag
That helps with the ambition to conquer the whole of the Netherlands. What also helps: the egg ball was discovered by a new hip and (inter)national audience, mainly thanks to the Eurosonic/Noorderslag festival. Many a Radio 3 DJ or influencer eagerly dug into the Groningen snack in front of the camera.
Van der Zee therefore has high hopes for a successful introduction in the rest of the Netherlands. “Eurosonic has already done a lot to promote the egg ball. The time is ripe to try it outside the provincial borders. We want to put Groningen on the map in a positive way.”
When the new production line is up and running, Uildriks will be the first company to make the egg ball in a factory. Sloots in Sappemeer, a descendant of the city-Groningen snack bar where the snack was invented according to tradition, also produces egg balls, but just like Uildriks, so far manually. Other regions have similar snacks, such as the Venlo fries egg, also in a ragout jacket but filled with half an egg.
2024-02-27 20:00:00
#Eierbal #national #Groningen #snack #rolls #provincial #border #invention #Sappemeer
