The Groningen provincial authorities have given a €45,000 subsidy for the development of a machine to produce a local delicacy, known as an “egg ball”, in greater quantities and spread their appeal beyond provincial borders.

The Grunneger aaierbaal, a hardboiled egg dipped in ragout and breadcrumbs and then deep fried, is a popular bar snack in Groningen and joined the national intangible heritage list in 2017. They are similar to the Scotch egg, which is wrapped in sausage meat.

Eierballen are currently made by hand at sausage factory Uildriks in Hoogezand. The council grant it means it now has the funding to continue work on an egg ball machine, owner Jan Peter van der Zee told local broadcaster RTV Noord.

‘Every egg has a slightly different shape and that is one of the reasons egg balls are made by hand. The egg has to be placed neatly in the middle with the ragout and breadcrumbs around it just so,” he said.

The snack has a limited shelf life, Van der Zee said, and cannot be frozen or it tastes “like rubber”. The packaged machine egg balls will last a bit longer and “can travel a bit further”, he said.

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Van der Zee said he expects the egg ball factory line to be operational in a couple of months. “We are at the testing stage and as soon as it’s ready tasty egg balls will be rolling off the production line,” he told the broadcaster.