A Brief History of Eggs Benedict

"Eggs Benedict is a dish that consists of two halves of an English muffin, topped with ham or bacon, poached eggs, and Hollandaise sauce" Quoted from WikiPedia

Photo by Masayoshi Sekimura from Tokyo, Japan

"English: Smoked salmon eggs Benedict with a baby spinach salad as served by The Butler and the Chef Bistro at 155A South Park Street in the South Park neighborhood of San Francisco, California, USA. According to their onlinemenu as viewed on 2009-08-11, they serve their eggs Benedicts with ham, smoked salmon, or as vegetarian. "Two organic poached eggs with your choice of Niman Ranch ham, smoked salmon, or tomatoes, basil & herbs covered with fresh-made hollandaise sauce. Served on toasted organic olive bread with an organic baby spinach salade". From WikiPedia

"There are conflicting accounts as to the origin of Eggs Benedict, including:

• In an interview recorded in the "Talk of the Town" column of The New Yorker in 1942, the year before his death,^[1] Lemuel Benedict, a retired Wall Street stock broker, claimed that he had wandered into the Waldorf Hotel in 1894 and, hoping to find a cure for his morning hangover, ordered "buttered toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon, and a hooker of hollandaise." Oscar Tschirky, the famed maître d'hôtel, was so impressed with the dish that he put it on the breakfast and luncheon menus but substituted ham for the bacon and a toasted English muffin for the toast.^[2]

• Craig Claiborne, in September 1967, wrote a column in The New York Times Magazineabout a letter he had received from Edward P. Montgomery, an American then residing in France. In it, Montgomery related that the dish was created by Commodore E. C. Benedict, a banker and yachtsman, who died in 1920 at the age of 86. Montgomery also included a recipe for eggs Benedict, stating that the recipe had been given to him by his mother, who had received it from her brother, who was a friend of the Commodore.^[3]

• Mabel C. Butler of Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts in a November 1967 letter printed inThe New York Times Magazine responded to Montgomery's claim by correcting that the "true story, well known to the relations of Mrs. Le Grand Benedict", of whom she was one, was:

Mr. and Mrs. Benedict, when they lived in New York around the turn of the twentieth century, dined every Saturday at Delmonico's. One day Mrs. Benedict said to themaitre d'hotel, "Haven't you anything new or different to suggest?" On his reply that he would like to hear something from her, she suggested poached eggs on toasted English muffins with a thin slice of ham, hollandaise sauce and a truffle on top.^[4]

[edit]Variations

• Eggs Blackstone substitutes streaky bacon for the ham and adds a tomato slice.^[5][6][7]

• Eggs Florentine substitutes spinach for the ham.^[8][9][10] Older versions of eggs Florentine add spinach to poached or shirred eggs

• Eggs Mornay – substitutes the Hollandaise with Mornay (cheese) sauce.^[11]

• Eggs Atlantic or Eggs Hemingway (also known as Eggs Royale and Eggs Montreal in New Zealand) substitutes salmon (orsmoked salmon) for the ham. This is a common variation found in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. This is also known as "Eggs Benjamin" in a few restaurants in Canada.

• Huevos Benedictos substitutes either sliced avocado or Mexican chorizo for the ham, and is topped with both a salsa (such assalsa roja or salsa brava ) and hollandaise sauce.

• Eggs Hussarde substitutes Holland rusks for the English muffin and adds Bordelaise sauce.^[12][13][14]

• Eggs Sardou is a complex dish from Antoine's Restaurant in New Orleans which originally replaced the English muffin and ham with artichoke bottoms topped with crossed anchovy fillets, and then, atop the egg and its hollandaise sauce was a dollop of chopped ham and a slice of truffle.^[15][16][17] A more widespread version of the dish starts with a base of creamed spinach, substitutes artichoke bottoms for the English muffin, and eliminates the ham.^[12][18][19] For more background see the article.

• Artichoke Benedict replaces the English muffin with a hollowed artichoke.^[20][21][22]

• Country Benedict, sometimes known as Eggs Beauregard, replaces the English muffin, ham and hollandaise sauce with anAmerican biscuit, sausage patties, and country gravy. The poached eggs are replaced with eggs fried to choice.^[23][24][25]

• Campfire Benedict replaces the English muffin, ham and hollandaise sauce with cornbread, bacon and barbecue baked beans. The poached eggs are replaced with eggs fried to choice.

• Eggs Chaucer founded at Tiny Tim's Tearoom in Canterbury UK adds portobello mushrooms and replaces the Hollandaise sauce with a homemade rarebit.

• Irish Benedict replaces the ham with corned beef or Irish bacon.^[26][27][28]

• Portobello Benedict substitutes Portobello mushrooms for the ham, and is a popular alternative for Catholics observing the Friday Fast.

• Eggs John Scott replaces the Hollandaise sauce with HP Sauce.

• Oscar Benedict, also known as Eggs Oscar, replaces the ham with asparagus and lump crab meat.

• Eggs Provençal replaces the Hollandaise sauce with Béarnaise Sauce.

• Russian Easter Benedict replaces the Hollandaise sauce with a lemon juice and mustard flavored Béchamel Sauce, and is topped with black caviar.

• Eggs Chesapeake substitutes Crab cake for the ham" Quoted from WikiPedia