There are conflicting accounts as to the origin of eggs Benedict.
Delmonico's in Lower Manhattan says on its menu that "Eggs Benedict was first created in our ovens in 1860."[1] One of its former chefs, Charles Ranhofer, also published the recipe for Eggs à la Benedick in 1894.[2]
In an interview recorded in the "Talk of the Town" column of The New Yorker in 1942, the year before his death,[3] Lemuel Benedict, a retired Wall Street stock broker, said 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 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.[4]
Eggs Atlantic (i.e. Eggs Royale) with smoked salmon in place of Canadian bacon
A later claim to the creation of eggs Benedict was circuitously made by Edward P. Montgomery on behalf of Commodore E. C. Benedict. In 1967 Montgomery wrote a letter to then The New York Times food columnist Craig Claiborne, which included a recipe he said he had received through his uncle, a friend of the commodore. Commodore Benedict's recipe—by way of Montgomery—varies greatly from Ranhofer's version, particularly in the hollandaise sauce preparation—calling for the addition of a "hot, hard-cooked egg and ham mixture".[5]
The modern version differs slightly from these early versions and has a split English muffin, topped with Canadian bacon or ham, lightly poached egg, and covered in hollandaise sauce, which is made from eggs, lemon, and melted butter.[6][7]
Variations
Eggs Florentine with spinach in place of Canadian bacon
It is popular to make variations on eggs Benedict, and some of the most popular are eggs florentine (spinach replaces bacon), eggs royale (smoked salmon replaces bacon), eggs Sardou (spinach and artichoke replaces bacon and muffin), eggs neptune (crab replaces bacon), and eggs cochon (pulled pork replaces bacon and buttermilk biscuit replaces the muffin).[8] In many cases it has become popular to simply replace the word eggs with the meat that replaces the bacon, for example, rather than eggs neptune, crab benedict, even though the recipe still has two poached eggs.[8] Examples of this are steak benedict[9] or salmon benedict, and replacements include corned beef, fried chicken, or shrimp.[9]
Many variations of eggs Benedict exist, the most common involve replacing the bacon or English muffin, or both:
Avocado toast eggs Benedict – substitutes toast in place of the muffin and adds sliced avocado.[10]
California eggs Benedict – adds sliced Hass avocado. Variations may include sliced tomato instead of Canadian bacon.[11][12]
Eggs Balmoral – substitutes haggis in place of Canadian bacon.[13]
Eggs Blackstone – substitutes streaky bacon in place of Canadian bacon and adds a tomato slice.[14]
Eggs Blanchard – substitutes béchamel sauce in place of Hollandaise.[15]
Eggs Chesapeake (crab eggs Benedict, crab cakes Benedict) – substitutes a Maryland blue crab cake in place of Canadian bacon.[17][18]
Eggs Cochon served at New Orleans restaurantCrab and asparagus eggs benedict, served in Maine
Eggs Cochon (eggs cochon de lait) – substitutes pork "debris" (slow roasted pork shredded in its own juices) in place of Canadian bacon, buttermilk biscuit in place of the English muffin. Served in New Orleans restaurants.[19][20]
Eggs Florentine – adds spinach, sometimes substituted in place of the Canadian bacon.[21] Older versions of eggs Florentine add spinach to poached or shirred eggs. The cheese gruyèremornay is added, though sometimes hollandaise is subbed.[6]
Eggs Hebridean – a Scottish variety, substitutes black pudding in place of the Canadian bacon.[22]
Eggs Zenedict – adds toasted scone and peameal bacon smothered in sundried tomato Hollandaise. A specialty of restaurants in the defunct Canadian retail chain Zellers.[36]
Huevos Benedictos – adds sliced avocado or Mexican chorizo, topped with salsa (such as salsa roja or salsa brava) and Hollandaise sauce.[37]
Miner's Benedict – substitutes slices of fried Black pudding in place of the Canadian bacon.[39]
Mushroom Benedict – substitutes grilled flat mushrooms in place of the Canadian bacon.[39]
New Jersey Benedict – substitutes Taylor pork roll in place of Canadian bacon.[40]
Crab cake benedict, replacing bacon and muffin with a crab cake
Some variations involve replacing the Canadian bacon, such as lobster benedict, corned beef, or steak benedict. In other cases the bread might be changed from an English muffin, to toast, sliced potato, or a biscuit.[41] One popular variation is to replace the Canadian bacon with smoke salmon, and it has gather a large number of names from Eggs Royale, Atlantic, Montreal, and others, and some regions have a local name for this variation.[42]
Meatless Eggs Benedict may omit the Canadian bacon altogether, or replace it with something else such as avocado, tomato, mushroom, or tofu.[43][44] There is a version of California Eggs Benedict that replaces the Canadian bacon with sliced tomato and avocado.[12]
Eggs benedict has also been made into breakfast sandwich by adding an additional English muffin half on top.[45]
A version which replaces the sauce, is Eggs Halifax, which substitutes New England clam chowder for hollandaise.[46]
↑ "Talk of the Town". The New Yorker. December 19, 1942.Notes:This hasn't been verified at the source, but is instead taken from the letter to Karpf by Cutts Benedict and the page of J. J. Schnebel.
↑ "Menus". The Cricklade Club. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
↑ Rombauer, Irma S.; Marion Rombauer Becker (1995) [1975]. "Egg Dishes". The Joy of Cooking. Illustrated by Ginnie Hofmann and Ikki Matsumoto (1st Scribner 1995ed.). New York, New York: Scribner. p.222. ISBN0-02-604570-2. Here the recipe is called poached eggs Blackstone. It uses a fried slice of flour-dipped tomato, minced bacon, poached eggs, and hollandaise. No bread for base.
↑ Hirtzler, Victor (1988). The 1910 Hotel St. Francis cook book (1sted.). Sausalito, California: Windgate Press. ISBN978-0915269068.
↑ "Rich mix of patrons makes Moto's special". The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution. December 18, 1986. pp.A/6. ...eggs Florentine ($3.95), eggs poached and topped with Hollandaise sauce, served on spinach and English muffin
↑ DeMers, John (1998). Food of New Orleans: Authentic Recipes from the Big Easy. Food photography by John Hay (1sted.). Boston: Periplus Editions. p.44. ISBN962-593-227-5.
“Was He the Eggman?” An account in The New York Times about Lemuel Benedict and the efforts of Jack Benedict, the son of Lemuel's first cousin, to promote Lemuel's story. Article includes link to an audio slide show.
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