Type | Sandwich |
---|---|
Place of origin | United States |
Region or state | Louisville, Kentucky |
Created by | Fred K. Schmidt, Brown Hotel |
Serving temperature | Hot |
Main ingredients | Turkey, bacon, Mornay sauce |
Variations | Some versions also use ham, pimentos and/or tomatoes |
A Hot Brown sandwich (sometimes known as a Louisville Hot Brown or Kentucky Hot Brown) is an American hot sandwich originally created at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, by Fred K. Schmidt in 1926. It is a variation of traditional Welsh rarebit and was one of two signature sandwiches created by chefs at the Brown Hotel shortly after its founding in 1923. It was created to serve as an alternative to ham and egg late-night dinners. [1] [2]
The Hot Brown is an open-faced sandwich of turkey breast and bacon, covered in creamy Mornay sauce and baked or broiled until the bread is crisp and the sauce begins to brown. [3] Alternatives for garnishes include tomatoes, mushroom slices, and, very rarely, canned peaches. [1] [4]
Some Hot Browns also include ham with the turkey, and either pimentos or tomatoes over the sauce, [5] and imitation Hot Browns sometimes substitute a commercial cheese sauce instead of the Mornay. [6]
When Fred K. Schmidt created the Hot Brown, its sliced roast turkey was a rarity, as turkey was usually reserved for holiday feasts. The original Hot Brown included the sliced turkey on an open-faced white toast sandwich, with Mornay sauce covering it, with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, completed by being oven-broiled until bubbly. Pimento and bacon strips were then added to it. After its debut, it quickly became the choice of 95% of the Brown Hotel's restaurant customers. [1] [4]
The dish is a local specialty and favorite of the Louisville area, and is popular throughout Kentucky. It was long unavailable at its point of origin, as the Brown Hotel was shuttered from 1971 to 1985. [1]
The "cold brown" is baked poultry (chicken or turkey), hard-boiled egg, lettuce, and tomato open-faced on rye bread, and covered with Thousand Island dressing. It is rarely served anymore. [1]
In St. Louis, the Prosperity Sandwich is a similar dish, with origins at the Mayfair Hotel in the 1920s. [7] It is still served in the area today, and sometimes called a "hot brown". [8]
The Turkey Devonshire, first served in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the 1930s, has been described as being similar to the Hot Brown. [9]
On the Food Network, the Hot Brown was featured in an episode of Throwdown! with Bobby Flay . Joe and John Castro, chefs of the Brown Hotel in Kentucky, competed and won against Flay in a cook-off. [10] It has also been featured on episodes of the network's shows The Rachael Ray Show [11] and Southern Fried Road Trip . [12] On the Travel Channel, the Hot Brown has been featured on the show Taste of America with Mark DeCarlo, [13] a Louisville-themed episode of Man v. Food Nation [14] and a 2018 episode of Food Paradise titled "Sandwich Heroes". [15] On Bravo, the sandwich was featured in a Top Chef: Kentucky Quickfire challenge. [16]
On PBS, the Hot Brown has been featured in the documentary Sandwiches That You Will Like [17] as well as the program The Mind of a Chef , where Chef David Chang presented his interpretation of the sandwich. [18]
Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been combined with other ingredients and formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked. The final shape is either hand-formed on a baking tray, or pan-formed by cooking it in a loaf pan. It is usually made with ground beef, although ground lamb, pork, veal, venison, poultry, and seafood are also used, sometimes in combination. Vegetarian adaptations of meatloaf may use imitation meat or pulses.
Eggs Benedict is a common American breakfast or brunch dish, consisting of two halves of an English muffin, each topped with Canadian bacon, a poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. It was popularized in New York City.
Chateaubriand is a dish that traditionally consists of a large front cut fillet of tenderloin grilled between two lesser pieces of meat that are discarded after cooking. While the term originally referred to the preparation of the dish, Auguste Escoffier named the specific front cut of the tenderloin the Chateaubriand.
The grilled cheese is a hot cheese sandwich typically prepared by heating slices of cheese between slices of bread with a cooking fat such as butter or mayonnaise on a frying pan, griddle, or sandwich toaster, until the bread browns and the cheese melts.
Moussaka is an eggplant (aubergine)- or potato-based dish, often including ground meat, which is common in the Balkans and the Middle East, with many local and regional variations.
Benedictine or benedictine spread is a spread made with cucumbers and cream cheese. Invented near the beginning of the 20th century, it was originally and still is used for making cucumber sandwiches, but in recent years it has been used as a dip or combined with meat in a sandwich. This spread can be obtained pre-made from some Louisville, Kentucky-area grocery stores.
Hog maw is the stomach of a pig prepared as food. More specifically, it is the exterior muscular wall of the stomach organ which contains no fat if cleaned properly. It can be found in American, soul food, Chinese, Pennsylvania Dutch, Mexican, Portuguese, Italian and Vietnamese dishes. In addition, it can be prepared in various ways including stewed, fried, baked, and broiled.
The Brown Hotel is a historic 16-story hotel in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., located on the corner of Fourth and Broadway. It contains 294 rooms and over 24,000 ft2 of meeting space. It also contains special amenities, such as a fitness center and three restaurants. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Brown Hotel is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The cuisine of Kentucky mostly resembles and is a part of traditional Southern cuisine. Some common dinner dishes are fried catfish and hushpuppies, fried chicken and country fried steak. These are usually served with vegetables such as green beans, greens, pinto beans slow-cooked with pork as seasoning and served with cornbread. Other popular items include fried green tomatoes, cheese grits, corn pudding, fried okra, and chicken and dumplings, which can be found across the commonwealth.
A steak sandwich is a sandwich prepared with steak that has been broiled, fried, grilled, barbecued or seared using steel grates or gridirons, then served on bread or a roll. Steak sandwiches are sometimes served with toppings of cheese, onions, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, and in some instances fried eggs, coleslaw, and french fries.
The Best Thing I Ever Ate is a television series that originally aired on Food Network, debuting on June 22, 2009.
The cheese dream is an open-faced version of the American grilled cheese sandwich made with bread and cheese; it is cooked with either oil, margarine, or butter. Other ingredients such as bacon, avocado, pineapple, eggs, or sliced tomato can be optionally added to the open-faced sandwich as well.
Breaded cutlet or braised cutlet is a dish made from coating a cutlet of meat with breading or batter and either frying or baking it.
The cuisine of St. Louis is largely influenced by the city’s German, Irish, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, and Vietnamese immigrant population and African Americans who migrated from the Southern United States.
The Turkey Devonshire sandwich, sometimes simply called a Devonshire, originated in 1934 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is typically served as a hot open-faced sandwich on toasted bread with hot turkey, bacon, tomatoes, and a cheese sauce. The sandwich is similar to a Kentucky Hot Brown.