Welcome to Easter weekend. Before everyone gets busy hunting, Easter Eggs and looking for the Easter Bunny. I wanted to bring you our series for Food Holidays: April 15th, 2022. Today is National Eggs Benedict Day which I will pass on. How about you would you like to have Eggs Benedict?
- Eggs Blackstone substitutes streaky Bacon for the Ham and adds a Tomato slice.
- Huevos Benedict substitutes Avocado for the Ham and is topped with both Salsa and Hollandaise Sauce.
- Eggs Sardou substitutes Artichoke bottoms and crossed Anchovy fillets for the English Muffin and Ham. Then tops the Hollandaise Sauce with chopped Ham and a Truffle slice. The dish was created at Antoine’s Restaurant in New Orleans in honor of the French playwright Victorien Sardou. 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.
- Portobello Benedict substitutes Portobello Mushrooms for the Ham and is a popular alternative for Catholics observing the Friday Fast.
- Eggs Provençal replaces the Hollandaise Sauce with Béarnaise Sauce.
Fun Fact:
Historians attribute the invention of Eggs Benedict to two different events.
Origin Story 1: In the 1860’s, a regular patron of the restaurant, Mrs. LeGrand Benedict, finding nothing to her liking and wanting something new to eat for lunch, discussed this with Chef Charles Ranhofer (1936-1899), Ranhofer created Eggs Benedict.
Origin Story 2: In 1894, Lemuel Benedict, a Wall Street broker, who was suffering from a hangover, ordered “buttered Toast, crisp Bacon, two Poached Eggs, and a hooker of Hollandaise Sauce” at the Waldorf Hotel in New York. The Waldorf’s legendary chef, Oscar Tschirky, was so impressed that he put the recipe on his breakfast and luncheon menus after substituting Canadian Bacon for crisp Bacon and a Toasted English Muffin for Toasted Bread.
National Eggs Benedict Day is celebrated on April 16th. It’s a day all about the special American dish. Which consists of a Poached Egg, an English Muffin, and Canadian Bacon covered in Hollandaise Sauce, and it’s surrounded by a misconception. Some have assumed that the name originated from Benedict Arnold, the American Revolutionary War Traitor, but its origins are a lot more complicated than they appear.
HISTORY OF NATIONAL EGGS BENEDICT DAY
There are multiple stories about who first invented Eggs Benedict. One of the earliest was in the Eighteenth Century. Pope Benedict XII was obsessed with Eggs. Pope Benedict XII loved one Egg recipe so much that Pope Benedict XII repeatedly ordered this Egg dish on a consistent basis. It was said that despite his illness, Pope Benedict XII still had cravings for this dish. Pope Benedict XII love for this Egg dish never diminished. From that point on, Pope Benedict XII name and the dish were bound to one another.
Another story claims Eggs Benedict came about in 1894 when a Wall Street broker named Lemuel Benedict created Eggs Benedicts in an attempt to rid himself of a hangover. Lemuel Benedict was staying at the Waldorf Hotel, and he ordered Buttered Toast, Poached Eggs, Bacon, and Hollandaise Sauce in hopes of concocting a recipe. The Chef at the restaurant, Oscar Tschirky, was so impressed with the dish that he added it to the menu and named the recipe after Lemuel Benedict.
In 1967, yet another origin of the story was created for Eggs Benedict. A man named Edward P. Montgomery wrote a letter to The New York Times Magazine with information about the man responsible for the recipe prior to his death in 1920. He named Commodore E.C. Benedict as the inventor and that the recipe from his mother, thus further complicating the true origins of the dish.
Today, there are a lot of ways to make Eggs Benedict varying by location. Eggs Benedict have seen a change from Canadian Bacon to regular Bacon. From English Muffins to Toast, but the concept very much remains the same. With brunch culture on the rise and food bloggers going strong in the modern age, Eggs Benedict are as popular as ever, no matter who actually created Eggs Benedict.
NATIONAL EGGS BENEDICT DAY ACTIVITIES
- Experiment with your own style of Eggs Benedict. Using your favorite Toast or English Muffin, flavored Bacon, and your favorite brand of Hollandaise Sauce with seasonings including Salt, White Pepper, and Cayenne Pepper. You can even change the name of your recipe to put your signature on the dish.
- Hollandaise Sauce is a challenge unto itself. If you really want to gain an appreciation for the recipe, take the extra step and learn how to make Eggs Benedict from scratch. Which takes Egg Yolk, fresh Lemon Juice, Butter, and seasonings of your choice. It might take some time to get the recipe just right, but when you accomplish the dish it’ll be perfect for you.
- If you’re not in the mood to make Eggs Benedicts yourself that’s understandable, it’s a holiday. Visit a local restaurant that specializes in breakfast and act as if you’re a foodie. Try out the different styles of Egg dishes and rank them. Include Eggs Florentine, Eggs Hemingway, and Eggs Blackstone.
5 FACTS ABOUT NATIONAL EGGS BENEDICT DAY
- The longevity of the dish is attributed to the fact that substitute ingredients are easy to find in many different Countries.
- Special saucesHollandaise sauce is one of the five mother sauces that provide the foundation for hundreds of different sauces.
- There’s a variation made in honor of Pope Benedict XVI that uses German ingredients including Rye Bread and Sausage.
- Poached Eggs are Eggs that are cooked outside of the shell and yield more delicately cooked Eggs than cooking at higher temperatures.
- People constructed a narrative that because Eggs Benedict used Canadian Bacon and English muffins, making the dish less American.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
