“Sometimes life is a feast with eggs Benedict & hollandaise sauce, waffles & strawberries, sausage links & hashed brown potatoes. And sometimes life is scrambled eggs. In the end, your stomach gets full all the same. And years from now, you may not remember exactly what you ate.” Lisa Schroeder
Known as Eggs Benedict or Eggs Benny, this traditional American that consists of two halves of an English muffin topped with a poached egg, bacon or ham, and hollandaise sauce. The dish was first popularized in New York City and mostly served for breakfast or as brunch.
Interestingly, there are many conflicting accounts as to the origin of Eggs Benedict.The earliest record is based on the menu of Delmonico’s of lower Manhattan whcih states that “Eggs Benedict was first created in our ovens in 1860.” One of its former chefs, Charles Ranhofer had published the recipe for Eggs à la Benedick in 1894.
As per other sources, based on the interview of Lemurel Benedict, a retired Wall Street stock broker recorded in the “Talk of the Town” column of The New Yorker in 1942. As per his words, in 1894 he had wandered into the Waldorf Hotel hoping to find a cure for his morning hangover and had ordered “buttered toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon, and a hooker of hollandaise”. The dish had impressed Oscar Tschirky, the maître d’hôtel that it had earned its’ place on the breakfast and luncheon menus with modifications like ham for the bacon and a toasted English muffin for the toast.
Another claim to this creation was made by Edward P. Montgomery on behalf of Commodore E. C. Benedict. Montgomery wrote a letter to then The New York Times food columnist (1967) which included a recipe he had received through his uncle, a friend of Commodore Benedict. This recipe had varied greatly from the Ranhofer version, especially in the hollandaise sauce, recording the addition of a “hot, hard-cooked egg and ham mixture”.
Today many variations are available globally, often varied as per the local cuisine and favourite add on preparation. Like for instance, substitute the streaky bacon for the ham and add a slice of tomato to get Eggs Blackstone. While Eggs Blanchard states to add Béchamel sauce for Hollandaise and Eggs Florentine includes spinach instead of the ham or adds it underneath (where previously there were added to poached or shirred eggs). Eggs Omar (also known as a steak benedict) substitutes a small steak in place of the ham, and sometimes replaces the hollandaise with béarnaise.
In fact each ingredient of the original Eggs Benedict can be substituted to make a new or exotic variant adaptable to the local culture, food trends and seasonal ingredients. One can substitute the ham for salmon (smoked or plain) to make Eggs Atlantic, Eggs Hemingway or Eggs Norvégienne among the the many locale names for it. This is one of the most common variant found in places where bacon or pork products can’t be served. Additionally the ham can be substituted by corned beef, Irish bacon, pork “debris” (Eggs Cochon) or some even prefer hash browns to the ham.
To make the original Eggs Benedict more creative is to add sliced avocados or the the bread can be substituted by Hollard rusks, a large buttermilk biscuit (Eggs Cochon) or even toast. Either Eggs Benedict can give numerous variations with one’s own favourite ingredients and make for a healthy breakfast in the morning melee or even had as an evening snack. Little wonder then, that a whole day was devoted as National Eggs Benedict Day ( April 16th). Besides having fun with plenty options to modify it, they make a healthy and wholesome food, with palatable mix ups as well inspiring creative cooking and art in the kitchen.
“She dipped a clean pinkie into the hollandaise in the bowl. It coated her finger like a sheath of yellow velvet. Despite her nerves, she plated swiftly and surely. She lifted the poached eggs clear from the shimmering, hot water with a safecracker’s touch, laying each one with infinite care in place on top of its foundation of English muffin and Canadian bacon. Silky drizzle of hollandaise, sprinkle of fresh parsley, grind of black pepper, framed with creamed spinach, dusted with paprika. Done.” Brian O’Reilly, author of Angelina’s Bachelors
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