It’s a favorite breakfast food of mine. It comes in a plethora of forms these days. I treated myself to a breakfast of Eggs Benedict Blackstone, which replaces the traditional bed of Canadian bacon with thick, smoky, perfectly fried bacon. A seemingly insignificant change, but transformational. I enjoyed it at a favorite local café, Poor Boy’s, which also serves stellar coffee. No one at Poor Boy’s could tell me the reason for the name “Blackstone”. But I began to muse about the source of the name “Eggs Benedict”. Were they a favorite of St. Benedict, the founder of the Benedictine order of monks? Or perhaps Pope Benedict breakfasted on them? Maybe Benedict Arnold fortified himself to commit treason by devouring a plateful. Wrong, according to our friend Google.
Here is Google’s story. In the year 1894, a Wall Street broker by the name of Lemuel Benedict ordered his poached eggs smothered in Hollandaise sauce, in the hope of nursing a horrific hangover. Whether or not it worked remains shrouded in history, but his name stuck to the dish. I’m not much of a drinker, so I can’t tell you if that cure worked. But I can tell you that Eggs Benedict is a great choice for breakfast, or any time, for that matter. And most restaurants will honor a request to replace the Canadian bacon with the regular variety. You might try it sometime soon.