Eggs Benedict

Eggs Benedict is a dish consisting of slices of toast or halves of muffins (English muffins in American English) topped with poached eggs, smoked bacon or ham (traditionally back bacon, which in America is called Canadian bacon) and hollandaise sauce.

Stories differ as to the origins of the dish. The traditional story is that it was created in the 1920s for LeGrand Benedict, a financier, by the chef of Delmonico's restaurant in New York City after he complained there was nothing new on the menu. Other sources state it was created in 1894 by Oscar Tschirky, maître d'hôtel of the Waldorf-Astoria in Manhattan, for the broker Lemuel Benedict. A consensus of the origin theories argues against any link to the Benedictine order.

The dish is the source of American actor Dirk Benedict's stage name, supposedly adopted on the suggestion of his agent whilst searching for something more suitable for Hollywood than 'Niewoehner', his family name.

Eggs Benedict may have inspired McDonalds to create the Egg McMuffin breakfast sandwich, which approximates the dish by substituting scrambled egg for the poached egg, ham for the Canadian bacon, and a piece of cheese for the hollandaise sauce. Further, the traditional Eggs Benedict is open-faced, while the Egg McMuffin has the other half of the English muffin on top.

See also

• List of egg dishes

External links

• Who Cooked That Up? page on origin of the dish with a recipe