National Eggs Benedict Day

The regardless-of-origin fact is that Eggs Benedict became the signature dish of American brunch culture, which itself was a late-19th-century Waldorf-era invention. Before Eggs Benedict, breakfast was a home meal; brunch (a late-morning, slightly elevated meal) was invented as a weekend restaurant category. Eggs Benedict gave brunch its iconic dish. The Plaza Hotel, the Waldorf, and other grand New York hotels featured it in their Sunday dining rooms through the 1920s.

The dish's difficulty comes from the hollandaise sauce, a French classic emulsion that's notoriously temperamental. Hollandaise is egg yolks, lemon juice, and melted butter, whisked over gentle heat; too hot and the eggs scramble, too cold and the emulsion breaks. The classical French cookbook "Le Guide Culinaire" (1903) by Escoffier includes hollandaise as one of the five "mother sauces" of French cuisine. Mastering it is a kitchen milestone.

Modern Eggs Benedict variations are endless: Eggs Florentine substitutes spinach for Canadian bacon. Eggs Sardou (New Orleans, Antoine's Restaurant, 1908) uses artichoke bottoms and creamed spinach. Eggs Royale uses smoked salmon. Eggs Blackstone adds tomato and bacon. Eggs Neptune uses crab. Each region and restaurant develops its own. But the classic, two poached eggs, Canadian bacon, English muffin, perfect hollandaise, remains the gold standard and the April 16 must-have.

Regional and restaurant interpretations:

Where Eggs Benedict is religion: