Les Jones

Food & Drink > Eggs Benedict

When I went grocery shopping this week I bought some ham and English muffins so I could make eggs Benedict. (We had them this morning and they were yummy.)

I was searching for recipes and found Eggs Benedict New York. There are recipes, a history of the dish, detailed nutritional information, reviews of packaged Hollandaise sauces, and reviews of eggs Benedict preparations at restaurants around New York.

Oh, and thanks to this site I now know the difference between bacon and Canadian bacon.

Standard bacon comes from pork "bellies," the underside of the hog, along the ribs. Canadian bacon comes from the meatier loin, along the backbone. It is trimmed of excess fat and is cured like ham. Often, ordinary ham is substituted in eggs Benedict. Canadian bacon should be freshly grilled, but is usually presliced before cooking, which does not improve flavor or texture. Technically, it is "Canadian-style" bacon if it is not of Canadian origin. Canadians do not eat it more than any other pork-product-loving people, though they may call it back bacon or pea meal bacon.

Over breakfast I told Melissa about my discovery of the difference between bacon and Canadian bacon. Her reaction: thanks, but I'd rather not hear about what part of an animal meat comes from while I'm eating it.

From the description of Hollandaise sauce: "A hardly cooked beaten egg yolk, gently thickened with hot drawn butter, plus a squirt of lemon juice." What is a hardly cooked egg? It could be a hard-boiled egg, or it could be an egg that's hardly been cooked. I guess it depends on whether the chef is working hard or hardly working.