WEBVTT - Eponymous Foods, Third Serving 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:04.320 Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:13.400 of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:18.520 I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy Vie Wilson. Listen, Tracy. 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:22.800 We have really had some downers lately, some murders. Yeah, 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:27.640 not the most fun topics going on. Last week's recording 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:31.880 session was particularly grim, which is great because this week 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:34.480 we've kept it pretty late. We both have been promising 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:37.080 some more fun stuff, which we are delivering on. I 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:39.839 went marching right back to eponymous food because to me, 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:42.559 it's the gift that keeps on giving. It's fun. There 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:45.760 are weird side streets you can go down. It kind 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:50.199 of hits all of my curiosity points, and so far 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:52.440 I have not discovered a murder involved in any of 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:56.560 the food. So today we are going to cover a 0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:00.639 super yummy comfort food from Italy and two ishes with 0:01:00.880 --> 0:01:03.120 a lot of debate as to their origin. One of 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:06.039 them is associated with the U. S. East Coast and 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:09.160 one on the West coast. All of them, in my opinion, 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:14.120 are delicious. If you think there's nothing quite so delicious 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:18.560 and comforting as a giant bowl of fettuccini alfredo, I 0:01:18.600 --> 0:01:21.240 sure love it. We'll talk more about that on Friday. 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:25.200 You're not alone. Although if you were to order this 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:29.160 by name in Italy, people might give you an odd look. 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:32.480 This dish would normally show up on menus in Italy 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:39.800 as fettuccini al treplo, the fettuccini with three butters. You 0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:45.160 might see this as fettuccini albero or fettuccini a la crema. 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:47.880 And the beauty of this one is really as simplicity. 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.040 The story of its origin is known really well. This 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:54.200 starts with a family with a husband cooking for his wife. 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:57.600 In nineteen o eight, Alfredo de la Leo was working 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:00.040 at the family restaurant that was a little Trittoria and 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:03.680 Piazza Rossa in Rome, run by his mother Angelina, and 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:06.200 night was a very big year for de la Leo 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:09.560 because he and his wife Inez had their first child, Armando. 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:12.600 But as the story goes, after Armando was born and 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:15.160 as was very sick, she was quite weak. She had 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:19.520 no appetite, and Alfredo understandably was very worried about his wife, 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:23.280 so the restaurant tour tried to make her something that 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:27.200 would appeal to her palate and stimulate her appetite. And 0:02:27.520 --> 0:02:31.280 give her some energy, maybe a tall order. He made 0:02:31.280 --> 0:02:34.680 a bowl of fettuccini and then added in butter and parmesan, 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:38.480 and then, according to the Delileo family legend, he prayed 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:41.360 to one of the patron saints of mothers, which was St. Anne, 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:44.840 and then presented his wife with this dish and told 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:46.440 her that if she did not like it, he would 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:50.280 eat it. He did not get to eat it. Not 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:53.000 only didn't as love it. She thought that her husband 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:55.760 should add it to the restaurant's menu, and he did, 0:02:56.240 --> 0:02:58.399 and thus one of the yummiest foods of all time 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:01.400 was born. So the was surely not the first time 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:05.079 that somebody had combined pasta, butter, and parmesan. But there 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:08.160 were some aspects of Alfredo's version that were a little 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:12.639 different than other Italian dishes that have similar ingredients. We'll 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.400 talk about that secret in just a moment, uh and 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:19.000 some other aspects of his dish that would have separated 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:23.119 it from those other precursors. Alfredo opened his own restaurant 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:26.400 in nineteen fourteen in Via della Scrofa, and he simply 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:29.280 called it Alfredo, and he continued to build on the 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:32.520 success that he had already achieved and his reputation for 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:36.760 exceptionally delicious pasta. He also started to get the attention 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:40.280 of hungry diners from well outside of Rome, as wealthy tourists, 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:44.400 some very notable started to visit his place. A lot 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:47.720 of travelers from the United States landed in Alfredo's during 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:51.160 a tour of Europe in the early years of his restaurant. 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:55.560 Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford famously visited Alfredo's restaurant on 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:58.760 their honeymoon that was in n and they loved it 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:01.880 so much they reported eight their every single day that 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:06.160 they were in Rome. Prohibition in the US contributed to 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:09.040 a bump in tourism in the nineteen twenties as American 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:12.240 tourists sought out vacation destinations where they could get a 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:17.360 drink with their meals. In nine seven, Alfredo was knighted 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:21.000 for the excellence of his beettettini, and an interview Delai 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:23.600 Leo gave to a journalist at the time, he said 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.640 this was because he always used the very best ingredients 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:29.640 to make his pasta, even in the most difficult times. 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:34.160 Quote during the war, he said, I found a way. 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:38.279 He was not especially secretive about what made his way 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:42.640 of dressing fettuccini special, saying quote double quantity of butter 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:47.160 and cheese and well mixed. That is my secret. Yes, 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:51.039 so his secret was just more more of the fatty 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:54.040 things that make it delicious. We'll also talk about how 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:56.080 he made his noodles, which is a little different too. 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:58.919 Alfredo was really really proud of the name that he 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:02.600 had made for himself and of his dedicated and impressive patrons, 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:07.000 noting in that interview quote, kings, princes, ministers have eaten here. 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:10.160 The Crown Prince of Sweden is one of my patrons. 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:14.440 The journalist conducting the interview, Alice Wrote wrote of his 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:18.479 table side manner quote, people go to Alfredo's not only 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:21.520 to eat his delicious fetacchini, but to see him prepare it. 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.360 After it has been cooked, a waiter brings it from 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:27.800 the kitchen. Alfredo approaches with a spoon and fork, as 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:31.880 though advancing to a sacrificial right. He poises fork and 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:35.240 spoon aloft esthetically, and then begins to mix into the 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:38.680 fetaccini a generous supply of the best butter and grated 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:43.080 parmesan cheese. But even beyond disclosing his double the butter 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:47.240 and cheese secret Alfredo gave Row the entire recipe for 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:51.320 his fetacchini noodles as well. Here it is quote, Sift 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:54.440 upon the mixing board a kilo of fine white flour, 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:57.280 make a hole in the center of the mound of flower, 0:05:57.400 --> 0:06:01.520 and into this breaks seven eggs. Then, with your hands, 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:04.919 never with a spoon, gradually worked the flour into the 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:08.599 eggs until no more can be assimilated. Then add a 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:11.479 tumbler of water and a dash of salt, and gradually 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:15.920 need the entire mixture into a smooth paste. Work it thin, 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:19.200 and when all is perfectly smooth, roll it into a 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:22.960 thin sheet. Then cut the paste in narrow strips a 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:25.800 third of an inch wide. This is enough for eight 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:31.320 persons served abundantly, or nine served cocy cosy enough. He 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:35.839 recommended boiling his homemade noodles for exactly eight minutes and 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:39.320 leaving them damp instead of draining them dry. He said 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:41.440 that he used an eighth of a pound of butter 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:44.400 for each individual serving. That's half a stick of butter, 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:50.040 and quote an ample sprinkling of parmesan cheese. Finest quality 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:53.159 of the utmost importance, according to De la Leo, is 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:56.040 mixing the butter, cheese, and noodles, so every noodle is 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:59.719 evenly coated. Yeah, for anybody that hasn't made pasta, that 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.760 amount of eggs is a lot. It means that your 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:06.080 noodles are very, very rich in flavor. And an eighth 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:08.320 of a pound of butter a half stick of butter 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:12.080 is a lot to put in one survey. Uh. That 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:15.880 same year that that rite up appeared again. That was uh, 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:18.040 and it was in numerous papers because it was picked 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:21.720 up and syndicated. Alfredo also received a very lavish gift 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:25.720 from Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, a solid gold spoon 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:28.160 and fork set that were modeled after the ones he 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:31.480 used to toss his fedaccini for guests. On the handle 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:34.840 of one was engraved to Alfredo, the King of the Noodles, 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:40.000 Mary Pickford July. The other had the exact same inscription, 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:43.320 but had Fairbanks his name instead of Pickford's, and according 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:46.240 to the official history of the family restaurant, those words 0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:49.240 were quote read by every famous person who had the 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:54.920 honor to taste the Mesto fedccini. Mesto sisim means most majestic, 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:56.480 and that is the name of the dish. On the 0:07:56.520 --> 0:08:02.320 menu even today, Lave miss Sissimo fedaccini. Alfredo Alfredo and 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:06.400 his delicious pasta started getting mentions in international papers that 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:10.000 drew even more visitors. Before the nineteen twenties were over, 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:14.200 restaurateur and writer George Rector had included the recipe for 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:18.600 Alfredo Delileo's famed dish in his cookbook, The Rector Cookbook. 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:22.640 All that press, plus the cachet of having movie stars 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:26.800 tout the dishes as exceptional mint that soon everybody wanted 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:31.280 to try fetacchini. Alfredo and Delileo definitely leaned into his 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:34.680 public persona and his growing fame. He really understood that 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:37.560 showmanship was part of growing his business, and if you 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:40.440 do an image search for him online, you're likely going 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.319 to pretty quickly find photos of him feigning to feed 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:46.280 guests his fetacchini by the handful. That was sort of 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:48.360 part of a stick that he developed as a table 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:51.640 side show of having your noodles dressed. It looks a 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:53.560 little squirrely to me to have someone like with a 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:58.520 fistful of fetacchini's, But even so, it was really always 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:01.440 always about the food. As he told a reporter quote, 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:05.600 I've always been more interested in perfect cooking than anything else. 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:10.160 In ninety three, the tourist trade had evaporated thanks to 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:14.160 World War Two, Alfredo decided to retire. He handed the 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:17.840 restaurant off to his son Armando, whose birth catalyzed the 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:21.600 invention of this famous dish. Armando took on the moniker 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.760 Alfredo the Second as the business passed to him. In 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:28.680 ninety six, the Via della scroll for a restaurant was 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:31.520 sold to two members of the staff. But just a 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:34.400 few years later, in nineteen fifty, Alfredo the first day 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.679 Alfredo the Second had another restaurant, this time called Il 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:41.000 Vero Alfredo the Real Alfredo, and they opened it in 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:45.320 Piazza Augusto Rempert. That restaurant is where you can order 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:48.440 most majestic fettuccini, and it is still there and still 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:51.520 run by the family. It is currently run by Alfredo 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:55.120 the first grandson and granddaughter Armando, who goes by Alfredo 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:58.360 the third, and it is Deli Leo. The Via della 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:02.160 Scrofa location is also still open. Those two restaurants are 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:05.680 kind of competitors. You may have noticed the dish, as 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:09.440 originally made by Alfredo, was really simple, just butter and 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:12.120 cheese and that's not typically how you would make it. 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:14.680 If you looked up the recipe today, particularly here in 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:18.560 the US, most recipes you'll find we'll probably have heavy 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:20.760 cream in them, but that was never part of the 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:24.480 original version, and this is simply due to differences in 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:28.839 ingredient availability. As fedaccini Alfredo caught on in the US, 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:32.120 it just didn't quite have that delicious richness that it 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:35.160 had in Italy. And there were a few reasons for one. 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:38.280 Alfredo de la Leo, as we said, made his fedacchini 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:41.640 from scratch, and his recipe had more egg than most, 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:44.320 using a hand ground wheat flour, and that gave it 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:48.319 this layered, deep flavor. Additionally, the butter he was using 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:50.920 was richer than what would normally be available in most 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:55.839 North American grocery stores. And of course the cheese. Alfredo 0:10:56.040 --> 0:10:59.920 was using parmesanio reggiano. It's parmesan cheese. But just as 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:03.480 champagne is a sparkling wine from the Champagne area in France, 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:07.680 parmegiano reggiano can only come from particular parts of Italy. 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:11.360 Its ingredients are specific and it must have been aged 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:15.080 for between one and three years, so to approximate the 0:11:15.160 --> 0:11:18.360 richness of flavor of all of those ingredients. Fans of 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:22.880 Alfredo's dish outside of Italy added other ingredients, just why 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:26.760 we have heavy cream usually in American versions. And today 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:30.120 it's actually pretty simple to acquire Parmesiano riggiano in a 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:33.960 grocery store in the US. You'll also find garlic on 0:11:34.000 --> 0:11:37.000 the list of ingredients and Alfredo sauce. But that's something 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:41.600 that Alfredo Dlalio would be really lived about. In ninett 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.760 an article appeared in papers across the US under the 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:49.000 title cooks in Rome denied garlic is Italy's favorite. This 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:52.760 quoted several prominent Italian chefs and restaurateurs who were just 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:56.319 beyond irritated that there was a rumor that Italians ate 0:11:56.400 --> 0:12:00.319 copious amounts of garlic. He insisted that garlic did not 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:03.400 come within a mile of his signature dish, and of 0:12:03.440 --> 0:12:06.720 the rumor itself, he said, quote, it's a lopsided ragout 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:09.760 and has to stop. Alfredo de la Leo died of 0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:12.160 a heart attack in ninety nine at the age of 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:16.880 seventy seven, and in the US National Fertuccini Alfredo Day 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:20.200 is celebrated on February seven. We are going to move 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:23.240 on to a dish that's often associated with brunch, but 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:25.440 before we do that, we'll have a minute and pause 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:37.360 for a sponsor break. The next epon hymous food we're 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:40.319 covering is a little tricky because it's not clear exactly 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:42.959 for whom it is named, although there are many contenders. 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:46.000 But we can tell you for certain that eggs Benedict 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:49.080 is not named for Benedict Arnold, even though that seems 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:52.679 like a pretty common misconception that people make. Although there 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:56.880 are many many variations on this dish, the base recipe 0:12:56.920 --> 0:13:01.040 for eggs Benedict calls for Canadian bacon and poached eggs 0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:04.199 sitting on top of the two split halves of an 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:08.280 English muffin, with a generous drizzle of hollandaise sauce to 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:11.040 top that all off. So before we get into the 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:14.240 debates over who eggs Benedict is named for, let's talk 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:17.240 first about hollandaise, just to get that out of the way. 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:20.400 Hollandaise sauce, or a sort of proto version of it, 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:24.000 dates back at least to the mid seventeenth century. In 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:28.360 the cookbook Li Cuisinier Francois Francois Pierre de la Verne 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:32.360 gives the basic recipe, although his lax lemon juice. In 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:35.760 a recipe for asparagus in a sweet sauce, he writes, 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:40.240 make a sauce with very fresh butter, a little vinegar, salt, nutmeg, 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:43.240 and an egg yolk to thicken the sauce, being careful 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:47.440 that that doesn't turn as an aside. This is from 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:50.960 the Terence Scully translation of that cookbook. There are others 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:53.720 that may have slightly different wording because the translation is 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:57.240 just a little different. Uh Today, a hollandaise would include 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:00.760 lemon juice and perhaps even cayenne pepper, but it was 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:05.800 probably around even before that. That name. Hollandaise means Dutch sauce, 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:08.800 and it's believed by some to have traveled to France 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:12.080 via Hugueno who were returning to their home country after 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:15.480 having been exiled. There's a difference of opinion on that 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:20.040 last point, though. The sauce is sometimes attributed to Normandy 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:24.320 as the place of origin and to the town Isigny specifically. 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.400 The town is known for its butter, and you can 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:30.720 find the same recipe listed in some places as Sauce 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:34.560 isign Yee. It became known as Hollandaise thanks to prior 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:38.440 podcast subject august Escoffier, who listed it in his book 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:42.320 as the fifth mother sauce, although his predecessor and another 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:45.760 podcast subject, Marie Antoine Karem, had also used it and 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:48.960 called it that Karem did not listed as a mother sauce. 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:52.760 One possible reason for the change in name to Hollandaise 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:54.840 sauce may have been as simple as the change of 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:58.120 butter sauce from using butter that was made and is 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:00.080 an yee to butter that was made in Hollo and 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:03.720 so getting back to eggs Benedict. One claim to the 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:08.200 name origin of the dish is stockbroker Lemuel Benedict. Benedict 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:11.000 was successful and a ladies man, and a bit of 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:13.560 a dandy when it came to his appearance. He was 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:16.040 not a man who buried himself in work and laid 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:19.040 low in his downtime. He was from a wealthy and 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:22.520 conservative family, a family which did not appreciate the fact 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:24.640 that lem was kind of a New York party person, 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:28.840 very outgoing with the very flamboyant style. If you've ever 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:32.000 seen photos of wealthy folks out in the cold wearing 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:35.400 a raccoon skin coat limb was one of those. He 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:38.520 also allegedly carried a cane that had a flask built 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:41.880 into it, so no surprise based on that description, Lemuel 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:45.120 Benedict had a reputation for a fun waite. Staff in 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:48.160 the restaurants that he frequented loved him because he tipped 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:51.680 really generously. He was seen about town with a variety 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:54.680 of beautiful dates, and sometimes all of that party and 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:57.840 caught up to him in the form of an epic hangover. 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:02.040 According to the Lemue Little Benedict version of the Eggs 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:06.680 Benedict origin story, one morning in he sat down for 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:09.880 breakfast at the Waldorf Hotel, and he was feeling the 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:13.840 previous night's indulgence, and so he ordered a variety of 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:17.800 breakfast items, buttered toast, two poached eggs, and some bacon, 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:23.800 and also a picture of hollandaise sauce. I've paused because 0:16:23.840 --> 0:16:25.960 I'm just thinking about how if I had a hangover, 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:32.640 this is not at all what would help me. Once 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:35.760 Lemuel had been brought his order, he said to have 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.520 assembled the items into two stacks and then poured the 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:41.960 sauce over them. So, according to this tale, he invented 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:46.920 this himself at his table. When Oscar Stirky, the major 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:50.160 d of the hotel, saw what the stockbroker had put together, 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:52.880 he duplicated that in the kitchen and found it to 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:57.080 be delightful, so subbing out an English muffin instead of 0:16:57.080 --> 0:16:59.880 the toast, and Canadian bacon or ham instead of bacon 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:03.840 that went on to the menu. That version of the 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:07.359 origin story was repeated by The New Yorker on December eleven, 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:11.040 ninety two, in an article written by Thomas Dormus and 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:15.000 Russell Maloney that was simply titled Benedict. At that point, 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:18.760 Lemuel Benedict was still alive. He had married an opera 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:21.320 singer named Carrie Bridewell in nineteen o eight. He had 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:24.240 known all manner of famous and important people, and according 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:27.240 to the New Yorker quote, Benedict's has been a full 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:31.040 and happy life. He gave an interview for it as well, 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:33.120 and he died the year after that article came out 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:37.119 in three at the age of seventy six. He apparently 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:40.880 never transitioned over to the English muffin version of eggs Benedict. 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:44.040 He always preferred toast, and in that article about him 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:46.800 in the New Yorker. He gave the quote English muffins 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:49.560 are unpalatable, no matter how much they are toasted or 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:57.040 how they are served. Disagree. Uh. There is of course 0:17:57.080 --> 0:17:59.520 a different story to how this dish got its name. 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:04.480 In article ran in Bonapaty about the dish, and in 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:08.639 that story there's a couple Mr and Mrs La gram Benedict, 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:11.560 for whom the dish is allegedly named. In this case, 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:14.879 this was invented at Delmonico's. That's a restaurant Lemuel was 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:19.520 said to have visited frequently. But this attribution actually predates 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:23.440 the Lemuel Benedict story by about thirty years, and this 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:27.000 version is one which Delmonico's continues to assert is true. 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:31.680 In the Delmonico's head cheft, Bill Olivia told her reporter quote, 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:34.119 what I know is simply that Mr and Mrs La 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:37.560 Grand Benedict came all the time. They had eaten everything 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:39.520 on the menu, and they were tired of the menu, 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:43.400 and they asked the brothers to create something new. In 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:45.800 this version of the story, the chef at the time, 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:49.280 Charles Ranhofer, conferred with the brothers who owned the restaurant 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:52.560 and they all came up with this dish. So rand 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:57.399 Hoffer had published a cookbook in titled The Epicure in 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:01.879 this had an eggs Benedict recipe in it, although it 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:06.120 was called eggs Alla Benedict. That recipe reads quote cuts 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:09.760 some muffins and halves cross wise, toast them without allowing 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:13.800 to brown. Then place a round of cooked ham an 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:16.560 eighth of an inch thick and of the same diameter 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:19.800 as the muffins on each half heat in a moderate oven, 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:22.720 and put a poached egg on each toast to cover 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:26.560 the whole with hollandaise sauce. Yeah, and that the spelling 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:28.920 of that, in case she couldn't hear, is different. It's 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:31.200 not Benedict with a T on the end, but Benedict 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:33.240 d I c K is the end of the name. 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:36.840 So that only muddles the story a bit more. For 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:39.840 a long time, a very long time, Lemuel Benedict's family, 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:44.520 primarily his cousin's son, Jack Benedict, really advocated for Lemuel 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:47.800 to be recognized as the originator of the dish. Jack 0:19:47.840 --> 0:19:51.040 Benedict also operated a restaurant in Colorado for a while 0:19:51.160 --> 0:19:54.760 called LC Benedict Restaurant in Tavern and he offered both 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:57.600 Lemuel's version of the dish with bacon and toast and 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:01.280 Oscar's version with ham in an English FM. So here's 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:05.200 a tidbit for a little extra intrigue. Those two stories 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:09.720 share more DNA than it initially appears. Oscar Sharkey worked 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:13.360 at Delmonico's as a waiter before moving on to the Waldorf, 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:16.160 and it's believed that he and Charles Ranhoff are worked 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:19.760 together for at least some period of time, So it 0:20:19.840 --> 0:20:22.679 could have been a recipe that he already knew or 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:25.879 that he remembered once he saw Lemuel Benedict put something 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:29.840 similar together. We'll never really knew. Sharkey, who may be 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:33.120 the subject of a future episode, never confirmed or denied 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:36.560 the Lemuel version of the story during his lifetime. Yeah, 0:20:36.560 --> 0:20:39.400 that four year is the key one where there's both 0:20:39.440 --> 0:20:45.240 the Delmonico's recipe book and the invention at the Waldorf. 0:20:45.440 --> 0:20:49.399 Uh So it's a little fuzzy. There is, though, also 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:53.080 a third and much older possible attribution of the name. 0:20:53.880 --> 0:20:57.600 Pietro Orsini, better known as Pope Benedict the thirteen was 0:20:57.640 --> 0:21:00.280 said to have been put on a dietary regiment of 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:04.199 toast and eggs because of chronic digestive issues, and he 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:06.600 is said to have added a lemon based sauce to 0:21:06.640 --> 0:21:11.720 the otherwise rather boring dish. This version, devised during the 0:21:11.760 --> 0:21:14.040 time that Benedict the thirteen was head of the Catholic 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:18.359 Church that was from seventeen thirty, is of course lacking 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:22.080 the delicious bacon or ham component, and was like Lemuels 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:26.000 on toast instead of English muffins. This was probably not 0:21:26.080 --> 0:21:30.320 called eggs Benedict either, and sodent only. The word brunch 0:21:30.680 --> 0:21:34.560 first appeared in print in eight and a Hunter's Weekly 0:21:34.720 --> 0:21:38.439 article in which author Guy Berenger made a case for 0:21:38.520 --> 0:21:42.200 a meal that offered an alternative to the usual traditions 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:46.840 of early breakfasts or heavy Sunday dinners. Advocated that brunch 0:21:47.000 --> 0:21:51.800 was quote cheerful, sociable, and inciting. It is talk compelling. 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:54.440 It puts you in a good temper. It makes you 0:21:54.480 --> 0:21:58.119 satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings. It sweeps away 0:21:58.200 --> 0:22:02.560 the worries and cobwebs of the week. This article was 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:05.520 printed with a ps that read quote beer and whiskey 0:22:05.560 --> 0:22:09.719 are admitted as substitutes for tea and coffee. Berenger might 0:22:09.760 --> 0:22:12.679 be shocked at just how heavy brunch menus have become 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:15.080 over the years. But the timing of this article and 0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:17.879 the timing of the Lemuel Benedict's story being so close 0:22:17.920 --> 0:22:22.320 together might explain how the egg dish became such a 0:22:22.400 --> 0:22:27.200 brunch standard. April sixt is incidentally Eggs Benedict Day. I'm 0:22:27.200 --> 0:22:29.200 gonna market on my calendar, and you better believe I'm 0:22:29.240 --> 0:22:33.680 making some. You can have it all woo, and I will. 0:22:33.760 --> 0:22:37.200 When we come back, we will cover another eponymous food. 0:22:37.240 --> 0:22:39.880 It is a salad and involves some seafood, and we'll 0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:42.480 do that right after we pause to hear from the sponsors. 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:54.439 To keep stuff you missed in history class. Going next 0:22:54.520 --> 0:22:58.359 up is another food with a hotly contested origin story, 0:22:58.440 --> 0:23:02.000 and that is crab louis. You might see it spelled 0:23:02.160 --> 0:23:04.359 like Louis with an S or Louie with an E, 0:23:04.680 --> 0:23:06.639 but it is the same dish with either spelling, and 0:23:06.680 --> 0:23:09.840 it is pretty much always pronounced crab louie. It starts 0:23:09.880 --> 0:23:12.080 with a bed of iceberg lettuce, and on top of 0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:17.160 that is usually a combination of tomato, hard boiled eggs, asparagus, 0:23:17.240 --> 0:23:19.880 and crab. Some people also like to have lemon wedges, 0:23:20.280 --> 0:23:23.320 but the crab is dressed in Louie dressing, and that 0:23:23.480 --> 0:23:27.240 is where the magic happens. One very popular but now 0:23:27.320 --> 0:23:32.080 defunct San Francisco restaurant, so Laria's Grill described the crab 0:23:32.160 --> 0:23:35.359 and dressing preparation this way, quote take meat of crab 0:23:35.560 --> 0:23:39.400 in large piece, and dress with the following one third mayonnaise, 0:23:39.560 --> 0:23:43.640 two thirds chili sauce, small quantity chopped English chow chow, 0:23:44.080 --> 0:23:49.080 a little Worcester sauce, and minced tarragon, shallots and sweet parsley, 0:23:49.240 --> 0:23:53.000 season with salt and pepper, or keep on ice chow 0:23:53.119 --> 0:23:55.639 chow if you don't know, that's a pickled relish. It 0:23:55.800 --> 0:23:58.280 is fairly certain that Crab Louis popped up on the 0:23:58.320 --> 0:24:01.119