Brunch

For the love of brunch…the analysis

           

            When I think of brunch I think of a Sunday fun day, a day dedicated to relaxing, fun, friends, mimosa’s and a dish that I think most Americans have a place for in their hearts, and the savory Eggs Benedict. But where did brunch come from? Who made the first Eggs Benedict? The conception of brunch was first introduced in Britain by the upper-class. It started as a hunting lunch. It was a long leisure meal after the mornings hunt. It consisted of many meats, egg dishes and tons of booze. Sounds like brunch to me! The word brunch itself came from the time of day that it was served, closer to breakfast, but not too far from lunch, hence brunch. They also had a name for when you ate closer to lunch, blunch. Needless to say, blunch did not catch on. By the late 1920’s, brunch caught on in America. The first city that brunch became popular was Chicago, the Windy city, because of the multi-night trips on train that stopped in Chicago. Stars who travelled all night to get from coast to coast for business would stop in Chicago, and “on Sundays, actors like John Barrymore, Helen Hayes, and Clark Gable stopped to brunch at the famed Pump Room at the Ambassador Hotel”(www.history.com/news/hungry-history/the-goods-on-brunch). Brunch gained more popularity after World War II. People were attending church less and less and were looking for something to do with their time. Sunday was now the day to relax and have a leisurely brunch.
            My go to brunch is the Eggs Benedict, the dish with an interesting past. There are a few stories as to where the Eggs Benedict came from. The most popular of stories is as follows: A retired Wall Street stock broker, Lemuel Benedict went to the Waldorf Hotel in 1894, he was searching for a cure, a cure for his hangover. Sound familiar? He ordered “buttered toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon and a hooker of Hollandaise.” The maître d’hotel was impressed by the dish and added it to the breakfast menu, with a few twists. He substituted the toast with an English muffin and swapped out the bacon for ham, and there, my friends, you have the Eggs Benedict. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/eggs_benedict) Whether you enjoy a sweet brunch like French toast or Belgium waffles, or maybe you prefer a savory egg dish. No matter what you like, we all know this meal that has turned into a time to celebrate, relax and enjoy the company of family and friends. It is a time to create memories, because that’s what good food does, it brings people together. Happy brunching!