How Do You Prefer Your Eggs Mr Benedict?

During the research for my foods named after cooking pots article, I also found a fair few foods named after people so here they are: some you might already know, some may be new to you. Beef Stroganoff was the prize-winning recipe created for a cooking competition held in the 1890s in St. Petersburg, it consisted of a combination of beef, mushrooms, and sour cream,. The chef who devised the recipe worked for the Russian diplomat Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov, a member of one of Russia's grandest noble families. After defeating Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, Arthur Wellesley became a national hero and was made the first Duke of Wellington. He loved a dish of beef, mushrooms, truffles, Madeira wine, and paté cooked in pastry, which has been named Beef Wellington in his honour. In the 1920s, Caesar Cardini, owner of an Italian restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico, and his brother, Alex, invented a salad of romaine lettuce, anchovies, coddled egg, lemon juice, grated Parmesan cheese, and garlic-flavored croutons tossed with a garlic vinaigrette flavored with Worcestershire sauce. At first it was called Aviator's Salad, but later Cardini named the dish after himself and so it became known as Caesar Salad. A French dish of chicken braised with garlic, tomatoes, olives, white wine or brandy, and garnished with crayfish and sometimes fried eggs, Chicken Marengo was born on the battlefield. On June 14, 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the Austro-Hungarian army at the village of Marengo, in northern Italy. After a ferocious battle in which 5,800 French and 9,400 Austrians were killed, the victorious French were ravenous. Chicken Marengo was made from whatever ingredients they were able to take from the village. Incidentally, Napoleon also named his horse Marengo after riding him at this battle, the horse was sturdy and reliable and lived to the age of 38. Eggs Benedict was most likely created at Delmonico's Restaurant, in New York City, in response to a complaint that the menu never changed. Regulars at the fancy restaurant, Mr. and Mrs. LeGrand Benedict, had asked for something new. To oblige, the chef served up eggs on ham served on a muffin and covered in Hollandaise sauce. Peach Melba was invented by the person who is sometimes called the greatest chef who ever lived, Auguste Escoffier created a dessert of poached peach halves, vanilla ice cream, and raspberry sauce in honour of Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba. A Frenchman, Escoffier worked at the Ritz Hotel in London in the early 1900s, the period when Melba performed regularly at the Covent Garden opera house. Escoffier also created Melba toast—bread heated in a low oven until golden brown and very brittle— also in Dame Nellie’s honour. In 1896, Oscar Tschirky, the maître d'hôtel of the famed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, created a salad of apples, celery, and mayonnaise. Immediately popular, the new dish was called Waldorf Salad. Chopped walnuts became a later addition to this popular accompaniment. Now that has inspired me to be creative in the kitchen, I think I’ll have to go and throw some ingredients together and name it after me. Somehow though a Blackstone Salad doesn’t seem to have the same kind of ring to it…!

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