The Perfect Eggs Benedict

My quest over the past four months has given me a lot to consider in the (admittedly narrow)  field of Eggs Benedict. I decided when I began that only a faultless Eggs Benedict would be awarded five stars and recently i’ve come tantalisingly close to perfect.

My experiences have crystalised what I would consider perfection and this seemed like a good time to revisit what we are questing for.

The Eggs

An Eggs Benedict hinges around how well the eggs have been cooked, even if every other element is perfect, nothing can overcome an overcooked or undercooked poached egg. So cutting into a poached egg is the moment of truth, the moment upon which the fate of the Eggs Benedict balances – the reason that the dish holds both promise and abject disappointment. We are currently more disspointed by under cooked eggs than over cooked ones – too often we get one of each.

The bread product

The muffin should be split and toasted until golden, this is critical as it provides the contrast in textures with all the other soft ingredients, oddly enough, this is something which is regularly not done – i’m not that great a cook, my ability to poach an egg is decidedly average – yet I can toast an astonishing array of bread products with confidence. No excuses!

The meat

The ham or bacon (personally I like it to be fairly lean) should be thick and salty, without the salt the Eggs Benedict does tend to be under seasoned.

The sauce

Finally the hollandaise sauce. Not too much, not too little, smooth, creamy with a rich buttery flavour and a mild tang of lemon.

Additions and Subtractions

So far i’ve had Eggs Benedict sides of with hash browns, chips, fried potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach. I’ve had Eggs Benedict without hollandaise and with toast. I’ve yet to find any additions or subtractions to the dish that inprove it, so I maintain that a perfect Eggs Benedict will be uncluttered.