Eggs Benedict is a brunch classic, but three rival stories claim its invention. This episode looks at each one. Delmonico’s claimed an 1860 creation, yet chef Charles Ranhofer’s recipe for Eggs a la Benedict only appeared in print decades later. Retired stockbroker Lemuel Benedict told The New Yorker in 1942 that he ordered the dish at the Waldorf in 1894 to cure a hangover. A 1967 letter to Craig Claiborne credited Commodore E.C. Benedict.

We explain why the Waldorf version worked. Maitre d’ Oscar Tschirky swapped toast for an English muffin and bacon for ham, which gave the dish a sturdy base. We also cover how hollandaise holds together as an emulsion, and then the dish’s many variations, from smoked salmon and crab versions to Eggs Sardou, haggis Benedicts and the clam chowder of Eggs Halifax, until Benedict became a general name for a style of dish.

• Why Delmonico’s 60-year gap in the record looks like claiming the dish after the fact
• Lemuel Benedict’s hangover order and his hooker of hollandaise
• How Oscar Tschirky’s changes gave the dish its structure
• Regional takes including Eggs Chesapeake, Eggs Sardou and Eggs Florentine
• Eggs Woodhouse, Eggs Halifax, and what still counts as a Benedict