[photo above: Me about ta dig into a delish dish of eggs benedict etc. at Stone Park Cafe …
I’m lucky to live a few doors down from one of the best brunch spots in all the big apple: Stone Park Cafe on 5th Avenue in Park Slope Brooklyn — the main artery ave in my ‘hood that was recently crowned NYC’s Coolest Street by Time Out Magazine …🙌🏽🙌🏽…
Luckily for all of us, Stone Park Cafe (SPC) also serves up a delicious dinner menu, wonderful wine list (incl. by the glass!) + stellar craft cocktails and excellent bar service .
But back to EGGS BENEDICT, a dish you don’t want to order just anywhere by the way— “Why?”you ask:
…poached to perfection with a hollandaise sauce like James Hemings likely made during his culinary training while in France (1784-1789) with Thomas Jefferson…
Hollandaise is one of the five “mother sauces” of French haute cuisine, so it’s nice to order a dish crowned with it where you know somebody in that kitchen has classic culinary training, skills and technique to pull it off properly.
A) Skills not unlike those acquired and perfected by America’s first classically trained Chef de cuisine, James Hemings (b. 1765) who’s training of other enslaved chefs at Monticello and nearby Madison plantation positively impacted stewards of professional American cookery (primarily by Black cooks and chefs) for generations— and the development of fine dining throughout our nation.
Plus, poaching eggs ain’t easy. At all. See also # ! above…
There are special food safety standards applicable to both the sauce and the poached egg part. That’s all i’mma say on that…
My Eggs Benedict at SPC were perfect, hence this post + my pics made the cut for today’s April food ‘holidays’! If you’re looking for more food history or intel behind this dish👇🏾 ⬇️
One of the perks for my paid PATREON supporters is the opportunity to access more intel including food & drink history on specific topics of interest like this. (And if you’re already a Patreon supporter I look fwd to you redeeming said perks!). See you there!
✨Cheers!✨
But Wait, There’s More! …It’s Mushroom Day too!…
“Day Of The Mushroom” shares this date too according to several “holiday today” sources…Mushrooms, amazing mushrooms, wow i do LOVE mushrooms so much — as you can see here from the many mushroom beauty shots below that i found on my phone to upload here lol. I’m also lucky to live directly across the street from the year-round Park Slope Down to Earth Farmers Market every Sunday 9am-2pm (& where I took most of the more ‘unusual’ and ‘interesting’ looking mushroom shots in the slideshow below…) which is a wonderful place for foodies to discover new vegetable and fruit varieties from local farmers and interesting artisanal items as well…
The innovative Shroomeats products you see were samples i secured at the Natural Products Expo East last fall in Philadelphia. i enjoyed trying them out in a range of dishes as a meat substitute — nice texture, nutritious, satisfying and filling. My only wish would be that they also come out with a product line with more palpable “mushroomy” flavors in the ‘shroomeats’ for us true ‘shroom lovers — vs. having an apparent appeal to (everybody?) approach that yields more of a ‘blank canvas 'on the product flavor front. *TFG TIP: To impart intense mushroom flavor into dishes i often rinse and rehydrate dried mushrooms (like those you also see in the packages in my photo line up) or use them to make an intensely opaque mushroom broths…
Mushrooms show up in every food culture the world over… known not only for their earthy, elegant and oft ethereal aromatic and flavor profiles but also adaptogenic healing properties or possessing powers to transcend states of consciousness and awareness …
Indeed, mushrooms are magical in myriad ways. One of the perks for my paid PATREON supporters is the opportunity to access more intel including food & drink history on specific topics of interest like this. (And if you’re already a Patreon supporter I look fwd to you redeeming said perks!). See you there!
📸 original photos @thefoodgriot
THIS LINK takes you to the current month calendar to explore more …