Food - Drink
Eggs Florentine Is The Brunch Dish With Baffling Origins
By RYAN CASHMAN
Despite the name eggs Florentine, which means “eggs in the tradition of Florence,” this classic brunch dish is not Italian in origin, and only passingly relates to Florence, Italy.
Catherine de Medici, of the ruling family of Florence, was a fan of spinach, so when she married French King Henry II, she brought the leafy green with her to France.
As a result, any French meal that uses spinach and a cream sauce is named “á la Florentine,” like eggs Florentine, which replaces the bacon in eggs Benedict with spinach.
Eggs Florentine is simple enough to make with English muffins, spinach, and eggs, but there is some debate about whether to top it with hollandaise or cheesy mornay sauce.
To stay true to the “Florentine” moniker, which is often associated with cheese sauce, opt for mornay made with flour, milk, eggs, butter, Parmesan, and Gruyere.