Benedictine or Benedictine spread is a

spread Spread may refer to: Places * Spread, West Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Spread'' (film), a 2009 film. * ''$pread'', a quarterly magazine by and for sex workers * "Spread", a song by OutKast from their 2003 album ''Speakerboxxx/T ...

made with

cucumber The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.cream cheese Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Cream cheese is not naturally matured and is meant to be consumed fresh, so it differs from other soft cheeses such as Brie and Neuf ...

. Invented near the beginning of the 20th century, it was originally and still is used for making Benedictine sandwiches, a type of

cucumber sandwich The traditional cucumber sandwich is a crustless tea sandwich (or finger sandwich) composed of thin slices of cucumber situated between two thin slices of lightly buttered white bread. The sandwich originated with British colonists in India. C ...

, but it also has been used as a dip or combined with meat in a sandwich. This spread can be obtained pre-made from some

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

-area grocery stores. Although benedictine is rarely seen in restaurants outside the state of Kentucky, it has been written about in articles in national publications such as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', and ''

Saveur Magazine ''Saveur'' is an online gourmet, food, wine, and travel magazine that publishes essays about various world cuisines. The publication was co-founded by Dorothy Kalins, Michael Grossman, Christopher Hirsheimer, and Colman Andrews. It was started b ...

'', and also reported about on multimedia outlets such as the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. A benedictine-based sandwich was featured on the Food Network's ''50 States 50 Sandwiches'' program in 2012, on the television shows of celebrity chefs

Paula Deen Paula Ann Hiers Deen (born January 19, 1947) is an American chef, cookbook author, and TV personality. Deen resides in Savannah, Georgia, where she owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant with her sons, Jamie and Bobby Deen. She has pu ...

and Damaris Phillips, in ''

Southern Living ''Southern Living'' is a lifestyle magazine aimed at readers in the Southern United States featuring recipes, house plans, garden plans, and information about Southern culture and travel. It is published by Birmingham, Alabama Alabama ...

'' magazine as one of June's "2011 Best Recipes" for their corresponding issue, in ''

Garden & Gun ''Garden & Gun'' is a national magazine focusing on the Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is Lis ...

'' magazine, and in

PopSugar PopSugar Inc. is an American media and technology company that is the parent to the media property PopSugar (stylized POPSUGAR) and a monthly subscription business PopSugar Must Have. The company was founded in 2006 by married couple Brian and Lis ...

History

Benedictine spread and the Benedictine sandwich was invented around the end of the 19th century by Jennie Carter Benedict, a

caterer Catering is the business of providing food services at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major service ...

, restaurateur and cookbook author in

. Benedict opened a kitchen for providing catering services in 1893, and in 1900 opened a restaurant and

tea room A teahouse or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel, especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment that only serve ...

called Benedict's. It was probably during her catering period when she invented and originally served benedictine. Benedict's cookbooks are still being sold a century after they were first published. For example, her ''The Blue Ribbon Cook Book'', which first published in 1902, has been reprinted numerous times and recently in 2008. Although early editions of this book do not contain a recipe for the spread, the 2022 edition does.

Ingredients and preparation

The original Benedictine recipe by Benedict, as reported by the Louisville ''

Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in ...

'' and

, included cream cheese, cucumber juice, onion juice, salt, cayenne pepper, and a couple drops of green

food coloring Food coloring, color additive or colorant is any dye, pigment, or substance that imparts color when it is added to food or beverages. Colorants can be supplied as liquids, powders, gels, or pastes. Food coloring is commonly used in commercia ...

. Modern variants of the recipe typically call for grated or chopped cucumber, chopped onions, mayonnaise, and

dill Dill (''Anethum graveolens'') is an annual herb in the celery family Apiaceae. It is native to North Africa, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula; it is grown widely in Eurasia, where its leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavouring ...

, and often omit the food coloring. Benedictine sandwiches are typically served as a type of

tea sandwich A tea sandwich (also referred to as finger sandwich) is a small prepared sandwich typically sliced into pieces that can be picked up with one hand. It was originally developed in the 19th century as an offering at afternoon teatime meant to st ...

or finger sandwich, with crusts trimmed and the sandwich cut into four pieces, either fingers or triangles, to make them convenient to eat with one hand. ''Garden & Gun'' called them Kentucky's answer to the pimiento cheese sandwich.

References

{{reflist, 30em Spreads (food) American condiments Kentucky cuisine Cuisine of Louisville, Kentucky History of Louisville, Kentucky Food and drink introduced in the 1890s 1890s establishments in Kentucky Sandwiches

History

Ingredients and preparation

See also

References