It has been a while since I posted a food photography article. My tummy has been rumbling and my shutter-release finger twitching, so it’s time to tuck in again. This time, rather than tackle a notable restaurant I decided to investigate a classic American dish: Eggs Benedict.
Brunch hatred
Many people, especially chefs, hate brunch. It is reviled as bourgeois, soulless, and even dishonest. This portmanteau (or some would say, bastard offspring) of breakfast and lunch was referred to as “the ‘B’ word” by the late Anthony Bourdain. It seems to provoke strong feelings. In fact, the contempt in which it is held has become rather a cliché.
Include me out of the brunch-hatred crowd, though. I love mid-morning meals!
It’s a great way to ease into Sunday, a day usually blessed with oodles of unscheduled time and no burning issues to address. It’s especially enjoyable when consumed al fresco or on a patio overlooking the ocean. And what better protein-rich dish to order than Eggs Benedict? After all, this single meal is meant to cover both breakfast and lunch.
The Great Eggs Benedict Controversy
The origin of Eggs Benedict, like many iconic dishes, is disputed. Delmonico’s, one of New York’s best-known restaurants, asserts the dish was created in their establishment in 1860. However, the year 1894 also looms large in multiple claims to its first appearance. Charles Ranhofer, a former chef at Delmonico’s, published a recipe for Eggs á la Benedick that year. And, a certain Lemuel Benedict claims that in the same year, he persuaded the maître d’hôtel at the Waldorf to prepare an almost identical dish. It subsequently found its way onto their regular menu.
Regardless of who deserves credit, it is both a work of genius and a regular item on most American brunch menus. I cannot speak for the rest of the world. Like many food items in the US, dubious national references feature in its medley of ingredients. Thus, it comprises a poached egg on a slice of Canadian Bacon, sitting on a toasted English Muffin, smothered in Hollandaise sauce. Talk about international cuisine.
In its traditional form, Eggs Benedict features two of these muffin-ham-poached-egg towers, usually served with potatoes of some kind. It is delicious. It is also easily split if you are enjoying brunch with someone who, like you, might be counting calories.
Variations on the Eggs Benedict theme
Perfect as it is, the world’s chefs, being the creative people they are, have created many mouthwatering variants of Eggs Benedict. In service to Macfilos readers, I took it upon myself to track down a few of these. To limit the scope of my mission, I restricted myself to those served at restaurants within walking distance. Of course, this being a photography blog, my aim was not only to devour these dishes but to photograph them.
My previous food photography articles have received mixed reviews. One commentator likened them more to in-flight magazine articles than photography articles. Ouch! I shall therefore try to dial up the photographic content of this one – without, of course, compromising any culinary considerations.
To establish a baseline against which variations could be judged, I first sought out a traditional presentation of Eggs Benedict. Here it is, courtesy of Villa Nueva. I visit this bakery regularly, usually rifling through their day-old muffins, available at half price. I am a committed bargain hunter.
Food photography
Successful food photography requires some effort, particularly regarding composition. After some experimentation, I have selected f/5.6 as a go-to aperture. This allows me to keep most of the dish in focus whilst achieving a degree of separation from the background. I also shoot from a low angle, relatively close in, so the food looks larger than life-size. Sometimes the optimal framing requires digital zooming in post-processing, a subject much discussed in Macfilos these days.
With a traditional Eggs Benedict successfully photographed (and eaten), the next stop was a variant substituting an alternative ingredient for the Canadian Bacon.
The Uruguayan connection
Staying with meat for the moment, I was intrigued to learn that Clayton’s Coffee Shop served a Corned Beef-Hash Benedict. This is also known as an Irish Benedict. Growing up in Britain, I have consumed my fair share of corned beef. I was well into my adulthood before I realised that Fray Bentos was a place in Uruguay rather than just an unusual name for a corned beef brand. I, therefore, felt compelled to give this version of Eggs Benedict a try.
Given that corned beef hash is often a stand-alone breakfast item, this version of Eggs Benedict could be viewed as a breakfast within a breakfast. It was also served with a generous helping of hash brown potatoes. So, definitely one for the potato lovers, and for those with a big appetite.
It was very tasty, but I do not think I will be indulging a second time.
Seafood Eggs Benedict
When composing the photograph, it occurred to me to place a coffee cup bearing the restaurant’s name in the background. The blurred cup seemed to work as a complement to the in-focus dish. So, I decided to pay more attention to background composition from then on.
Replacing the meat element of Eggs Benedict with a non-meat protein represents a further logical, if modest, departure from tradition. This turns out to be a common strategy employed by chefs to tempt non-meat eaters. The next variant fits within this genre: Crab Benedict.
This was more expensive than the first two versions, crab meat being a more expensive ingredient than ham or corned beef. Further strengthening the health credentials of this version, it was served with fruit rather than potatoes. Note also the bright yellow teapot placed strategically in the background.
Unfortunately, the combination of pale crab meat and pale Hollandaise sauce made this dish look rather insipid. Its unappetising presentation probably affected my enjoyment of the dish itself. It seems warm crab meat is not my thing.
Auto-ISO
I photographed the dish in a poorly lit area of the restaurant: Crown Bistro. I was using Auto-ISO, and following the advice of Nick Rains of Leica Australia had selected a minimum shutter speed of 1/250s in the Auto-ISO Setting menu. Nick’s argument is that it is possible to correct a noisy photograph but not a blurred photograph. Choosing a fast minimum shutter speed thus means a trade-off between noise and camera shake.
When I reviewed the photos in situ, I realised that the ISO had been at 5,000 and even 8,000 in one case. So, I took a few more shots at ISO 400, f/5.6, and 1/8s. Sure enough, in Lightroom, the high-ISO photos were sharp but noisy, and the low-ISO photos were blurred. So, for the first time, I tried the program’s AI-assisted de-noise facility. It took a couple of minutes to process the image, but the result was terrific: sharp and noise free. Knowing this, I will not hesitate to crank up the ISO in future.
Garage Buona Forchetta to the rescue
Undeterred by my first (underwhelming) seafood Benedict experience, I sought out another example. Here I hit the jackpot. My favourite Italian restaurant, Garage Buona Forchetta, offered a number of ‘Benedict’ brunch menu items, including a Smoked Salmon Benedict. This was magnificent.
A poached egg, Hollandaise sauce with a sprinkling of chives and capers, over smoked salmon on a bed of sautéed spinach, sitting on a toasted English Muffin: Bellissimo! The deep yellow sauce, green garnishes and salmon-coloured smoked salmon delivered a feast for the eyes. It was a treat for my taste buds too.
The photo was taken indoors, but I had selected a table with plenty of natural light from a large window. So, at f/5.6 and ISO 200, I could shoot at 1/40s. Optical image stabilization was set to Auto; I believe it is activated at shutter speeds below 1/60s. In any case, the resultant image is very sharp.
On to my final example. As impressive as the smoked salmon variant was, the best was yet to come in the form of Polenta Benedict.
In his pursuit of innovation, the chef at Garage Buona Forchetta replaced the customary toasted English muffin with a square of fried polenta. He then covered the poached egg with jalapeño-seasoned Hollandaise sauce, topped with crumbled chorizo and a shrimp. What a visual masterpiece.
I confess I had some trepidation about sampling this significant departure from familiar Eggs Benedict territory. But, once again, it was outstanding.
Food photography in public
You might be wondering what the other patrons of these restaurants made of my antics. These included moving chairs, crouching low at the table, rearranging items of tableware, and rotating the dish to best effect. Since I was usually at each restaurant soon after it opened, the risk of bothering others was low. When there were other brunch lovers nearby, I mumbled something about a quirky British photography blog site, which did the trick.
So, is my Eggs Benedict project over? Not quite. I know there are other tempting variants out there featuring avocado, asparagus, or artichoke as ingredients. But, my exploration of these will be opportunistic rather than mission-driven. I will, of course, continue to take my Q2 with me whenever I have brunch. So, I would not rule out a Part II of the Eggs Benedict saga at some point. Perhaps an exclusively vegetarian episode?
All photographs were taken by the author using a Leica Q2.
How do you feel about brunch? Do you find food a tempting photographic substrate? What’s the most unusual variant of Eggs Benedict you have eaten? What minimum shutter speed do you have set for your AUTO ISO? Let us know in the comments below.
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Lovely article and it made me hungry when I first read it. Now who’s going to do a Full English/Irish Breakfast series? William?
On another note: setting the minimum shutter speed to 1/250th – what happened to the effect of OIS to allow slower shutter speeds?
Dear Keith, thanks for this article. I am neither an expert in egg dishes nor in food photography but I liked your story all the same. And once more, I am excited how versatile the Leica Q is. You would not immediately think of a 28mm wide-angle lens to be a clever choice for food photography, but it works far better than I had imagined. Lecker, as we would say in this part of the world. Cheers, JP
Thanks Rick! The version you describe sounds delicious. I have heard of a restaurant in a nearby town that uses artichoke leaves instead of Canadian Bacon. I am looking for an excuse to swing by and check it out. All the best, Keith
Nice! Reminds me of a restaurant in Vail Colorado (Vail Athletic Club?) that served an Eggs Benedict that had snow crab meat over the egg which was placed on an artichoke heart bottom on a puff pastry shell – covered of course with Hollandaise. Still my wife’s favorite for Mothers Day!
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I’m hesitant to post a comment ..as it seems I’ve been mysteriously transported to the Twilight Zone..
..food photography with a 28mm lens ..but why?
Presumably, you want, say, the ‘Crab Benedict’ to be the ‘raison d’être’ itself of the photo ..so why all the excess empty plate at the bottom? And surely, as this is a ‘Crab Benedict’, you’d want the crab benedict to stand out a bit from its surroundings, no? ..but it blends in with what’s behind it.
So why not just a teeny bit of judicious cropping to remove a bit of that excess plate at the bottom, and why not a teeny bit of clockwise rotation ..just a teeny bit.. to draw less attention to the tilted teapot, and why not just spot out the distracting yellow(?) blob at the top-right corner, and also spot out the dark and distracting mark on the white bowl just behind the crab benedict?
The crab benedict itself could do with just a touch of sharpening and a touch of contrast to draw more attention to it, don’t you think, rather than letting the viewer’s eyes wander all around the picture without focusing on the yummy(?) benedict itself.
Here’s what I mean: https://www.edituk.com/Eggsample.html
Now, what in that second version immediately draws your eyes..?
Remember, (what was the concert pianist / photographer called..?) ..ah; Ansel Adams, said the photo (the negative, back in his day) is the score, but the print is the performance!
You don’t have to be satisfied with what the click on the camera gives you ..turn that into the vision which you had in your mind’s eye just the moment before you pressed the shutter button!
And why the shiny-faced waitress? Couldn’t her face be ‘touched-up’ a bit to clear away the distracting shiny patches?
All best wishes,
David.
What Twilight Zone, David? The only delay comes when comments include a link, and I have to approve them, which I always do for known contributors. Let me know if anything goes missing…
.
No, no ..this weird twilight zone of food photography with a fixed 28mm lens on a $6000 camera, to give: eggs benedict, corned beef benedict, crab benedict, salmon benedict ..Polenta Benedict?! ..aargghhh!
A technical discussion about taking “..pale crab meat and pale Hollandaise sauce made this dish look rather insipid. Its unappetising presentation probably affected my enjoyment of the dish itself” ..What new kind of hell is this? ..or perhaps; “This is hell, nor am I out of it” (..Mephistopheles in Christopher Marlowe’s ‘Doctor Faustus’).
My – well, what they call a – mind was ..I think the word is, er, ‘boggled’!
..Creeepy!
Time to nip down to The Ivy with your chosen camera/lens combination and show us all what the experts can do…
Already done – but not at the Ivy; at the Sacher in Vienna: http://www.tinyurl.com/Macf1l0s-Sachertorte
..and scroll down to the 18th photo..
Chosen camera/lens combination? Leica M3 (remember those? – film camera from 1954) ..and Leica ‘dual-range’ (close focusing) 50mm f2 lens.
Hi David, no offense but the napkin takes up almost a quarter of your image… was that really what you intended? For me personally the composition is not working if I may be honest. About the 28mm, it works well for documentary and travel food photography in my opinion. It will pull in more of the surroundings. I don’t see the issue with that. When sitting e.g.in a typical diner booth in the US a 50mm is not going to be of much use. As always YMMV and that is perfectly fine.
“..the napkin takes up almost a quarter of your image… was that really what you intended?..”
Actually, yes: I wanted the wording on the napkin, “Hotel Sacher – Wien” (Vienna), to be visible, and I like the three segments ..or components.. of the foreground; circular splodge of cream, triangular wedge of cake, triangular slice of napkin and fork. (My photos are usually about shapes and colours.) And there in the background – out of focus – is another food shape: a square of apple pie – or whatever it is.
As for “..About the 28mm, it works well for documentary and travel food photography in my opinion. It will pull in more of the surroundings..” you’ll see that in Keith’s answer above to Tom, Keith says “..somehow that photo just doesn’t click. It seems the background of these food shots needs to be more subtle, so that it does not distract from the main attraction”.
That was the point of my saying, in my very first comment, above, “..food photography with a 28mm lens ..but why?” ..because the depth-of-field of a 28mm lens, even of that f1.7 of the Q, Q2 or Q3, just does not give enough ‘separation’ ..or blurriness.. between the foreground and background in food shots, unless the background is much further back than you’d normally find on a small table ..or unless, of course, you engage the Q series’ ‘macro’ facility, to get up to 7 inches from whatever you’re shooting, although that can give an odd perspective.
So although you get ‘more in the background’ (a wider shot) as you say with a 28mm than with a 50mm – such as in Keith’s ‘scenic’ photos, above, of the yachts and flowers, or the Donna Sofia restaurant – you’ll also tend to get less separation between foreground and background, even using an f1.7 28mm shooting something really close than with, say, an f2 50mm.
Keith’s clearly not satisfied with the lack of separation between his crab benedict foreground and the teapot background ..as Keith himself puts it, he wants more separation “..so that it does not distract from the main attraction”.
Horses for courses ..or particular lenses for particular situations. If Keith had had a 28mm f0.9 lens he’d have got what he wanted, but (a) I don’t think such a lens exists, and (b) even if there is such a thing, you can’t put one onto a fixed-lens Q2.
Now, if Keith had got his hands on a tilt/shift 28mm he could have probably got exactly the separation he wanted ..except that – once again – you can’t fit such a thing onto a Q2.
Maybe my mix of humour(?) and fact just doesn’t sit well with the Macfilos community ..but I tried to give a little help and suggestion by showing that with some judicious localised sharpening, and a bit of desaturation of the strawberries (plus a tiny bit of cropping) Keith’s photo might be adjusted to give more of what he wanted: attention on the crab benedict and less on the background.
But no offence taken, and none, I hope, given.
Hi David, thanks for reading and commenting. Cheers, Keith
Some interesting variants there. On composition, the crab meat photo doesn’t work for me as the subject is over shadowed by the fruit bowl and overwhelmed by the bright yellow teapot. The less busy compositions work far better.
Hi Tom, thanks for reading and commenting. Great feedback! Yes, somehow that photo just doesn’t click. It seems the background of these food shots needs to be more subtle, so that it does not distract from the main attraction. All the best, Keith
Yum, Yum !
A really enjoyable food and photography article Keith, with great photos.
I’m off to the kitchen now!
Thanks John. Yes, looking at, and reading about, food makes me hungry too. Bon appetit! All the best, Keith
Thanks Kathy! It’s all fun all the time when it comes to food photography and writing about food. All the best with your forthcoming trip to Japan. I am sure you will be served many culinary works of art. When I visited Japan on business I was determined to eat everything that was put in front of me. The only time I gagged was when trying to swallow a piece of raw octopus. Happily, I had a glass of Asahi Super Dry to hand, with which to wash it down. Cheers! Keith
Fun article! As a wannabe food photographer (Japan, this autumn) I appreciated all the tips on ISO, composition, etc. And, as a vegetarian, I enjoyed the alt-Benedict versions 🙂