The Outdated Egg Dish You Rarely See Anymore That Sounded So Fancy

Vintage diner foods with dull names, like sardine sandwiches and liver and onions, have vanished from menus over the years. However, even inventively-titled foods have lost their appeal with the passage of time and disappeared from the culinary lexicon. One such meal is the intriguingly named eggs a la Goldenrod. Recipes for this outdated egg dish, which made a protein-rich and filling lunch, were printed in local newspapers in the 1900s.

Eggs a la Goldenrod was made with just a few simple ingredients, including toast, boiled eggs, and a white sauce. The trick was all in the assembly; the yolks were carefully separated from the boiled eggs while the whites were chopped up and added to the sauce (a roux-based mixture combining butter, flour, and milk). Then the eggy sauce was poured over the toast. So what gave this dish its unusual moniker? It was the final flourish of egg yolks that were grated over the top, mimicking the vibrancy and cheerful hue of goldenrod flowers. These delicate yellow blooms are native to North America, have a naturally sunny appearance, and are considered a sign of abundance. Pushing the egg yolks through a potato ricer or strainer gave the eggs a light texture, parroting the feathery feel and appearance of Goldenrod petals.

As eggs are the star of the show in eggs a la Goldenrod, it's a dish well-suited to serving at Easter gatherings. If you haven't got a potato ricer, an easier way to prepare your egg yolks is to use a microplane. The fine teeth on the surface are ideal for producing light wisps of egg that look like fine curls (a trick best exemplified in the shaved egg trend that was making the rounds a couple of years ago, where a cold-boiled egg was shredded over avocado toast). This texture difference, combined with the smooth creaminess of the sauce, the bounciness of the chunky egg white, and the crisp toast, produces a dish with a satisfying mouthfeel.

While egg a la Goldenrod was served as is with relatively cheap ingredients, you could easily add more protein, such as smoked salmon, ham, or bacon, to transform it into a heftier meal for celebration. Greens, like spinach and asparagus, can also be incorporated into the sauce or served on the side to boost its overall fiber content. To give this comforting meal a little kick, a dash of hot sauce wouldn't go amiss either.

Some of the other outdated egg dishes you rarely see anymore include eggs à la Caracas – a scramble of eggs, smoked beef, tomatoes, and ground cinnamon – and eggs Suzette, a favorite meal of Princess Diana's.