Name: Eggs Florentine review by diloyloyy at PIP Deli, Haarlem, Netherlands
Item: Eggs Florentine
Rating: 4.5
Author: diloyloyy

Eggs Florentine is the brunch dish of poached eggs set on a bed of wilted spinach on a toasted English muffin and covered in hollandaise, the vegetarian member of the eggs Benedict family in which spinach takes the place of ham or bacon. The name follows the French kitchen convention in which "à la florentine" means served with spinach, a usage that goes back to the court cooks of Catherine de' Medici and has nothing to do with any dish eaten in Florence. Older French versions sit the eggs on creamed spinach and finish them with a cheese-enriched Mornay sauce under the grill; the hollandaise-and-muffin form is American, a twentieth-century hotel and diner adaptation, and it is now the standard reading of the name on brunch menus from New York to Sydney, usually offered alongside Benedict and the smoked-salmon Royale.

Each of the four parts is a separate job done to the minute. The spinach is washed, wilted in a hot pan with butter and a little garlic or shallot for under a minute, seasoned with salt, pepper and a scrape of nutmeg, then squeezed hard in a sieve so no water reaches the muffin; some kitchens stir in a spoon of cream, which brings it closer to the French original. The eggs are poached in barely simmering water with a splash of vinegar for about three minutes, whites fully set and yolks liquid, and drained on a cloth. The hollandaise is egg yolks whisked over gentle heat with a reduction of vinegar or lemon until thick, then clarified butter added slowly until the sauce is glossy and holds a ribbon; it is seasoned with lemon and salt and kept warm, not hot, because it splits above about 70°C. The muffin is split, toasted and buttered, the spinach piled on, the egg set on top and the sauce spooned over to coat.

Cut through the egg first: the yolk should run into the spinach and the muffin, and the white should be fully opaque. The spinach should be hot, seasoned and dry enough that the muffin stays crisp underneath, with a clear nutmeg note; the hollandaise should be thick, smooth, pale yellow and sharp with lemon, in a quantity that coats the egg without pooling across the plate. Mark down a muffin gone soggy under wet spinach, which is the most common fault, hard yolks, a hollandaise that is grainy, split, or so thick it sits like custard, a sauce that tastes only of butter with no acid, and a dish built on frozen spinach, which is grey and stringy and gives itself away. A hollandaise from a packet or a squeeze bottle is a failure on its own; a Mornay version is legitimate but should be named.

Eggs Florentine

Netherlands

PIP Deli

Eggs florentine was delicious side salad with it also nice, also a pet friendly place.

Eggs Florentine review by diloyloyy at PIP Deli, Haarlem, Netherlands

Eggs Florentine

PIP Deli

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