Louisville, Kentucky’s most iconic dish had extremely unusual beginnings.
It was created by a chef who was bored of serving the same food night after night to hungry people who had just finished dancing. a hotel employee A person with knowledge of the matter told Fox News Digital.
In 1926, the Brown Hotel in Louisville hosted nightly dinner dances that drew crowds of more than 1,200 people each night, according to the hotel’s website.
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According to the website, as the night progressed and morning approached, customers grew hungry and headed to the hotel’s restaurant to eat.
Chef Fred Schmidt quickly became frustrated Serving ham and eggsIt was a popular dish at the time, so they decided to make it with the ingredients they had on hand, Mark Salmon, human resources director at The Brown Hotel, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview.
The Hot Brown was invented in 1926 when a chef got tired of making the same dish night after night—and decided to change it up. (Chris Witzke)
Schmidt sliced a thick piece of bread and placed it into a ceramic skillet.
He slices up the turkey and places it on top of the bread, cuts a tomato in half, then tops it with Mornay sauce and puts it under the broiler.
When it came out he added even more cheese to it.
The Hot Brown was born.
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Nearly 100 years later, the Hot Brown is still being served at The Brown Hotel, with its original recipe largely unchanged — except that Plate It now has two slices of bacon arranged in an X shape on top.
Nearly a century later, it remains a culinary staple in Louisville and Kentucky.
“It is said that a server walked by and said, ‘They’re all the same color,’” Salmon said.
“And Schmidt said, ‘OK’ — and put two pieces of bacon on top.”
The Hot Brown was an instant hit, Salmon said. Nearly a century later, it remains a culinary staple in Louisville and Kentucky.
The Hot Brown sandwich has become an iconic food in Louisville and throughout Kentucky. (Phil Vettel/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Salmon said, “Whenever we hire a chef, we tell him, ‘You can do whatever you want, but you can’t mess with the Hot Brown.'” Original recipe.,
Salmon told Fox News Digital that each Hot Brown sandwich at the Brown Hotel is served with “seven ounces of hand-carved turkey breast.”
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“One of the things that makes our sandwich different from other sandwiches is that it’s a fresh turkey breast that we roast in the kitchen and carve by hand,” he said.
Salmon said only one or two people at the hotel are allowed to make the Mornay sauce so it stays consistent throughout the day.
“We serve it for breakfast, lunch Dinner“We indulge in feasts till late in the night,” he added.
Legend has it that the distinctive “X” of bacon strips was a later addition to the sandwich. (Chris Witzke)
Salmon explained that Mornay sauce is made when grated cheese is added to béchamel sauce.
In the case of the Hot Brown, the chef adds Pecorino Romano as well as nutmeg.
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“The nutmeg is an interesting little secret to this sauce,” he said.
Salmon said he believes the Hot Brown has remained popular because it’s “so authentic to the city.”
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He also told Fox News Digital, “When you live and work in a city that produces the best bourbon-like spiritCraftsmanship is very important in this city. I think the fact that it is so uniquely ‘ours’ is why it survives.”
A beautiful view of Louisville, Kentucky. “When you live and work in a city that produces such fine spirits as bourbon, craftsmanship is really important in this town. I think the fact that it’s so uniquely ‘ours’ is what has kept it alive,” Mark Salmon, human resources director at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, said of the Hot Brown dish. (Louisville Tourism)
Still, like many unique foods, the Hot Brown has its critics.
John Wise, an Ohio native who has lived and worked in Louisville for several years, recently explained on social media that he is “not a fan” of the Hot Brown.
“It’s a fork-and-knife operation.”
He wrote, “All the ingredients are good, but why is it open? Is wet roti also good in any way?”
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And while the Hot Brown is Technically a sandwich Salmon said – even if it is open-mouthed – it should not be eaten with the hands.
“It’s a knife-and-fork kind of job,” he said.
