A Louisville caterer invented this cucumber cream cheese spread in the 1890s. It has been a Derby staple ever since. Outside Kentucky, almost nobody knows it exists.
Benedictine spread is one of those recipes that belongs so completely to one place that it never quite travelled. Ask anyone in Louisville what goes on a Derby party table and they will mention it without hesitation. Ask anyone outside Kentucky and you will get a blank look.
It deserves better than that.
The spread is simple: cream cheese, grated cucumber, a little onion, salt, and a drop or two of green food colouring. Served on thin white bread as finger sandwiches, it is cool, delicate, and exactly right for a warm spring afternoon. It also keeps well, travels well, and can be made a day ahead. Every Gilded Age hostess’s checklist item.
Who Was Jennie Benedict
The spread is named for Jennie Carter Benedict, a Louisville caterer and cookbook author who ran one of the city’s most prominent catering operations from the 1890s through the early 20th century.
In 1895, Benedict attended the Boston Cooking School in Boston for six weeks. Fannie Farmer was already principal there at the time. She returned to Louisville, built a catering business serving the city’s elite, and eventually opened a tearoom on South Fourth Street that became a Louisville institution. She published The Blue Ribbon Cook Book in 1902, one of the more practical and readable cookbooks of the era.
She was, by any measure, a serious professional in a field that did not always take women seriously. Her spread outlived her tearoom, her cookbook, and most of the households she catered. It is still on Louisville tables today.
Benedict died in 1928. The spread she created in her catering kitchen in the 1890s is now so embedded in Louisville food culture that it shows up on restaurant menus, in grocery stores, and at every Derby party worth attending. She would probably find that satisfying.
Why It Works
The key is the cucumber. Grated and thoroughly drained, it lightens the cream cheese and gives the spread a clean, fresh flavour that holds up against the cheese’s richness. The onion adds just enough bite without announcing itself.
The green colouring is traditional and optional. In Benedict’s original version, it was there. Modern versions often skip it. Either way, the flavour is the same.
On a thin finger sandwich, it is one of the most elegant things you can put on a Derby table. It also works as a spread with crackers or cucumber rounds for a lighter option.
A Note on the Name
Benedictine spread is sometimes confused with Benedictine sauce, the French preparation made from Hollandaise and Béarnaise. They have nothing to do with each other beyond the name. The Louisville spread is named for its creator, not a French culinary tradition.
The Orginal Benedictine Spread
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 3 tbsp. cucumber juice
- 1 tbsp. onion juice
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 pinch cayenne pepper
- 2 drops green food coloring
Instructions
- To get the juice, peel and grate a cucumber, then wrap in a clean dish towel and squeeze juice into a dish. Discard pulp.
- Do the same for the onion.
- Mix all ingredients with a fork until well blended.
Notes
