Have you ever wondered how deviled eggs got their name? You're not alone. I mean, "deviled" is a pretty harsh way to describe a perfectly delightful appetizer. Here's how the classic dish got its satanic moniker.
What Are Deviled Eggs?
Deviled eggs are hard-boiled eggs that have been peeled, cut in half, then stuffed with a paste made from the yolk and other ingredients.
Basic deviled egg filling is made with egg yolks, mayonnaise, relish, mustard, salt, and pepper. The eggs are often seasoned with spices like paprika or cayenne pepper.
Typically, deviled eggs are served as appetizers. They often make appearances at holiday parties, picnics, or other social functions.
Believe it or not, the Southern Sunday school staple actually originated in Ancient Rome. Though they weren't prepared the same way they are now, eggs that had been boiled and seasoned were a popular appetizer among the elite members of Roman society. The dish was so common that it inspired the phrase "ab ova usque ad mala, which literally means "from eggs to apples, or from the beginning of a meal to the end.
"By the 15th century, stuffed eggs had made their way across much of Europe," according to History.com. "Medieval cookbooks contain recipes for boiled eggs that were often filled with raisins, cheese and herbs such as marjoram, parsley and mint and then fried in oil and either topped with a sauce of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and raisins with verjuice (a tart juice made from unripe fruits) or powdered with sugar and served hot."
Stuffed eggs began appearing in U.S. cookbooks by the mid-1800s.
In this case, the adjective "deviled" has a (somewhat) secular meaning — the word "devil" is just a culinary term that is used to describe a highly seasoned dish.
To devil means to "combine a food with various hot or spicy seasonings such as red pepper, mustard, or Tabasco sauce, thereby creating a 'deviled' dish," according to the Food Lover's Companion, the definitive guide to all things food and cooking.
The term likely comes from the connection between spiciness and the presumably hot temperatures in hell.
Since the word "devil" does have negative connotations, though, some groups of people prefer to call the dish "stuffed eggs," "salad eggs," or "dressed eggs."
Deviled Egg Recipes
No matter what you call them, the hard-boiled egg dish is pretty dang delicious. Try your hand at one of our favorite takes on the ancient recipe:
In the 19th century, the adjective "deviled" came to be used most often with spicy or zesty food, including eggs prepared with mustard, pepper, or other ingredients stuffed in the yolk cavity. Similar uses of "devil" for spiced foods include deviled ham and fra diavolo sauce (from the Italian word for "devil").
In the 19th century, the adjective "deviled" came to be used most often with spicy or zesty food, including eggs prepared with mustard, pepper, or other ingredients stuffed in the yolk cavity. Similar uses of "devil" for spiced foods include deviled ham and fra diavolo sauce (from the Italian word for "devil").
According to The Oxford Companion to Food, "devil" is a culinary term that first appeared in the 18th century as a noun and then in the early 19th century as a verb, "meaning to cook something with fiery hot spices or condiments." The hot spices or condiments most often referred to the addition of mustard and cayenne ...
"Deviled" goes back to the late 18th century as a way to refer to something that's spicy or grilled with spice. Deviled eggs are "deviled" because they're generally made with paprika and black pepper.
Many cookbooks in puritanical early America, though, stuck with labels like "stuffed eggs, "dressed eggs" or "salad eggs" to avoid association with Satan, who is typically not invited to or welcome at church socials.
“I wasn't able to say I was lucky, because my mother would rather us say that we were blessed, and she also didn't like that lucky sounded like Lucifer,” she told Rolling Stone in 2010. “Deviled eggs were called 'angeled' eggs. I wasn't allowed to eat Lucky Charms, but I think that was the sugar.
If we rewind time, we find deviled eggs in ancient Rome, where boiled eggs flavored with spicy sauces were so commonly served as an appetizer that a Roman saying, “ab ovo usque ad mala,” meaning “from egg to apples,” referred to the expected bookends of a meal.
According to The History Channel, deviled eggs go all the way back to ancient Rome, where eggs were boiled, seasoned with spicy sauces, and then served at the beginning of meals. In the 13th century, stuffed eggs began to appear in the southern, Andalusian regions of Spain.
They're delicious, filling, and easy to make. Why wait for a picnic? Deviled eggs are often considered a picnic and party food—many people think that they're too complicated to make (and too packed with cholesterol) to be a regular part of your diet.
Each half of an egg is filled pretty high with a smooth and creamy egg yolk mixture.Each deviled egg is then topped with a piece of bacon, smoked paprika, and chives. It's definitely a rich appetizer, but it's so good.
Because deviled eggs are simply hard-cooked eggs in which the yolk is removed, mixed with mayonnaise and seasoning, and stuffed back into the halves of whites, they are easy to personalize. They are soft and creamy in texture, piquant in flavor, often a little sweet, and are a blank canvas when it comes to garnishing.
While devilled eggs had their moment in the UK – at about the same time the hostess trolley held sway – they are an essential part of the American entertaining tradition. There's not much that can get me squeezing a fancy-nozzled piping bag, but this recipe – even if mine diverges somewhat – compelled me to.
The green-gray color (and the whiff of sulfur smell that often accompanies it) comes from the reaction of iron in the egg yolk and sulfur in the egg white. When heated, the two can combine to make green-gray ferrous sulfide and hydrogen sulfide gas.
The term dates to the 19th century, and it was used to refer to foods that were spicy or zesty with the addition of mustard or pepper. In some regions of the South and the Midwest, deviled eggs are also called salad or dressed eggs when they are served at a church function, to avoid the term "deviled."
Never leave cooked eggs or egg dishes out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours or for more than 1 hour when temperatures are above 90° F. Bacteria that can cause illness grow quickly at warm temperatures (between 40° F and 140° F).
Introduction: My name is Aron Pacocha, I am a happy, tasty, innocent, proud, talented, courageous, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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