Benedictine spread
Photo: Valereee · CC0

Cool cucumber and cream cheese paste tinted pale green, served on white bread for the city's signature tea sandwich. The Derby weekend snack.

Jennie Carter Benedict opened a Louisville catering kitchen in 1893 and a downtown tea room called Benedict's around 1900, where she developed Benedictine spread to fill cucumber sandwiches. Her original recipe combined cream cheese, cucumber juice, onion juice, salt, cayenne pepper and a slight amount of green food colouring. The spread was published in her 1902 cookbook and became a Louisville home-kitchen staple for over a century. Most pre-made versions still follow Benedict's recipe; modern chefs sometimes drop the food colouring.

2 editor picks for Benedictine spread in Louisville, ranked by editorial score. All Louisville signature dishes · Benedictine spread across every city.

J. Graham's Cafe ★ 4.6

$$$Soul foodDowntown

J. Graham's Cafe in the Brown Hotel serves Louisville's original Hot Brown, the open-faced turkey-and-Mornay sandwich invented here in 1926.

OrderThe Hot Brown, served the way Fred Schmidt wrote it in 1926.

TipWalk-in for lunch. Book the Lobby Bar through the hotel for an evening Hot Brown and bourbon.

DirectionsView

Wagner's Pharmacy ★ 4.2

$BrunchSouth Louisville

Wagner's Pharmacy on South 4th in Louisville has cooked breakfast since 1922, the Derby-week diner across from Churchill Downs that locals call one.

OrderCountry ham, two eggs, biscuits and gravy, sweet tea on the side.

TipBreakfast until 10:30 weekdays, all day Sunday. Closed Mondays.

DirectionsView

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