[1] Chef Ina Garten adds smoked salmon to her deviled eggs, with a topping of salmon roe (photo © California Caviar | Facebook).

[2] Durkee’s Famous Sauce, used by our mother and grandmother (photo © B & G Foods).

[3] Egg yolks mixed with mashed avocado create a creamier egg stuffing (photo © Avocados From Mexico).

[4] Piping the egg mixture creates special effects (photos #4 and #6 © D’lish Deviled Eggs Cookbook).

[5] Chop the yolk mixture finely and use a large open star tip to pipe it mixture (photo © DeLallo).

[6] Use vegetables in season, from asparagus in the spring to pumpkin in the fall.

November 2nd is National Deviled Egg Day. We have some of our favorite deviled egg recipes below.

For the simplest approach, we like chopped sweet gherkin and a bit of juice plus Durkee Famous Sauce.

Or for a special treat, a heaping topping of salmon caviar. We garnish both versions with a bit of fresh dill.

Our mom and grandmother always used Durkee Famous Sauce in deviled eggs. Here’s more about it.

Below, some famous chefs add surprising ingredients to their deviled eggs.

> The history of deviled eggs.

> More deviled egg recipes.
 
 
HISTORY OF DURKEE’S FAMOUS SAUCE

This popular tangy sandwich spread has been around for more than 100 years. It was even served in the Lincoln White House! [source]

The E.R. Durkee & Co. Spice Dealers was founded in Buffalo, New York, in 1857, by Eugene R. Durkee. Durkee’s Famous Sauce was patented that year.

At the Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, the company, now Durkee Famous Foods, had a booth for visitors to try their wares.

Their stand-out product was, and remains, Durkee’s Famous Dressing and Meat Sauce, which, according to a pamphlet from the Exposition, was made from a “secret formula [which uses] vinegar, in which 12 different spices have been steeped for six months.”*

This vinegar is then combined with eggs and other ingredients “to complete one of the most fascinating dressings ever produced:” a thick mustardy, tangy-vinegary, mayonnaise-based sauce (some say, a cross between Dijon mustard and mayonnaise).

Attention housewives: Men, an earlier advertorial pamphlet said, were especially fond of the tangy flavor [source].

Eugene Durkee died in 1926, leaving everything to his daughters. Since the 1980s the company has had a series of owners. Most recently, in 2016, it was sold by ACH Food Companies, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods, to B&G Foods.

In addition to deviled eggs, Durkee’s Famous Sauce is great on a BLT, club, or turkey sandwich (“Turkey and Durkee”) as well as:

 
While the sauce has fallen out of fashion, you can find it on Amazon.

And here’s a copycat recipe from Morton’s Steak Bible Cookbook should you like to make your own. Blend until smooth:

 
 
FAMOUS CHEFS’ SURPRISE INGREDIENTS FOR DEVILED EGGS

Thanks to Taste Of Home for the scoop here.

Sunny Anderson: Fried Onions. The Food Network host is all about texture in her deviled eggs, so she tops them with fried onions for a crisp, delicious bite. To spice things up, she adds minced jalapeños to the yolk mix.

Anne Burrell: Truffle. Burrell brought deviled eggs back to the culinary scene in 2008 when she introduced a truffle deviled egg on the menu of her Manhattan restaurant Centro Vinoteca. Her recipe calls for truffle oil in the yolk mix, topped with finely chopped black truffle peelings.

Ree Drummond: Pickles. Drummond uses chopped pickles and relish, plus a splash of pickle juice to set her deviled eggs apart.

Joanna Gaines: Brown Sugar Bacon. Gaines’s recipe uses bacon coated in brown sugar, cooking it until crispy. The sweet and savory pieces are chopped and sprinkled on top as a garnish.

Ina Garten: Smoked Salmon & Salmon Roe. Garten mixes cream cheese and smoked salmon into the yolks for a rich, creamy filling. She then tops the deviled eggs with salmon roe.

Robert Irvine: Green Apple. Irvine cooks shallots in butter and adds parsley and Dijon mustard to the yolk mix. But his secret ingredient is minced green apple, which adds a refreshingly sweet twist. Each deviled egg is garnished with lemon thyme or mint.

Aida Mollenkamp: Avocado and Proscuitto. This “green eggs and ham” recipe uses mashed avocado to give the egg yolk mixture a creamy, delicious flavor and green color. Mollencamp then tops the deviled eggs with prosciutto.

The Neelys: Barbecue Sauce. Pat and Gina’s secret ingredient for deviled eggs is barbecue sauce, smoky and sweet.

Rachael Ray: Anchovy Paste and Parm. Ray gives her deviled egg recipe a Caesar salad twist, using anchovy paste and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Michael Symon: A Symphony Of Ingredients. Symon mixes ketchup and Sriracha chili sauce and balances the heat with crème fraîche, cilantro, bacon, Dijon mustard, and lime.

Ming Tsai: Tea. Tsai boils the eggs with lapsang souchong tea leaves, a smoky Chinese black tea. The whites of the egg take on a rich, smoky, herbal flavor. He mixes the yolks with mayonnaise, chipotle, green onion, and jicama.
 
 
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*The ingredients on the package today: Soybean Oil, Water, Distilled Vinegar, Sugar, Mustard, Salt, Whole Egg Solids, Food Starch-Modified, Xanthan Gum, Spice Extractives.

†Substitute 1/4 to 1/5 of the mayo with Durkee’s.