Last month we delved into potato salad with a delicious, ingredient rich recipe from the 1940s. Today we're going to spend a little while with another summertime party, picnic, and cold cut based supper staple: the deviled egg.

Where exactly deviled eggs got their start is hard to say, as foods that included a notable hit of spice or piquancy have been called "deviled" since at least the 18th century, and stuffed/filled eggs have likely existed for that far back (if not longer), given how popular eggs have been throughout many cultures around the world for centuries.

Known, less commonly as salad eggs, eggs mimosa (no relationship to the drink), and dressed eggs, deviled eggs appear in scads of yesteryear cookbooks, and really began to gain in popularly from the 1930s onwards (with, I'd venture to say, the 1950s being their heyday). I'm sure that this is due in no small part to the fact that refrigerators were becoming more commonplace and thus eggs (especially ones that had been prepared with highly perishable ingredients like mayonnaise) could be safely stored in a chilled environment until they were ready to be served.

Much as with many other summertime finger foods and salads, most people put their own subtle spin on deviled eggs, though at its heart this relatively simple recipe remains fairly similar across the board. Hard boiled eggs are partnered with mayo, Miracle Whip or salad dressing cream, various seasonings, and often mustard. A sprinkling of paprika (or for those who like it extra spicy, chili powder) is commonplace, but not always a given.

In today's 1950s recipe for Deviled Eggs, the ingredient list is kept to a relative minimum, but there's no shortage of taste of crowd pleasing appeal here (especially since this recipes lends itself to being multiplied to your heart's content).





{A smile-inducingly fun illustration accompanies this 1957 recipe for Deviled Eggs, making it one that's worthy of printing out and pasting into your book of favourite recipes. Image via Charm and Poise on Flickr.}




I adore sweet relish, so I'd likely up the content there a little if following this recipe. If I was in the mood to deviate, I might ditch the ketchup and relish, and swap the yellow mustard for honey, Dijon, or grainy, swirling in a small handful of freshly picked chopped chives, parsley, basil, or tarragon. A dash of Worcestershire sauce can also be a wonderful savoury note to include in the filling when making this classic finger food.

If you like your Deviled eggs to be especially "evil" (aka, sizzlingly hot), you can always toss in a splash of tabasco, chili, or sweet chili (awesome with a little lemon grass) sauce, not to mention cayenne pepper, fresh or canned chili peppers, onions, or hot salsa.

If on the other hand, you prefer an stuffed egg that veers closer to being angelic, forgo the fire and stick with creamy, mild ingredients such as sour cream, French dressing, dill, pimentos, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, finely chopped celery, grated carrot, sun dried tomatoes, roasted garlic, or shredded cheese (such as cheddar, Swiss, or Havarti).

There's really no limit to the array of ingredients you can plunk down inside of a hollowed out half a hardboiled egg, and therein lies so much of the fun and appeal of this classic, quick-to-prepare, much beloved appetizer which, perhaps due to its name, is more than a little tempting to both make and consume!