ObservanceTuesday, November 2, 2027
National Deviled Egg Day
- Date
- Recurs
- Every year on November 2
- Category
- Food
National Deviled Egg Day falls on November 2 and marks the halved hard-cooked eggs with a seasoned yolk filling that turn up at every American potluck. Who started the observance, and when, does not appear in any source that cites a document. The word in its name is better documented than the day is, and it is older and hotter than the dish it now describes.
History
The origin of this observance is not well documented. No founding organization, proclamation or first observance for National Deviled Egg Day could be traced to a primary document. The date circulates on daily-holiday sites that cite nothing, so this page names no founder and no founding year.
The name is a different matter. Merriam-Webster records the verb "devil" in the culinary sense "to season highly," offers "deviled eggs" as its example of that sense, and dates the verb's first known use to 1787. Smithsonian magazine, surveying the devil's long career in American food, notes the term has been used since at least the eighteenth century for highly seasoned foods, and quotes John Mariani's Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink: "Deviled dishes were very popular throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries, especially for seafood preparations and some appetizers."
Among those dishes, the eggs were the mild ones. Writing in The Essential New York Times Cookbook, Amanda Hesser calls today's deviled eggs "the mild-mannered cousins of deviled crab and kidneys," dishes "meant to be spicy and bracing, the kind of food you had after a long night of drinking." Her book carries an 1878 recipe for deviled crabs. The commercial version outlasted most of the rest: Underwood has sold canned deviled ham since 1868, and the company's devil logo is said to be the oldest trademarked logo still in use.
What is not sourced here is the egg dish itself. The claim that deviled eggs descend from Roman stuffed eggs is repeated nearly everywhere and may well be right, but it could not be traced to a source that meets this site's standard, so it is left out rather than passed along.
Timeline
- 1787 — Merriam-Webster dates the first known use of the verb "devil," in the sense "to season highly," to this year. Its example of the sense is "deviled eggs."
- 1868 — Underwood begins selling canned deviled ham, the spread whose devil logo is said to be the oldest trademarked logo still in use.
- 1878 — A recipe for deviled crabs from this year, later collected in Amanda Hesser's The Essential New York Times Cookbook, shows the term applied to the sharper end of the family.
- Nineteenth into twentieth century — Deviled dishes are broadly popular in American cooking, especially seafood preparations and appetizers, per John Mariani's Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink.
How to observe
Make them, then handle them like what they are: a cooked, protein-rich dish that spends parties sitting at room temperature. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service is blunt about the limit. "Throw away all perishable foods that have been left in room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if the temperature is over 90° F, such as at an outdoor picnic during summer)," it says, and cold perishable food should be held at 40° F or below. A tray set over ice is not fussiness; it is the difference between a two-hour window and an afternoon.
Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator on the same guidance, and anything reheated should reach 165° F.
For a version with some history in it, season the way a nineteenth-century cook would have, with mustard and cayenne. That is the pairing Dickens hands Mr. Micawber in David Copperfield when he rescues a dinner party by turning undercooked mutton into a devil.
Frequently asked questions
Why are they called deviled eggs?
Because "devil," used as a cooking verb, means to season highly. Merriam-Webster dates that sense to 1787 and uses "deviled eggs" as its example. Nothing in the name is religious. It described heat, and it was applied to crab, ham, kidneys and mutton long before it settled on eggs.
Who created National Deviled Egg Day?
No reliable source says. The observance appears on daily-holiday calendars without a founder, a proclamation or a document behind it, so this page does not name one.
How long can deviled eggs sit out?
Two hours at room temperature, or one hour if it is above 90° F, after which the USDA says to throw perishable food away. Cold dishes should be held at 40° F or below, which in practice means a tray on ice.
Did deviled eggs come from ancient Rome?
Possibly, but this page will not say so. Roman stuffed-egg recipes are cited as the ancestor almost everywhere, and the attribution may be correct, but it could not be traced to a source good enough to state as fact.
Is National Deviled Egg Day a federal holiday?
No. Federal holidays are set by 5 U.S.C. 6103 and listed by the Office of Personnel Management, and November 2 is not among them.
When is National Deviled Egg Day?
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | November 2 | Tuesday |
| 2028 | November 2 | Thursday |
| 2029 | November 2 | Friday |
| 2030 | November 2 | Saturday |
| 2031 | November 2 | Sunday |
Sources
- Merriam-Webster, devil — https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devil → the verb sense "to season highly" with "deviled eggs" as its example, and the verb's first known use dated 1787.
- Smithsonian magazine, Deviled Eggs and Other Foods from Hell — https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/deviled-eggs-and-other-foods-from-hell-123267449/ → "devil" in use since at least the eighteenth century for highly seasoned foods; John Mariani's Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink on deviled dishes through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; Amanda Hesser's "mild-mannered cousins of deviled crab and kidneys" and the 1878 deviled crab recipe; Underwood canned deviled ham since 1868 and its devil logo; the David Copperfield deviled mutton passage.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Leftovers and Food Safety — https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/leftovers-and-food-safety → the two-hour room-temperature limit and the one-hour limit above 90° F; 40° F or below for cold perishable food; 3 to 4 days for refrigerated leftovers; reheating to 165° F.
- U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Federal Holidays — https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/federal-holidays/ → the federal holidays set by 5 U.S.C. 6103, and the absence of November 2 from them.
Omitted for want of a source: the observance's founder and founding year; any ancient Roman origin for stuffed or deviled eggs; a first-print date for the phrase "deviled egg" itself, since the dated Merriam-Webster entry is the verb, not the dish name.
Note on a conflict: the date 1786 for the first culinary use of "deviled" circulates widely. Merriam-Webster gives 1787 for the verb. The dictionary is followed here and the 1786 figure is not used. Encyclopaedia Britannica's entry on the name could not be retrieved while this page was written.
Note on attribution: the Smithsonian article credits its own sources for several of these claims (Mariani, Hesser, Ayto, and a Straight Dope column). They are reported here as that article reports them rather than as independent findings.
Add to your calendarA calendar file for Apple Calendar, Google Calendar or Outlook. The event repeats every year. You can also subscribe to this observance or to the whole calendar.
← See everything November 2 celebrates