Cool Culinaria Ultimate Giclee Prints on 130lb paper. Printed in USA.
King Edward VII, the
eldest son of Queen
Victoria, was
Britain's
monarch from January 1901 until his death in May 1910. On the fourth of June
1902, "Bertie" held a dinner at
Buckingham
Palace for members of The
Jockey Club, the dominant organization of British horseracing. A noted bon
viveur, the King was a generous host and no expense would have been spared in
presenting the finest food and wines to his guests. One of the highlights of
the dinner would have been the Ortolan sur Canapés. The Ortolan, a migratory
singbird, was considered by many to be one of the ultimate gastronomic treats.
According to Wine Spectator
"For
centuries, a rite of passage for French gourmets has been the eating of the
Ortolan. These tiny birds—captured alive, force-fed, then drowned in Armagnac—were roasted whole and eaten that way, bones and
all, while the diner draped his head with a linen napkin to preserve the
precious aromas and, some believe, to hide from God." The fabulous wines on offer that night included 86
year old
Madeira and classic vintages of
Chateau Latour and Margaux. An interesting and now vanished choice was the
"Still Sillery, 1865". Sillery is a celebrated area of
Champagne
and used to produce its own branded still and sparking "Sillery"
Champagne. Moet
and Chandon still produce a Sillery Champagne, the Grand Cru Les
Champs des Romont.
Formal
menus in Buckingham
Palace are still written in French.
Source: University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Libraries Collections.
