Those who follow my social media know my last two months have been consumed by Titanic research for a series of lectures I’m giving on the 110th anniversary. I didn’t get a chance to do this on Thursday, but made up for it tonight.
Two days late, but here it is: a very small selection from The Last Dinner on the Titanic. The original First Class dining room service would have been 11 courses (each with its own glass of wine plus pre/post dinner cocktails and cordials!), but I don’t have a kitchen staff of 80! Any changes made to the recipes were out of necessity/unavailability, such as Shop Rite not having either roe or caviar (for the canapés), nor did they have pearl onions in any form (for the steak). So I used cocktail onions, which I rinsed off to remove the briny flavor. Everything else is exact.
1)“Canapés a l’Amiral”: a baguette topped with a garlic shrimp butter, a halved boiled shrimp tossed in lime juice, and parsley leaf. This was the most labor intensive item of the meal, due to making the butter. 2) “Roasted Sirloin of Beef Forestiere”: I never roasted a sirloin before and was tempted to just sear it, but I stayed true to the recipe. It was cooked all the way through but flavorful and fork-tender. The gravy consisted of bacon, mushrooms, red wine, beef stock, and herbs. It was amazing, the crisped bacon lardons made all the difference. I would make this on a normal night with mashed potatoes. 3) “Chateau Potatoes”: sautéed in butter and oil with rosemary (from our garden), then finished in the oven. 4) “Asparagus Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette”. This was just alright. Next time would just do Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce, which was served in the Titanic’s A La Carte Restaurant. All I can say after this meal is that I’m glad this was not a waste of time and THANK GOD FOR DISHWASHERS!
After the pre-dinner Champagne, I switched over to a French 75. When the bubbly ran out, I started on martinis. Feeling nice as of this posting.
And I want to say, since my study for these lectures became intimate and serious, this was more of a commemoration than a celebration. The Titanic has become larger than life, and when that happens, we lose the human element. Well, it is not lost on me.
