Their Last Suppers: Legends of History and Their Final Meals Read online

  For all its refinements, the Titanic had only enough lifeboats for about half the passengers, because it was considered totally unsinkable. Another minor oversight, particularly because they were heading toward heavy ice, was that the main lookout system for the ship, the crow’s nest, had been given no binoculars.

  Early on the morning of Sunday, April 14, the Titanic, moving at close to top speed, received the first of many warnings about ice ahead from the Caronia. At 9 a.m. yet another message from one of the captain’s former commands, the Baltic, specifically warned, “Heavy ice directly on your course.” Unperturbed, the captain went about his normal routine, having an early breakfast in his cabin and then touring the ship with his officers, before retiring to prepare for dinner that evening in the a la carte restaurant with wealthy American bankers Mr. and Mrs. George Widener of Philadelphia.

  After a leisurely dinner with his guests, the captain excused himself at 9 p.m. and had a brief chat with the officer of the watch before retiring to his bed at 9:30 p.m.

  Events began to unfold rapidly. High above the speeding ship, in the freezing cold of the crow’s nest, the two lookouts, Fred Fleet and Reginald Lee, stared ahead as the Titanic, still at full speed, moved serenely over a flat ocean. The outside air was freezing at 0°C, and the water temperature suddenly dropped a half a degree below that (salt water freezes at a lower temperature than fresh water), an ominous sign.

  The wireless room became even busier as reports of heavy ice began to flood in from other ships and the distant coastline. Incredibly, at 10:30 p.m. the bridge received a message by signal lamp from SS Rappahannock, a cargo ship passing just a few miles to the north: “Have just passed through heavy ice and icebergs.” The bridge replied, “Message received, thank you and goodnight,” but no one thought to disturb the captain or attempt to slow the ship.

  Thirty minutes later the Californian, which was just ahead, warned that it was jammed by ice, to which they got the reply, “Keep out, shut up, you’re jamming our signals” from the now overloaded wireless room.

  At 11:30 p.m., only half an hour before the end of their shift, the anxious lookouts noticed a low-lying area of mist ahead, and the cold air around them suddenly became very damp, adding to their discomfort even more. Complete silence enveloped them as they strained to penetrate the mist with their eyes. Then Fleet gave three desperate tugs on the crow’s nest bell and screamed over the telephone to the bridge officer, James Moody Toft, some 70 feet below, “Iceberg right ahead!”

  Some 40 seconds after this warning, as the crew strained every sinew to change direction, the RMS Titanic, traveling at 22.5 knots, struck a large iceberg in what seemed a glancing blow.

  Though only lasting about 10 seconds, the contact was enough to rip open a gash more than 300 feet long down the ship’s flank, and although it was only a few inches wide, it was a mortal blow. The “unsinkable” Titanic, the greatest ship ever built, had a little less than 3 hours left.

  Within the first hour Captain Smith knew his ship was doomed, and he immediately ordered the lifeboats to be lowered and filled with women and children. In the inquest after the disaster survivors told harrowing stories of how landed English gentlemen retired with their valets to their cabins “to dress appropriately.” Others tried to dress as women to get on the lifeboats.

  The eight-piece band, under conductor Wallace Hartley, remained on board playing ragtime music in a futile attempt to cheer people up as the ship slowly started to tilt under them. At 2:20 a.m. the lights began to flicker for the last time, and the band, knowing this would be their final song, elected to finish with the hymn “Nearer My God to Thee.” They then accompanied Captain Smith and 1,500 other passengers and crew to their deaths in the freezing waters, as the Titanic slid over two and a half miles downward to its final resting place on the sea bottom, where it lay undisturbed for decades.

  LAST MENU ON THE TITANIC

  Meals in Edwardian times often went on for 3 or 4 hours.

  1st Course: Hors d’Oeuvres

  Hors d’Oeuvres

  Oysters à la Russe

  2nd Course: Soups

  Consommé Olga

  Cream of Barley

  3rd Course: Fish

  Poached Salmon

  Mousseline Sauce

  4th Course: Entrées

  Filet Mignon Lili

  Chicken Lyonnaise

  Vegetable Marrow Farci

  5th Course: Removes

  Lamb with Mint Sauce

  Calvados Glazed Roast Duck with Apple Sauce

  Roast Sirloin of Beef Forestière

  Chateau Potatoes, Minted Green Pea Timbales, Creamed Carrots,

  Boiled Rice Parmentier, Boiled New Potatoes

  6th Course: Sorbet or Punch

  Punch Romaine

  7th Course: Roast

  Roasted Squab on Wilted Cress

  8th Course: Salad

  Asparagus Salad with Champagne—Saffron Vinaigrette

  9th Course: Cold Dish

  Pâté de Foie Gras

  Celery

  10th Course: Sweets

  Waldorf Pudding

  Peaches in Chantreuse Jelly

  Chocolate-Painted Éclairs

  French Vanilla Ice Cream

  11th Course: Dessert

  Assorted Fresh Fruits and Cheeses

  After Dinner

  Coffee

  Cigars

  CAPTAIN SMITH’S LAST MEAL

  While on board the Titanic, Captain Smith ate in the elegant first-class dining saloon, where he had his own table for six. For his last meal of April 14, 1912, he was a guest of an American couple in the à la carte dining room, known as the Ritz because of its imitation of the Ritz Carlton restaurants inspired by Auguste Escoffier. The Titanic had huge refrigeration and storage facilities, and had stocked its fridges with even more luxury items for this maiden voyage. The captain had a light meal that night.

  Oysters à la Russe (1)

  Particularly popular with the gentry of the age, this is an excellent dish, easy to prepare and perfectly accompanied by a crisp Chablis or white burgundy.

  12 large oysters, well cleaned under running water

  2 large shots Russian vodka

  juice of one lemon

  ½ tsp fresh creamed horseradish

  dash of Tabasco

  pinch sea salt

  1 large tomato, blanched, seeded, and chopped

  Remove top halves of oysters, separate membranes from lower shells, and place on crushed ice.

  Combine all other ingredients.

  Spoon mix onto oysters, sprinkle with crushed black pepper, and enjoy!

  Filet Mignon Lili with Pommes Anna (4)

  4 fillet steaks, cut from the center of the fillet, approximately 2 inches thick, 8 oz each (Angus steak or corn-fed beef is preferable)

  4 slices bacon

  4 oz unsalted butter

  4 tsp extra virgin olive oil

  ground sea salt and black pepper to taste

  2 cups French red wine

  16 canned artichoke hearts (cut in quarters)

  6 large garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

  Wrap the bacon slices around the steaks and secure with wooden cocktail sticks.

  Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan until just below smoking. Put in steaks, turning every few seconds until brown on all sides. Cook for no more than 4 minutes, then remove steaks from pan.

  Add garlic to pan, remove the bacon, and seal sides of steaks for about 1 minute; remove the steaks and place on the Pommes Anna.

  Deglaze the pan with red wine, add the artichoke hearts for about 2 minutes, and spoon over the steaks and potatoes.

  Pommes Anna (4)

  3 cups unsalted melted butter

  12 large baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced salt and pepper to taste

  Brush a 2-inch-deep ovenproof skillet with butter and lay overlapping slices of potato with light seasoning, brush with butter, and build layers.

 
Cook for 8 to 10 minutes on open stove.

  Cover with foil; place in oven for 15 to 20 minutes at 450°F.

  Cut the potatoes into wedges and serve with the Filet Mignon Lili.

  Calvados Glazed Duckling with Apple Sauce (4)

  2 large ducklings, preferably wild, about 9-11 lb each

  4 cloves chopped garlic

  1 large chopped red onion

  1 cup chopped celery

  ½ cup chopped parsley

  12 oz clear beef stock (or canned consommé)

  3 tsp Worcestershire sauce

  salt and pepper to taste

  4 cups Calvados (an apple liqueur from Normandy)

  Rub the duckling inside and out with a little salt and pepper and rub the outside with Worcestershire sauce.

  Combine all other ingredients (except the Calvados and consommé) and stuff the mixture loosely into the ducks.

  Place the ducks (breast side down) in a hot roasting tray and cook for 20 minutes, then pour on the Calvados and consommé.

  Roast for about 3 hours at 325 to 350°F, basting every 15 minutes.

  Turn the ducks over and roast for another 30 to 40 minutes until golden, basting as often as possible.

  Serve hot on a bed of watercress with apple sauce.

  Apple Sauce (4)

  4 lb cooking apples

  4 oz butter

  10 tbsp sugar

  Peel, core, and quarter the apples, then slice and place in a pan with about 10 tbsp water; cover and cook gently for about 8 minutes until soft.

  Puree in a blender, add butter, and sweeten to taste.

  Fresh Asparagus Salad with Champagne—Saffron Vinaigrette (4)

  2 lb fresh asparagus

  2 oz Dijon mustard

  1 glass Dom Perignon

  2 oz olive oil

  ½ tsp fresh saffron

  salt and pepper to taste

  The classic test of where to cut asparagus is to bend it gently. At the point it is ready to crack, cut it there, and discard the hard stems.

  Place the asparagus tips in boiling salted water for 4 minutes, remove, strain off the hot water, and place the asparagus in ice water (this keeps it green and fresh).

  For the dressing, combine the chopped saffron, salt, pepper, and mustard into a base, gently whisk in the oil and champagne in equal amounts, pour on chilled asparagus, and serve.

  Serve with a cold burgundy, champagne, or cold sparkling wine.

  MARTIN LUTHER KING

  Memphis, Tennessee

  April 4, 1968

  Well, I don’t know what will happen now, we’ve got some difficult days ahead, but it really doesn’t matter with me now because I have been to the mountain top.

  —Martin Luther King, Memphis, April 3, 1968

  U.S. Baptist minister and civil rights leader Martin Luther King was a man of extraordinary vision. In a time of intense segregation in America, King inspired the black people of the United States to walk in the footsteps of Gandhi and try to obtain justice by peaceful protest and nonviolent direct action. He was gunned down by James Earl Ray on April 4. His life can be summed up no better than by the vibrant speech he made to the crowds at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963.

  The government of his day demonized him; he was constantly followed by the FBI and other federal agencies and portrayed as a troublemaker or criminal working against America. He rose above the bigotry of the time to conduct himself with dignity and power at a time when the Ku Klux Klan was at its height and black children were denied education in the “Land of the Free.” That he was vilified and hounded by the authorities and still came up with the following contribution is a fitting tribute to his spirit.

  I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration of freedom in the history of our nation.

  Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

  But, one hundred years later the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination still sadly cripple the life of the Negro. One hundred years later the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land.

  So we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense, we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men—yes, black men as well as white men—would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, property, and the pursuit of happiness.

  It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked “insufficient funds” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwind of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our Nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

  But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold, which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

  We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

  The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community, must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.…

  So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

  I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream. That one day—even the State of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression—will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream. That my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

  I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its Governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.…

  Let freedom ring, and when this happens—when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children—black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.

  MENUS

  Last Dinner

  Southern Fried Chicken

  Louisiana Hot Sauce an
d Vinegar