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

  Cover the baking dish and place in the oven for 5 minutes.

  Remove from the oven, let cool to room temperature, and place in the refrigerator.

  Serve chilled.

  Oat Bran Russian Black Bread (1)

  3 tbsp dried yeast

  1 tsp Sucanat

  1 cup warm water

  ¾ cup rye flour

  2 cup whole wheat flour

  1 tsp salt

  1 cup oat bran

  1 tbsp carob or cocoa powder

  1 tsp caraway seeds

  1 tsp fennel seeds

  2 tbsp cider vinegar

  2 tbsp dark molasses

  2 tbsp corn oil

  1 tbsp minced onion

  Dissolve yeast and Sucanat in about ½ cup water and set aside until the yeast is foamy.

  Combine rye flour, whole wheat flour, salt, oat bran, carob or cocoa, and caraway and fennel seeds.

  In a separate bowl, combine the vinegar, molasses, oil, and onion.

  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and blend well.

  Add yeast and mix well. If the dough is too stiff or dry, add more water. If too sticky, add more flour.

  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, flatten it out, and shape it into a round, shallow loaf. Place the loaf onto a lightly oiled baking sheet, brush dough with oil, and let it rise in a warm spot until the dough holds an imprint when gently touched, about 30 minutes.

  Bake at 375°F for 35 to 40 minutes and let cool on a wire rack. Lightly brush the top with flavored oil.

  CLEOPATRA

  Alexandria, Egypt

  August 6, 30 B.C.

  For Rome, who had never condescended to fear any nation or people, did in her time fear two human beings, one was Hannibal and the other a woman.

  —Plutarch

  Cleopatra VII was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 69 B.C. In the next forty years until her death, she would seduce two rulers of the mighty Roman Empire and have their children, before finally going down in the pages of history as the last Pharaoh of Egypt.

  Cleopatra’s ancestor was Ptolemy I. He had been a general of the fabled Alexander the Great and became ruler of Egypt on Alexander’s death in 323 B.C. The Ptolemy pharaohs were proud of their Macedonian and Greek heritage, and when Cleopatra finally ascended the throne at the age of 17, one of the things her subjects most admired about her was that she was the first pharaoh in nearly 300 years to actually speak Egyptian.

  Ancient coins, and what few drawings remain of her, show a masculine-looking woman with a long hooked nose. Daily baths in milk did nothing to improve her features, but diligent study made her fluent in nine languages and a very shrewd politician. She had an extremely musical voice and exuded a sexuality that she was always prepared to use to further her ambitions.

  In keeping with Egyptian and Ptolemaic tradition, Cleopatra married her brother Ptolemy XIII when he was about 12. For 3 years he was forced to remain in the background, but eventually, goaded by jealous palace eunuchs, he tried to seize the throne from her in 48 B.C., and she was forced to flee to Syria for help.

  Fate came to her aid. Julius Caesar had just defeated Pompey the Great for total control of the Roman Empire at the Battle of Pharsalos in Greece. The defeated Pompey had fled to Alexandria, hotly pursued by Caesar, to ask for Ptolemy XIII’s protection. Seeking to curry favor with the oncoming Caesar, Ptolemy killed Pompey and proudly presented his head in a wine jug. Although they were opposing generals, Pompey had once been Caesar’s good friend, and he was appalled at his brutal treatment. Caesar took control of the city and ordered both Ptolemy and Cleopatra to meet him so he could decide who would eventually rule Egypt.

  Knowing Ptolemy would try to have her murdered before she could address Caesar, Cleopatra had herself smuggled in front of him rolled up in an oriental rug. Impressed by her ingenuity and bewitched by her charm, Julius Caesar became her lover that night. Within 6 months a defeated Ptolemy was found drowned in the Nile, and the undisputed reign of Egypt’s last pharaoh was under way.

  Giving birth to Caesar’s son, named Caesarion or “little Caesar,” Cleopatra was now at the height of her powers. Although her lover returned to Rome to reorganize the Senate there, he left three of his veteran legions to protect her throne, and a year later he brought her to Rome to celebrate his war triumphs. One of the spoils of the war was Cleopatra’s sister Arsinoë, who in the true Ptolemaic tradition was constantly trying to usurp Cleopatra.

  An indication of Cleopatra’s ruthlessness is that although Caesar eventually spared Arsinoë’s life, Cleopatra later made Mark Antony kill her.

  Cleopatra and Caesar lived together in Rome for 2 years, even though Caesar was already married to Calpurnia. Caesar was ready to proclaim himself king of the republic and pass a law allowing him to marry Cleopatra, with Caesarion as the heir to the throne of Rome.

  Too many self-serving senators stood to lose their power if this happened, and so on March 15, 44 B.C., Julius Gaius Caesar was brutally murdered at a Senate meeting. Knowing that she too was in imminent danger, Cleopatra returned at once to Alexandria and made her son Caesarion her co-regent.

  Caesar’s sudden death led to civil war in Rome. Eventually three men assumed control: one of Caesar’s best friends and his nephew, Mark Antony; Caesar’s great-nephew Octavian, who later became the great Emperor Augustus; and Marcus Lepidus.

  Looking into Caesar’s death, Antony and Cleopatra met in Tarsus in 42 B.C. What was originally a fact-finding mission for the Roman turned into a love affair, as the charms of Cleopatra captivated the rugged Antony. When he finally shook himself free to return to his duties as co-ruler of the Roman Empire, he left Cleopatra with their twins, Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios. They were apart for 4 years until, in 37 B.C. on his way to war with Parthia, Antony met up with Cleopatra again and declared his undying love for her. Making the city of Alexandria his home, he then had another son by her, called Ptolemy Philadelphus. Actually, in his time away from Cleopatra, Antony had also married Octavian’s half-sister Octavia and had two more daughters with her, both named Antonia.

  The wily Octavian now started to turn the people of Rome against Antony in his absence, seeing a chance to rule Rome alone.

  Antony, completely under Cleopatra’s spell, pronounced his children with her the new kings of Armenia and Syria and his daughter the new queen of Crete and Cyrenaica. Cleopatra herself became the “Queen of Kings.”

  This was all Octavian needed, a challenge to the authority of Imperial Rome, and the people rose behind him as he sought a quick defeat of Antony and his Egyptian harlot.

  In 31 B.C. Octavian’s navy defeated the ships of Antony at the Battle of Actium, and a depressed Antony returned to Alexandria to party away his final days in a drunken stupor.

  Determined to press his advantage, Octavian followed, and in 30 B.C. he and his army reached Alexandria, causing Antony’s remaining troops to just melt away, unwilling to fight against fellow Romans in order to defend an Egyptian queen.

  Believing Cleopatra to be already dead, a distraught Antony stabbed himself in the stomach but didn’t kill himself; he actually died in front of Cleopatra. With Octavian determined to march her as his prisoner through the streets of Rome in his triumph, and seeing her last lover die in front of her, Cleopatra sought to convince Octavian that she would play along with him, so he would relax his guard over her.

  Organizing a sumptuous banquet to feign normalcy, she had a cobra smuggled in with the food in a basket of figs. Then, with the aid of her maids Chamion and Iras, she committed suicide. A furious Octavian, robbed of his prize, found her stretched out in her quarters on a golden tomb. The time of the pharaoh was over.

  MENUS

  Although she put on an elaborate banquet to fool the Romans into believing she was cooperating with them, Cleopatra herself always ate very healthfully, with the accent on seafood.

  Menu

  Grilled Eel with Basil

  Whole Baked Fish in Salt
Crust

  Tiger Nut Sweets

  Sweet Wine Cakes

  Hummus

  Grilled Eel with Basil (4)

  Considered a sacred fish of the Nile.

  4 eels of about 1 lb each

  4 tsp balsamic vinegar

  8 oz fresh basil leaves, chopped

  3 tbsp olive oil

  Rub the eel skins with a pumice stone or rigid cloth. Wash and gut the eels, and then remove the heads and split the bodies open. Marinate for about 1 hour with the olive oil and basil.

  Cut the eels; crossways, with slices about 3 inches long. Place the pieces on the grill, skin side down. No other condiment is necessary, as the fat of the fish will give it an additional taste.

  Cook for 4 to 5 minutes each side, then brush with balsamic vinegar and serve.

  Whole Fish in Salt Crust (4)

  1 whole snapper, 6 lb, or same size sea bass, cleaned and gutted

  4 egg whites

  2 cups kosher salt

  1 large bunch fresh thyme

  4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

  1 lemon cut into wedges

  Heat oven to 450°F.

  Whisk egg whites and set aside. Place 4 tbsp egg white on a large platter suitable for oven-to-table use. Insert the salt and thyme inside the raw fish. Place the fish on top of the mixture and spoon the remaining mixture over the top of the fish. Place the coated fish in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

  Remove the salted crust from the fish and fillet. Serve with a splattering of good olive oil and lemon wedges.

  Tiger Nut Sweets

  Chop 7 oz fresh dates fine and blend with a little water. Add a little cinnamon and chopped walnuts. Shape into balls, coat in honey and ground almonds, and serve.

  Sweet Wine Cakes

  15 oz flour

  1 tbsp sweet wine

  pinch cumin

  pinch aniseed

  2 oz fat

  1 oz finely chopped cheese

  1 beaten egg

  12 bay leaves

  Add wine to the flour along with the cumin and aniseed.

  Rub in the fat and the cheese and blend with the egg.

  Shape into 12 small cakes and place each on a bay leaf.

  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 400°F.

  Hummus

  8 oz chickpeas

  2 tbsp wine vinegar

  3 cloves chopped garlic

  5 tbsp sesame seed oil

  1 tsp sea salt

  Cook and mash the chickpeas.

  Add vinegar, salt, chopped garlic, and sesame seed oil to make a unique paste for bread or savories.

  Chill and serve.

  ADMIRAL HORATIO NELSON

  HMS Victory, Trafalgar, Spain

  October 21, 1805

  England expects every man today to do his duty.

  —Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson,

  message to fleet, October 21, 1805

  Born as a sickly child in the sleepy English town of Burnham Thorpe in Norfolk in 1758, Horatio Nelson was one of only three children who survived of the eleven his mother bore. Exhausted, she died at the age of 42, leaving a distraught Nelson unsure of his future life.

  By the age of 11 he had found the answer, the sea, enrolling first on a relative’s ship and then as a junior office at the age of 14 in the British Navy, an institution he came to consider his only real family.

  By the age of 16 he had already been to the Arctic, India, and the West Indies, and in his 2 years’ service he had witnessed some 200 floggings, as the Royal Navy enforced a harsh, rigorous discipline on crews that had been mainly press-ganged into service or dredged from local jails.

  These earlier experiences, coupled with the death of his mother, made him determined to improve the lot of his men when he had his own command, something he believed he was destined to do.

  By the age of 21 he had become one of the youngest ever captains in the Royal Navy’s history, combining a clear tactical eye and love of the sea with a kindness to his men that commanded unwavering respect and loyalty. Even in the hours of England’s most famous victory at Trafalgar, the diaries of his fellow captains reflected only sadness at his death, not glory in their victory.

  Already frail to begin with, his constitution was further undermined by the loss of sight in his right eye in a battle off Corsica, then the loss of his right arm in further action at Santa Cruz in the Canary Islands.

  Neither injury was referred to in anything but jest. Indeed, when one landlady in Great Yarmouth asked him whether she could name her pub after him, wanting to call it The Nelson Arms, he laughed it off, saying “Shouldn’t it be the Nelson Arm?”

  Briefly returning to Burnham Thorpe in 1787 he got married, but after only a short time he was again itching to return to the sea. However, despite writing numerous letters to the Admiralty he was ignored for nearly 5 years because there was no need of him in peacetime, until the eruption of the French Revolution, when the declaration of war with France brought him back to the Sea Lords’ attention.

  Nelson was recalled, and his career accelerated. Bravery, fool-hardiness, and a desire to always prove himself to others, particularly his king and country, led to rapid promotion and the love of an adoring public. His career was often helped by the steady stream of self-praising letters he fired off to newspapers, and friends in high places constantly extolled his victories.

  Emperor Napoleon had assumed command in France, and his armies terrorized Europe. In time England knew his attention would be turned to them, and only the English Channel and the British fleet could stand in his way. Nelson was vigilant, and as rear admiral he watched for the French fleet to emerge from their port. They slipped past him, however, and landed Napoleon and his army in Egypt, but Nelson had his revenge when he cornered the French ships in Aboukor Bay on the Nile and destroyed them in a one-sided engagement.

  During the battle he sustained a serious head wound, and his fleet put in to the port of Naples to get him some urgent treatment. While recovering there he fell in love with the teenage wife of an elderly English lord, Lady Emma Hamilton. This relationship endured until his death, and the doting 70-year-old lord actually accompanied them throughout the affair, seemingly oblivious, even when she gave birth to a daughter for Nelson, whom he called Horatia.

  The English establishment deemed this flagrant debauchery while his wife waited dutifully at home, but it only hardened Nelson’s contempt for his superiors and those he considered lesser seamen. A classic example occurred at the battle of Copenhagen when Nelson, as Number Two, was ordered to retreat by the flagship. Putting his telescope to his blind eye, he remarked that he was unable to see any such orders being flown, so he continued the attack and won a great victory. The overwhelming praise of the public prevented the Lords of the Admiralty from taking any action against him, although they were furious.

  On his brief return to London, Nelson found himself still snubbed by the King and the establishment for his open sex life, but his public still adored him. With rumors of Napoleon’s transport fleet being ready to sail from France, the whole country believed only one man could stop the upcoming invasion: Admiral Nelson.

  Napoleon Bonaparte, knowing that to cross the treacherous 20-odd miles of the English Channel would be suicide unless his troops could be protected from the constantly roving British fleet, had rebuilt his navy. And with new Spanish allies, he looked to establish control of the oceans and conquer England. Ironically, however, the revolution that had brought him to power had also killed off most of his country’s best naval officers.

  In August 1805, saying goodbye to his beloved Emma and their daughter, Nelson boarded his flagship, the famous HMS Victory, and left England for the last time, knowing that the battle he was about to undertake would determine the fate of his country. Having his 47th birthday party with his fellow captains at sea, Nelson expounded on his plans to attack the French, under Admiral Villeneuve, using new and daring tactics. He planned to use two columns of ships in line to smash throu
gh the French fleet, isolate individual ships, and ultimately destroy them. He finished the meal by saying, “I’ve had the happiness to command a band of brothers,” for that was how he had grown to view his fellow officers and the sailors under him.

  On October 19 the French and Spanish fleet sailed from Cadiz and found the English ships shadowing them. Numbers favored the French—they had thirty-three ships of the line and seven frigates to England’s twenty-seven major ships and four frigates—but Villeneuve was wary of the English admiral with the reputation of doing the unexpected and his well-trained sailors, who were the complete opposite of those in his own command.

  Early on the morning of the October 21 Nelson made his move. At 4 A.M. he formed his ships into two lines, and at daybreak the French saw the English fleet, headed by Nelson’s flagship the Victory, bearing straight toward them.