Last Call

I can't say for sure, but we've all heard that after the Titanic hit an iceberg, the band played the hymn “Nearer, My God, to Thee.”

We don't know for sure if the bandleader was taking requests, or if he thought of that number on his own. 

But recently, at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J, the well-to-do put on the feedbags and heard that song while having the dinner served on the ill-fated ship as its last supper. And the guests were served a cocktail called "Nearer, My God, To Thee."

(Could I just have a glass of beer, please?)

It must have been at least a bit eerie to chow down on soup (consommé and cream of barley) and main courses such as salmon, duckling and squab. While everyone talked about how it must have been aboard the Titanic as the craft took  on water, the guests were taking on desserts such as peaches in chartreuse jelly, éclairs and French ice cream. 

A cookbook author and food-television personality named Gail Simmons threw the shindig. “We made the portions smaller,” she said, and she also cut the meal down from ten courses to seven.

The thought is that the diners hit the hay shortly after dinner was over (no karaoke that night) and you have to figure, the last thing anyone was worrying about was sinking a supposedly unsinkable ship.

Surprise!

Back to the bill of fare, because some of the survivors tucked a menu in their pockets that night, that's how we know what they ate. But none of the recipes survived, so today's chefs have to guess.

Around the Lazy 'C' chuckwagon, I use the traditional Clark family recipe for Salmon in Mousseline Sauce. I just run out to the garden and, just before cooking the fish, I cut up some fresh mousseline, right off the mousseline bush.

And a guy in traffic recently shared his recipe for Consommé Olga when he hollered at me the name of a really great sauce only available in Tasmania until recently. The guy said to call his friend, whose full name is Olga Fack-Yaselph. She told me exactly what to do with my consommé.