Have you ever wondered what it was like to eat first-class aboard The Titanic? Wondered what luminaries like John Jacob Astor IV and Benjamin Guggenheim dined on before the luxury liner hit the iceberg and began taking on water? Chef and proprietor Conor McClelland of Rayanne House in Holywood, near Belfast, Ireland spent two months researching the last menu served on board the ill-fated ship.
The nine-course experience recently launched at his establishment for the Titanic Made In Belfast Festival in the guest house's private dining room. "It was such a beautiful menu. There was so much attention to detail in the food that it really was a first-class feast," said Mr McClelland at the opening.
The banquet, last served on April 14 1912, includes foie gras pate, asparagus and watercress salad served with Champagne, and rose water and mint sorbet. Chef McClelland has sourced the ingredients from local suppliers. He and his wife Bernie were lucky enough to find an original wine list too. "In those days a different wine would have been served with each course, which isn't the case today. The wines served back then were European...so we can offer similar ones," said McClelland.
The menu has been only slightly altered to suit the modern palate. For example, a foie gras pate would have been served just before the dessert, which is not a custom followed today. McClelland trained in Galway before working as a chef in both the Black Forest and New York. He returned to the Belfast area with his wife Bernie seven years ago to open Rayanne House. The 11-bedroom guest house features a private dining room that can accommodate between eight and 36 diners.
When Chef McClelland came upon a book of old Titanic recipes, he began a culinary journey into the past that led him to recreate the last meal on board the Titanic. The menu starts with canapes a l'amiral before moving on to cream of barley soup flavoured with Bushmills whiskey. Diners then launch into salmon and pan seared filet mignon before a course of spiced peaches.
Here is the modern menu in its entirety:
The Titanic Menu
First Course - hors d'oeuvres
Canapés a`L'Amiral
Second Course - Soup
Cream of Barley finished with Bushmills Whiskey and Cream
Third Course - Salad
Asparagus and Watercress Salad with Champagne – Saffron Vinaigrette served with Roast Squab
Forth Course - Fish
Poached Salmon with Mousseline Sauce garnished with Cucumber and Fresh Dill
Fifth Course - Sorbet
Rose Water and Mint Sorbet
Sixth Course - Entrée
Pan-Seared Filet Mignon topped with Foie Gras and Truffle drizzled with a Cognac, Madeira and Red Wine Reduction served with Potatoes Anna, Creamed Carrots and Zucchini Farci
Seventh Course - Sweet
Spiced Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly and French Vanilla Ice Cream
Eighth Course - Dessert
Cheese and Fruit
Ninth Course
Coffee and Petit Fours
Now, compare Chef McClelland's with the original, which was in the belongings of a survivor:
The First-Class Menu
As served in the first-class dining saloon of the R.M.S. Titanic on April 14, 1912:
First Course: Hors D'Oeuvres or Oysters
Second Course: Consomme Olga or Cream of Barley Soup
Third Course: Poached Salmon with Mousseline Sauce and Cucumbers
Fourth Course: Filet Mignons Lilli, Saute of Chicken Lyonnaise, or Vegetable Marrow Farci
Fifth Course: Lamb with mint sauce, Roast Duckling with apple sauce, or Sirloin of Beef; green peas, creamed carrots, boiled rice and Parementier & boiled new potatoes.
Sixth Course: Punch Romaine
Seventh Course: Roast squab and cress.
Eighth Course: Cold Asparagus Vinaigrette
Ninth Course: Pate de Foie Gras, celery.
Tenth Course: Waldorf pudding, Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly, Chocolate and Vanilla Eclairs and French ice cream.
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