September 21, 2013 - Siege of Paris menus

[sandypossum]

The "Siege of Paris" lasted from September 19, 1870 to January 28, 1871. No supplies of any kind were allowed to enter the city, and eventually there was no more meat or fresh vegetables in the city. Due to this shortage of food, Parisians were forced to slaughter whatever animals were at hand. Rats, dogs, cats, and horses were regular fare on restaurant menus. An example of a Latin Quarter menu from the time of the siege reads in part:

* Consommé de cheval au millet. (horse)
* Brochettes de foie de chien à la maître d'hôtel. (dog)
* Emincé de rable de chat. Sauce mayonnaise. (cat)
* Epaules et filets de chien braisés. Sauce aux tomates. (dog)
* Civet de chat aux champignons. (cat)
* Côtelettes de chien aux petits pois. (dog)
* Salamis de rats. Sauce Robert. (rats)
* Gigots de chien flanqués de ratons. Sauce poivrade. (dog, rats)
* Begonias au jus. (flowers)
* Plum-pudding au rhum et à la Moelle de Cheval. (horse)

And then Alexandre Étienne Choron, the celebrated chef de cuisine of the restaurant Voisin on the rue Saint Honoré, created his legendary midnight Christmas dinner (1870), principally composed of the best parts of zoo animals:

stuffed head of donkey
elephant consommé
roasted camel
kangaroo stew
bear shanks roasted in pepper sauce
wolf in deer sauce
cat with rat
antelope in truffle sauce

The menu's wines were Mouton-Rothschild 1846, Romanée-Conti 1858 and Château Palmer 1864.

There was no longer any food to give to the animals, so they were going to have to be killed anyway (if that makes you feel any better about this!)

The siege was lifted two weeks later.