"Dinner with Napoleon" Topic

"That famous portrait of Napoleon with his hand inside his rather scruffy gray overcoat always reminded me of the line I read in a long-ago book (was it Captains Courageous?) that I think went something like this: "His chef wouldn't let Bonaparte go into battle without a liverwurst sandwich."—or words to that effect.

One of Bonaparte's great feats was getting his army through the St. Bernard Pass (supposedly in that gray coat and on a mule). The French army went on to defeat the Austrians at Marengo, but our hero had little to do with that, and "rewrote the official account of Marengo in his favor." The story of the famous dish is also suspect. I learned this from a new (to me) book. In fact, the full title of this book on which I'm basing the longish column you are now reading is titled Napoleon's Chicken Marengo, Creating the Myth of the Emperor's Favourite Dish, by Andrew Uffindell. Further, the myth also refers to the 1800 battle itself, as the generals shamelessly manipulated the story of the combat—Napoleon even more than the others—to make themselves seem more heroic and combat-savvy than they were. The author calls it spin-doctoring. We have it now, the French had it then. I could go on about the politics of the time, and of this time, but I will spare you. Let's get on with this beloved dish…"

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Armand

"Dinner with Napoleon"

Oh, I thought you were going to post that scene from Time Bandits… ;-)

(smile)

Armand