While hungry crowds were storming the Bastille in Paris on July 14, 1789, courtiers at Versailles were putting away pigs' feet, stuffed carp, and carrot tart, plus dozens of other delicacies. Recently, a few of the arcane eighteenth-century foods enjoyed by the privileged classes of the era were served to a group of 280 gastronomes and media stars in honor of the two hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution. Six of France's top chefs donned their toques to revive the traditional recipes for the soiree at Gaston Lenotre's two-star Pre-Catalan restaurant in the Bois de Boulogne.
Starting with pigs' feet and winding up with five vintage desserts, the six-course feast washed down by Abele champagne--a favorite wine at the court--was a frugal repast compared to the food orgies indulged in by Louis XVI and his courtiers, who often sampled thirty or more dishes at a sitting.
Not the least among the 1789 treats at the Pre-Catalan was a delicious brown-bread roll furnished by Lionel Poilane; his bread, baked in wood-fired ovens, is known all over the world. This version was made a la eighteenth century with an almost unobtainable species of wheat called epautre, which Poilane explained grows only on mountains or poor soil, and is rarely seen today.
The rustic brown rolls were a far cry from the overpriced, hard black bread eaten by the common people of France. When they staged a bread demonstration at Versailles, Marie Antoinette allegedly came up with the only famous line she ever uttered: "So let them eat brioche."
Pomp and circumstance
Some reckoned the soiree was fit for a king: Arriving guests, greeted by footmen in period attire and powdered wigs, were served with pomp and circumstance in Pre-Catalan's dining room, which was decked out nearly as splendidly as Versailles' Hall of Mirrors.
"This wasn't necessarily court or Revolutionary food, either," said Philip Hyman, an American culinary historian who, with his wife Mary, researched the recipes of eighteenth-century France for the dinner. He said the six courses chosen were not a replica of a Versailles menu, but a composite of the types of dishes enjoyed back then.
"These dishes were also eaten by some of the bourgeoisie, the flourishing and growing middle class, as well as aristocrats, who had excellent chefs; some may have eaten better than the court did," said Hyman.
The pigs' feet a la Sainte Menehould entrée seemed an appropriate choice: Louis XVI was reputedly caught by Revolutionary troops as he was fleeing to Alsace (he had lingered too long over a meal including pigs' trotters in the little town of Sainte Menehould near Reims).
"It's generally discounted as an apocryphal tale, but true or false, it's very interesting and plausible," said Hyman.
Old menus show that at least fifty-three dishes, including pigs' tongues, ears, and even eyes, were once prepared a la Menehould for voracious diners. "A la Menehould is a type of preparation: boiled with aromatic spices then breaded
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