Tea at Trianon: Ultimate Barbecue

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, July 4, 2011

Ultimate Barbecue

On the Glorious Fourth.

Luckily, the old adage that simpler is better is especially apt when it comes to outdoor cooking. You can make a perfect barbecue by sticking to a few American classics. We culled five recipes from some of our favorite chefs, including racks of ribs from Australian chef Pete Evans, Elizabeth Karmel of Hill Country's crispy-skinned butterflied chickens and the warm wedges of cornbread that have done nothing to dent New York chef Marcus Samuelsson's reputation as a palate-pleaser.

Basic doesn't have to mean bland: The sweet-tart baby back ribs are given a double dose of rum and Coke, and that bird gets brushed with a glaze of lime-spiked watermelon. A potato salad is drenched with a creamy-beyond-compare blue cheese dressing, while a slaw gets a bright kick from a lemony herb dressing with mint, parsley and thyme. And let us not forget Mr. Samuelsson's polenta and fresh corn loaf. When served with a bit of honey and butter, it's practically all you'll need to end the meal.
—Rachel Wharton