Tea at Trianon: Straight From Normandy

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

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Straight From Normandy

From The Gloss:

In a heavy-based saucepan with a lid, heat the olive oil with half the butter. Add the chopped onion and the chicken pieces, browning them all over. Pour in the Calvados, if using, stir well, rubbing at the hardening cooking juices stuck on the pan to deglaze. If you like, ignite the alcohol to flambé the dish – and be careful you don’t inadvertently flamber your eyebrows if you are working on a gas flame. If that all sounds too scary, or if you don’t have any Calvados, leaving out this step won’t spoil the dish. Add the cider, again scratching around the bottom of the pan to get all the flavoursome caramelised bits. Bring to a slow simmer and cook for around 30 minutes. Add the cream, the mushrooms and cook for a further few minutes. Season to taste. An appropriately Norman accompaniment would be pommes en l’air (apples peeled, cut in slices or quarters, and gently fried in butter).(Read more.)