Tea at Trianon: Unique King Cakes for a Unique Mardi Gras

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, January 27, 2021

Unique King Cakes for a Unique Mardi Gras

Of course, the Queen never said: "Let them eat cake." From Reveille:

Mardi Maigre. Tuesday, November 17, 2020. The City of New Orleans canceled all Mardi Gras parades for 2021. Though the big celebrations may be prohibited, there is no reason for Fat Tuesday itself to turn skinny. They can’t cancel king cake. The traditional Mardi Gras treat may be just enough to sugar coat the hurt of a canceled carnival. In a press conference, Beau Tidwell, New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell’s communications director, explained that due to Mardi Gras' religious importance, the City of New Orleans cannot actually cancel the holiday.

"Mardi Gras 2021 is not canceled," Tidwell said. "It is going to look different.”

Louisianians are famous for embracing the different, and if you really want to make the most of the uniqueness of this year’s carnival season there are plenty of “different” king cakes offering the opportunity to do so. As the King of Carnival Rex’s motto goes, “Pro Bono Publico.” For the public good, let them stay home this carnival season. As Marie Antoinette said, “Let them eat cake!” (Read more.)