Paris_ The Collected Traveler - Barrie Kerper [106]
The Franco-Russian Alliance, 1893 to 1909, can be followed through Flachard’s fascinating series of eleven beautifully decorated menus of meals that punctuated its many events. It was party time much of the way. The excitement began on October 19, 1893, when the municipality of Paris honored the officers of the Russian squadron with a sumptuous banquet at the Hôtel de Ville. Luminaries among the 564 guests were the mayors of Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lille, Toulouse, Le Havre, Nantes, and Reims. The illustrious catering firm of Potel et Chabot was engaged to serve the luxurious banquet.
The menus read like a diary of an embassy attaché.
On October 5, 1896, at two p.m., the Russian imperial yacht Polar Star arrived in Cherbourg on a courtesy visit. Aboard were Tzar Nicholas II and Tzarina Alexandra Feodorovna. They were greeted by President Félix Faure, who that night hosted a dinner in their honor at the Préfecture Maritime.
Nicholas and Alexandra were back in France again on September 18, 1901, this time steaming into Dunkerque on the imperial yacht Standart. President Émile Loubet hosted the welcoming lunch. Two days later the French president and the Russian tzar cohosted a gala dinner at the Château de Compiègne. Escoffier, in his Livre des menus, cited the dinner at Compiègne as a model for a grand presidential reception.
The menus from the years of the Franco-Russian Alliance are a footnote of history. The relationship obviously was warm. On July 28, 1908, the tzar and tzarina had dinner on the French warship Vérité, anchored in the roadstead off Cherbourg. A year later they returned to Cherbourg aboard the imperial yacht Standart, and were greeted like old friends. On the night of July 31, 1909, dinner on the Vérité was an eighteen-course royal gala.
The fête continued. Lunch aboard the Vérité on August 1, 1909, had been scaled down to a happy informal family affair. The tzar and tzarina had brought their children along on the trip, the four young archduchesses Olga, Marie, Tatiana, and Anastasia.
In his specialized librairie, Flachard has for sale a few memorabilia with gastronomic connections. I was captivated by a pencil portrait of the endearing Édouard de Pomiane, scientist, gastronome, and author of several delightful books always in demand.
At tony dinner parties in nineteenth-century Paris, the menu was passed around in a handheld porte-menu. Flachard has two examples of these elegant little accessories. One with a frame and handle in sterling silver was by the firm Charles-Nicolas Odiot (ca. 1850–1860). The other, in silver plate and marked by the firm Christofale, dates from 1900. Either one would add a charming grace note to any dinner party today.
Cooking Classes
There are a number of cooking classes in Paris (and nearby) for students at all levels of comfort in the kitchen, including:
Ritz Escoffier School (click École Ritz Escoffier at ritz paris.com).
Patricia Wells (patriciawells.com); see interview this page for more details.
On Rue Tatin (onruetatin.com), in Normandy and in Paris with Susan Herrmann Loomis; see page 247 for more details.
Promenades Gourmandes (promenadesgourmandes.com) with Paule Caillat.
Le Cordon Bleu (cordonbleu.edu).
See the Shaw Guides (cookforfun.shawguides.com) for many more listings.
If you’ve ever harbored thoughts about taking cooking classes in Paris, you’ve probably seen Sabrina (the original, of course, with Audrey Hepburn), and you’ll also likely devour The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn (Viking, 2007), a book I very much love about the author’s bold decision to earn a full cuisine diploma from Le Cordon Bleu. On Flinn’s second day of the course, she looks at her bloodstained apron, “gray bits still clinging to parts of it. This isn’t like Sabrina at all. Audrey Hepburn would never have ended up covered in fish guts.” I laughed out loud, got teary-eyed, and cheered all the way for Flinn, and now I don’t have any desire to attend classes at Le Cordon Bleu, because it’s really hard, as Flinn will tell you. Anyone who completes