The Menu Menace

The Menu Manace

"What in heaven's name is Chicken Marengo?" whispered the diner, bemused prototype of millions of restaurant guests. "I don't know," his wife whispered back. "Why don't you ask the waiter?" The gentleman looked embarrassed. "Certainly not," he said. "I will order the hamburger steak."

Last week, an unexpected champion arose for the millions who cannot tell Chicken Marengo* from Escalope de Foie Gras Talleyrand/- from Surprise Omelet Milord-- from apple pie a la mode./-/- The champion was a writer for Budapest's Communist daily Vilagossag, who (he related in his column) recently walked into a "people's restaurant" and promptly had his appetite ruined by an item on the menu called Tournedos a, la Metternich.*Nor was this all. Austria's great conservative statesman, "this symbol of European reaction," was joined on the menu by a symbol of British imperialism--Veal Steak a la Nelson^--and one of Hungary's famous feudal families--Beef Steak Esterhdzy.-- There were other dishes whose names had no politically dyspeptic connotations, but which were simply obscurantist, e.g., Filet de Fogas Orly,/-/- Veau a la Bonne Femme.--

Patrons of a people's restaurant, wrote the irate columnist, would hardly order dishes whose names they either could not understand or which called up memories to turn any decent proletarian stomach. "Competent quarters should take to heart this piece of advice--a restaurant filled with workers is of more value than a 'bonne femme' in the company of Prince Esterhazy or Prince Metternich." Furthermore, it simply did not make sense "that a dish of veal should have five different names, each of which is priced higher according to its unintelligibility . . ."

Most of the world's gastronomic jargon was created in the 18th and 19th Centuries by log-rolling cooks to commemorate their masters' favorite dishes. Some European aristocrats were also amateur cooks and imposed their names on their concoctions, e.g., Count Stroganoff, a 19th Century Russian diplomat and inventor of Beef Stroganoff.* Sometimes chefs also designated dishes in honor of great events, e.g., Pheasant a la Holy Alliance./-

Culinary nomenclature subtly manages to convey certain historic sidelights. Metternich, whose name on any menu stands for paprika, was a firm enemy of Hungarian nationalism but a great lover of Hungary's national spice. The Esterhazy family, gastronomic historians aver, oscillated for centuries between opulence and (relative) frugality: one generation would have to economize by eating things like beefsteak a la Esterhazy (made from a cheaper cut of meat) because their heedless fathers had eaten too many Tournedos a la Metternich.

Chicken Marengo was created in the midst of a battle with the Austrians near the Italian village of Marengo. It lasted so long (30 hours) that Napoleon got hungry. Always a hasty eater (a bad habit which is said to have caused him to lose several battles because of indigestion), the general brusquely ordered his cook just to toss anything handy into one pot. The cook went to work with eggs and some pieces of chicken. The result delighted Napoleon's palate and did not upset his stomach (he won the battle of Marengo).

But not all menu monuments are of French origin. The U.S. has contributed handsomely with Lobster Newburg-- invented at the close of the 19th Century by one Captain Ben Wenberg, the owner of a steamship line and a great gourmet, who first publicly prepared the new dish amid blazing spirit flames at Delmonico's, which enthusiastically incorporated it in its menu. Later, Captain Wenberg was barred from Delmonico's because he got into a fistfight with fellow guests over the issue of whether or not Edward Stokes, the murderer of Speculator Jim Fisk, should have been restored to U.S. citizenship; to punish the truculent Wenberg for his misbehavior, Charles Delmonico changed Lobster a la Wenberg to Lobster a la Newburg, thus cheating the captain forever of his gastronomic fame. Other important American culinary names include such World I vagaries as Liberty and Salisbury

*French fried chicken, t Goose liver with macaroni and cheese. *Glazed choice cut of filet of beef with Bechamel sauce, truffles and paprika. f Similar to Tournedos a la Metternich, without the paprika. -- Round steak in a mixture (among other things) of shallots, tomato paste and mushrooms, /-/- A Hungarian fish from Lake Balaton, doused in a tomato sauce, which is a specialty of the town of Orly (pop. 1,020) near Paris. -- Meaning, roughly, the kind that mother used to make; roast veal in white wine with mushrooms, shallots and (optionally) carrots. *Strips of beef with mushrooms in cream sauce.

*Pheasant stuffed with a mixture of minced woodcock meat, beef marrow, bacon, onions, truffles, sage, chives, parsley and tarragon, the whole bird being bedded on toast and garnished with oranges.

--Lobster in a sauce of sherry, cream, paprika, egg yolk and butter. /-/- Sauerkraut. -- Hamburger.

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