Okay, so, I’ve been messing around with this whole “recreating historical menus” thing lately, and let me tell you, it’s been a wild ride. Today’s adventure? The Ruth Dodge Titanic menu. Yeah, that Titanic. You know, the one that, uh… met an iceberg.

First off, I had to do some digging. What did they even eat back then? Turns out, it wasn’t all caviar and champagne. At least not for everyone. This Ruth Dodge, she was a first-class passenger, so her menu was pretty fancy, but not over-the-top, you know?
Getting the Ingredients
I started by making a list. Oysters, Consommé Olga, some kind of poached salmon, Filet Mignons Lili… sounds easy enough, right? Wrong! Finding some of this stuff was a pain. Like, where do you even get fresh oysters on a Tuesday? And what the heck is Consommé Olga? Turns out it is a type of soup.
After hitting up, like, three different stores, I finally had all my ingredients. Well, most of them. I couldn’t find any old vintage wine, just settled for the regular stuff at the supermarket.
The Cooking Process
- Oysters: Shucking oysters is not for the faint of heart. I nearly took off a finger. But hey, I managed to get them open, and they were surprisingly tasty. Just a little lemon, and boom, you’re back in 1912.
- Consommé Olga: This was a whole thing. You have to make this clear broth, and it involves simmering beef and veggies for hours. My whole apartment smelled like a fancy restaurant. And there was this weird step with egg whites, for clarifying? I don’t know, but I did it.
- Poached Salmon: Okay, this part was relatively easy. Just poached some salmon in some court-bouillon, whatever that is. It’s basically just water with herbs and stuff. The tricky part was the Mousseline sauce. So many steps just for a sauce!
- Filet Mignons Lili: Finally, something I’m good at! Cooking steak. These little filets were seared to perfection, if I do say so myself. The recipe called for artichoke bottoms, and potatoes and watercress, which I had never even heard of, but they were actually pretty good.
The Verdict
After hours of slaving away in the kitchen, I finally sat down to my Titanic feast. Was it worth it? Honestly, yeah. It was a cool experience, stepping back in time like that. And the food was actually pretty darn good. Except maybe for that weird celery dessert. Yeah, they had celery for dessert. Who knew?
Would I do it again? Maybe. It was a lot of work, but it was also kind of fun. Next time, though, I might just stick to something a little less… ambitious. Maybe a nice, simple shepherd’s pie. Or a pizza. Yeah, pizza sounds good.
