The experience of having "put up" with you gentlemen wargamers for more than twenty years has made me aware that you don't agree among yourselves on many subjects, especially that of casualties in any given battle. I, for once, have come up with a subject about which everyone is going to agree... A NEW LOOK AT THE CASUALTIES AT MARENGO: "THE CHICKEN MARENGO" None of the official Austrian and French accounts reported an additional casualty at Marengo. That was the unfortunate chicken that lost its life to become the first "Chicken Marengo" (Poulet sauce a la Marengo). Bonaparte, who on the day of the battle had nothing to eat until after the battle was over, had gone forward with his general staff and was a long way from his supply wagons. Seeing his enemies put to flight, he asked his cook Dunand to prepare dinner for him. The master chef at once sent men from the quartermaster's staff and ordnance corps in search of provisions. All they could find were three eggs, four tomatoes, six crayfish, a small hen, a little garlic, some oil and a saucepan. Using his bread ration, Dunand first made a parade* with oil and water. Then, having drawn and jointed his chicken, he browned it in oil and fried the eggs in the same oil with a few cloves of garlic and the tomatoes. He poured over this mixture some water laced with brandy borrowed from the general's flask and put the crayfish on top to cook in the steam. The dish was served on a tin plate, the chicken surrounded by the fried eggs and crayfish with the sauce poured over it. Bonaparte, having feasted over it, said to Dunand: "You must feed me like this after every battle." The originality of this improvised dish lay in the garnish, for chicken "a la Provencale," sauteed in oil with garlic, was known in Paris under the Directory (1796-1799). Dunand was well aware that the crayfish were out of place in this dish. So later on he substituted wine for the water and added mushrooms. But when he served the dish which he had improved in this manner, Bonaparte said angrily: "You left out the crayfish. It will bring me bad luck! I don't want any of it." Willy-nilly, the crayfish had to be restored, and it has remained to this day the traditional garnish for the dish. The following is the original recipe for "Chicken saute a la Marengo" as per the "Larousse Gastronomique." "Saute the parted chicken in oil, brown it. Deglaze and dilute the juices in the pan with 1/2 cup of dry white wine, cook down, then pour in 3/4 of a cup of thickened rich brown veal gravy (fond de veau). Add a crushed clove of garlic, cook at boiling point for a few minutes; strain. Set the chicken on a dish, garnish with 8 mushrooms (sauteed with the chicken), 4 small fried eggs (or just the yolks), 4 large crayfish trussed and cooked in court-bouillon and 4 heart-shaped croutons fried in butter. Place on the chicken 8 slices of truffles sauteed in butter, coat with the sauce and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Somewhat simplified Americanized versions (with or without the tomatoes) of the "Chicken saute a la Marengo can be found in many cookbooks. I prefer the following rather simple French recipe without the crayfish: INGREDIENTS 24 green olives 1 chicken (3 lb, 1.5 Kg) 1/4 cup olive oil Salt and pepper 3 ripe tomatoes 1 garlic clove Tomato paste, 1 tbsp 1 cup dry white wine 1/2 lb Button mushrooms Butter 1 1/2 tsp 1 1/2 tsp flour 2 onions 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (1) Remove the pits (stones) from the olives. Soak the olives for 1 hour in luke warm water to remove excess salt. (2) Meanwhile cut the chicken into pieces. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for 40 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep hot. Pour the fat from the frying pan. (3) Peel the onions (first plunging them in boiling water for 10 seconds) and dice them finely. Peel and crush the garlic. Put the tomatoes and the garlic in the frying pan and cook gently, stirring well. (4) Thinly slice the mushrooms or leave them whole if they are small. Add them to the frying pan with the wine and tomato paste. Season to taste with salt and pepper and simmer until the sauce has a creamy consistency. (5) If the sauce is too thin, add the butter blended with the flour to thicken. (6) Return the chicken to the pan. Add the drained olives. Cover and cook, without boiling, for 10 minutes. Serve sprinkled with chopped parsley. Which ever recipe you choose, Bon appetit! * A thickening agent for making gravy.  Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 2 No. 2 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by Emperor's Headquarters This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com