Guilty parties: Anders Eager, Mike Traynor and Anders' mother Britt-Marie who as it happens owns a quite remarkable cooking library.

Dice up one chicken (or hen) and roll the pieces in pepper, garlic, flour and salt. Fry them in olive oil for a couple of minutes in a deep pan. Add a glass of white vine and a can of crushed tomatoes (or cut up some fresh ones instead). Let the stuff boil under a lid until the meat is well done.

Cut some 8-10 small onions in quarters and fry them briefly in another pan. Do the same to some fresh mushrooms and mix them with the onions. Add the chicken and tomatoes. Stir and let boil for a couple of minutes. Garnish with parsley. Serve with white bread and vine.

Optional Rules

• Use red wine instead of white. Can confuse a wellmannered opponent.
• According to one source Chicken Marengo should be served with deep fried eggs, toast and crayfish (very common in all of Europe before the outbreak of crayfish disease in 1847). Deep frying eggs is tricky and quite dangerous. Parental guidance is advised.
• Serve the dish outdoors. Stylish, especially if you have a battlefield around.
• Do not use tomatoes since they were unknown in Europe around 1800.

Random Events

Roll 2d6 for each dish served; a random event occurs on an 11 or 12. Then roll 2d6 and apply the result below:

2 Add 1 small octopus, whole (Chicken Trafalgar)
3 Add 2tb brown sugar (Chicken Jagger)
4 Add 2tb crude oil (Chicken Kuwait)
5 Add 30ml hot English mustard powder (Chicken Ol' Chap)
6 Add 50g very hot peanut paste (Chicken Madalay)
7 Add 100g Gouda cheese (Chicken Waterloo)
8 Add 100g cocoa powder (Chicken Chaco)
9 Add 500g scrap metal (Ranger Chicken)
10 Add 15mg mescaline (Chicken White Rabbit)
11 Add 500g sauerkraut (Chicken Blilcher)
12 Roll twice again

Whatever the result, add that ingredient to your dish (cooking it however you like before if necessary).