Photo by Chris Unger on Unsplash
Could you eat zoo animals? He did! And not only that, he personally cooked them! In besieged Paris in 1870, a French chef named Alexandre Étienne Choron earned his place in the history of gastronomy by coming up with an idea as original as it was controversial: with no access to traditional ingredients due to the Prussian attack, Choron prepared a six-course traditional menu for the nobility, using the only sources of meat available to him: the animals from the zoo. The menu was served at a Christmas dinner. I doubt anyone complained that the menu wasn't special!
How it all happened:
In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War was in full swing, and the City of Lights had been under siege since September. Hunger was becoming more and more of an issue; in Paris, people had very few options left. Food was scarce, and desperation, along with the survival instinct, led to extreme measures. To survive, they began eating dogs, cats, and even rats from the city. But even in such harsh conditions, French nobility was still French nobility, and—as an old saying goes—noblesse oblige.
Standards had to remain high, even in such a context, particularly in the world of haute cuisine. Those who frequented such restaurants were far from satisfied with dog, cat, or rat-based dishes. They deserved much more. And the chef at the luxurious Voisin restaurant knew exactly what to offer them.
With no access to ingredients worthy of his esteemed guests, Alexandre Étienne Choron set his sights on a source of meat no one else had considered. At the Jardin d’acclimatation, one of Paris's zoos, the animals had survived and constituted the perfect supply to satisfy his clients. Without hesitation, he went to work, and thus, on Christmas Eve of 1870, the Voisin restaurant offered a menu consisting of six dishes, each one more... exotic than the last!
From cat dishes to elephant trunk:
Curious to know what the December 25, 1870, menu looked like? Imagine being served donkey head stuffed with butter, radishes, and sardines as hors d'oeuvres, an elephant consommé as soup, and camel à l’anglaise, kangaroo ragout, or bear ribs with poivrade sauce as an entrée. If you weren’t overwhelmed by the starters, you could continue with wolf leg in venison sauce, cat flanked by rats, or antelope terrine with truffles. Of course, side dishes such as watercress salad, buttered peas, or mushrooms à la bordelaise were included, kept simple so as not to overshadow the grandeur of the main courses. Dessert was more conservative, consisting of Gruyère cheese.
Wines paired with zoo animals:
No doubt, such a special menu could only be paired with equally special wines. Choron's exotic and festive menu was accompanied by wines such as Latour Blanche 1861, Château Palmer 1864, Romanee-Conti 1858, and Mouton Rothschild 1849, among others. Perfect for celebrating both Christmas and the 99th day of the siege of Paris.
And... he didn't stop there
The Christmas dinner featuring zoo animals was a real success. This encouraged Chef Choron to continue in this direction, offering new exotic meat-based dishes for the New Year's Eve menu, or adapting the most traditional recipes to the ingredients available in such a context. But where did he get more elephant meat? After the animals at the Jardin d’acclimatation were slaughtered for the Christmas menu, Choron set his sights on Castor and Pollux, the two star elephants at the Jardin Zoologique de Paris, and used them to create a new, extraordinary menu.
Thus, on the night of December 31, 1870, the guests at Voisin celebrated the New Year with dishes like elephant bourguignon or elephant trunk in hunter's sauce. Not even the elephant at the Jardin des Plantes, Paris's botanical garden, escaped Choron's inventiveness, as it was cooked by him at the beginning of January. After running out of elephant meat, Choron substituted it with horse meat on the Voisin menu. Luckily, just two weeks later, the siege of Paris ended—though, as we’ve seen, the warlead to some collateral damage.
Famous for the sauce that bears his name
Alexandre Étienne Choron is remembered not only for his truly unique menus but also for having invented Choron sauce—in fact, a derivative of Béarnaise sauce.
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