What they ate and drank on the Titanic

[LaAna]

The Tasting History channel on YouTube recently did a series on food and drink of the Titanic, and I thought some folks here might find it interesting.  There are 6 videos, one each for first, second, and third class meals, as well as one for the crew, a cocktail episode, and a palate cleanser.  The host makes the dish and tells a few anecdotes about the ship.  I found the first class dish a bit odd; it's strange to think that things floating in gelatin/jelly used to be the height of culinary style.

 

The Titanic Episodes

[rkacruiser]

There is a First Edition book titled Last Dinner on the Titanic on sale on eBay for $129.99.  Others are also available for lesser amounts.  

 

Since your post, I have been looking for my copy.  I know I have read it.  But, I know I have it.  (Maybe not the First Edition, though.)  

 

LaAna, I appreciate the posting of the link and I will access them.  

[CntPAcruiser]

Thanks for posting this--quite interesting! And the whole aspic thing, very French, and very odd by today's standards. Apparently Typhoid Mary, who was a cook, specialized in gelatin desserts, which doomed several families she worked for. 

[rkacruiser]

There was a First Class Menu from the last dinner on the Titanic that a passenger had on their person when they left the ship.  I have seen copies of it.  I think I saw the original in the Titanic Museum in Belfast.  

 

For me, the depiction of First Class dining that we saw on Cameron's Titanic with Jack, Rose, and company has fascinated me.  Such formality!  When the Steward offered Jack some Caviar and his response "No, I don't care for it."  That provides a humanity quotient to that movie that helps make it a truly great movie.  

[shipgeeks]

A number of years ago, we became aware of a dinner event that purported to include a Titanic-style menu.  Attendees were encouraged to dress in period styles, I believe.  Now I wonder if I still have the invitation, or other information.  Perhaps Steamship Society?

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

A number of years ago, we became aware of a dinner event that purported to include a Titanic-style menu.  Attendees were encouraged to dress in period styles, I believe.  Now I wonder if I still have the invitation, or other information.  Perhaps Steamship Society?

 

I think this dinner was a part of the Annual Meeting of either The Titanic Historical Society or the Steamship Historical Society of America.  The dinner menu was to be a replica of the last night's dinner on the Titanic.  

[lenquixote66]

My father came to the US in 1913 from Liverpool.He had a job waiting for him in NYC.The company paid for his ship passage which was first class.I have a copy of the menu .If anyone saw that now it would be very similiar to a current menu ,perhaps even better food choices.

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

My father came to the US in 1913 from Liverpool.He had a job waiting for him in NYC.The company paid for his ship passage which was first class.I have a copy of the menu .If anyone saw that now it would be very similiar to a current menu ,perhaps even better food choices.

 

What was the ship, if you know?  Would it be possible for you to post the menu?  

[BruceMuzz]

About 30 years ago I was working on an American Flag Steamship for a new Cruise Line in Hawaii.

They hired a new Executive Chef from California. His menus were spectacular - and not too different from the Titanic Menus. After the first few weeks, our mostly American passengers were complaining bitterly about the food. They all asked why we weren’t serving any “normal food” to them.

So we traded the passenger menus with the crew menus.

The passengers all got pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, and French fries. They were thrilled.

The crew ate pheasant, quail, venison, caviar. They were pretty happy.

 

[Lois R]

On 8/28/2022 at 3:23 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

What was the ship, if you know?  Would it be possible for you to post the menu?  

Yea, I would love to see that menu as well.

[rkacruiser]

13 hours ago, BruceMuzz said:

About 30 years ago I was working on an American Flag Steamship for a new Cruise Line in Hawaii

 

Was this the MS Patriot of United States Lines?  (Which was a subsidiary of American Classic Voyages.)  

 

13 hours ago, BruceMuzz said:

The crew ate pheasant, quail, venison, caviar. They were pretty happy.

 

Since it had to have been an all American crew, they would enjoy such food!  But, not all the time, I expect.  

[BruceMuzz]

On 10/15/2022 at 4:27 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Was this the MS Patriot of United States Lines?  (Which was a subsidiary of American Classic Voyages.)  

 

 

Since it had to have been an all American crew, they would enjoy such food!  But, not all the time, I expect.  

SS Monterey. Aloha Pacific Line.

Like most American Cruise Lines, they went bankrupt almost immediately.

[shipgeeks]

On 10/15/2022 at 2:29 AM, BruceMuzz said:

About 30 years ago I was working on an American Flag Steamship for a new Cruise Line in Hawaii.

They hired a new Executive Chef from California. His menus were spectacular - and not too different from the Titanic Menus. After the first few weeks, our mostly American passengers were complaining bitterly about the food. They all asked why we weren’t serving any “normal food” to them.

So we traded the passenger menus with the crew menus.

The passengers all got pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, and French fries. They were thrilled.

The crew ate pheasant, quail, venison, caviar. They were pretty happy.

 

In 1969 I sailed from NYC to Sydney, Australia on a 12-passenger German cargo ship.  The food choices were limited, but still far above what I would normally eat at home, with hot, meat-centered meals at lunchtime as well as at dinner.  All very nice, but we did get tired of it, so eventually asked if we could have a meal of crew food instead.  We were given big bowls of split pea soup for one meal, then back to the standard menu.  When we finally got to our first Australian port, several of us set off with the goal of finding a pizza shop.

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

In 1969 I sailed from NYC to Sydney, Australia on a 12-passenger German cargo ship.

 

You did what I had considered doing before I retired for a very long time.  I subscribed to a newsletter that morphed into a small magazine made a travel agency that specialized in this type of cruising.  They would publish reports of their members and that only made me more interested.  But, then, when I retired, I was so hooked on non-freighter cruising, that I gave up on that idea.  I do think I missed a travel adventure.