Sandwich      Photo by Delaney Turner  www.flickr.com

On hearing that the proletariat was starving and had no bread to eat, Queen Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI of France, purportedly commented, "Let them eat cake". What she might have had in mind was that wonderful confection, Gateau St. Honore, made with small round eclairs stuck on a pastry base with caramel and topped with cream. This amazing concoction was named after St. Honore, the patron saint of bakers who was so beloved in France that they name a street after him. Unfortunately, St. Honore was no help to poor Marie Antoinette, who came to a sticky end on the guillotine.

Napoleon Bonaparte maintained that "an army marches on its stomach". Perhaps if Napoleon's soldiers had had more Napoleon Brandy, named for the great emperor himself, in their stomachs, they might have been able to withstand the harsh Russian winter which caused Napoleon's defeat in 1812. Of course, if they had been living on a diet of Napoleons (those delicious cream slices) they would probably have been too fat to fight.

Beef Wellington is named after that British hero, the Duke of Wellington, famous for his victory in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. This dish made of pate, mushrooms, truffles and Madeira sauce encased in a pastry crust was probably created by his personal chef. Apparently the same dish was served at every formal dinner, which leads one to speculate that the Duke had rather more interest in boots than food, hence the Wellington boot.

Enrique Bastate Gutierrez of Tijuana, claimed that he had invented the tequila/lime/orange liqueur Margarita cocktail for Rita Hayworth, whose real name was Margarita Cansino. At that time she was dancing in Tijuana nightclubs and anyone who has seen Rita Hayworth dance, can well imagine how many Margaritas the gentlemen would have been happy to buy just to stay and feast their eyes on the lovely Rita. There must have been an awful lot of inebriated men staggering around Tijuana at that time.

Edward VII. Prince of Wales, was frequently seen dining out at the Cafe de Paris in Monte Carlo. On one occasion, in 1896, he requested a special dessert for himself and his young female guest. The chef produced a flaming dish of crepes in an orange sauce which he wished to name after the Prince, who very graciously asked that the dish be named after his companion, Suzette. One wonders if Princess Alexandra of Denmark, whom Edward married in 1863, knew about this rendezvous.

Most people know that the word "sandwich" was named after John Montagu, the Fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), who, being an inveterate gambler, could not bear to leave the gaming tables long enough to eat. To solve this problem he asked the waiter to bring him roast beef between two slices of bread, enabling him to eat without interrupting his card game or getting his fingers greasy. What many people do not know is that John Montagu was a complete degenerate and that gambling was mild compared to some of his other vices. He was a member of the infamous Hell Fire Club, satanic rituals being just one of its activities, and was described as "mischievous as a monkey and as lecherous as a goat". He was also considered "the most universally disliked man in England".  It is amazing that something as innocent as a sandwich could have such a sordid history.

Salisbury Steak (a dish made with ground beef) was named after Dr. James H. Salisbury (1823-1905). Dr. Salisbury was an early United States health food advocate who created this dish and told his patients to eat it three times a day. He also advised them to limit their poisonous intake of vegetables and starches. The poor doctor must be turning in his grave to see what the medical profession is advising us to eat today.

It seems it is no longer fashionable to name foods after well-known people, but it is interesting to speculate what foods would be named after some of today's world leaders.