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Stuffed woodcocks garnished with truffles and cocks' combs; pastries filled with a purée of lark’s breasts; an elaborate pudding of sliced pig’s kidney with prunes steeped in red wine and then flamed in rum; and lobster medallions arranged back in the shell and dressed with a mushroom Bechamel sauce, all featured at this imperial wedding banquet for the man who was supposed to become the next Habsburg' Emperor of Austria-Hungary.
For the first time ever guests at this very dinner were treated to the sounds of Eduard Strauss's especially composed Viennesse waltz titled 'Schleier und Krone' (Veil and Crown); and as they soaked in the glamour and splendour of this palace banquet, the Emperor's guests could never have imagined they were witness to an imperial marriage that would end in the suicide of the dashing groom who was heir to the mighty Austro-Hungarian throne.
The groom, Crown Prince Rudolf, would eventually tire of his princess wife and fall in love with a seventeen year-old baroness almost half his age. When his Emperor father told him to stop seeing his mistress the Crown Prince would shoot his lover dead before turning the gun on himself at the imperial hunting lodge, Mayerling.
But on this day in 1881 it was celebrations all round without so much as a hint of the tragedy that would follow. The wedding itself took place on the 10 May at the Church of Saint Augustine in Vienna. But the dinner to celebrate the marriage was held the night before at the Hofburg Palace hosted by the groom’s parents, the Emperor and Empress themselves, and attended by the bride’s parents who were the King and Queen of the Belgians.
Also attending this dinner were the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Germany (the future Emperor Frederick III and Empress Viktoria ), the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom) and Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (the future Emperor William II of Germany).
One of the Emperor Franz Joseph's closest confidants, Baron von Margutti recalled how the:
‘marriage was hatched by the diplomats and the Emperor was all fire and flame for it. To him, a legitimist fanatic, it meant fresh splendours for his glorious dynasty. Into his House came a King's daughter who was related to nearly all the royal families of the day.’
But the Empress thought otherwise and for quite a long time withheld her consent for the marriage.
'She positively hated the King of the Belgians,’ recalled Margutti ‘and had no sort of liking for his wife, the insignificant and colourless Queen Henriette. Nor did [Empress] Elisabeth think much of Princess Stéphanie. She considered her education too shallow and her nature too frivolous.’
Royal Menu Collection / © Jake Smith
Menu
Potage à la Reine: Chicken consommé thickened with tapioca and garnished with shredded chicken cooked in court-bouillon (aromatic stock) and diced Royale (a savoury custard made from egg, chervil and chicken consommé) | Petites croûtes aux mauviettes: Small puff-pastries filled with a mousse made from puréed larks breasts, topped with a thin slice of truffle and then garnished with mirepoix made from minced ham, celery, carrot and onion | Truites, sauce Hollandaise: Trout with a Hollandaise sauce made from eggs, butter and lemon juice | Piéce et filet de boeuf: Filet of beef | Timbale de bécasses à la financière: Stuffed woodcocks glazed in their own juices mixed with Madeira and Cognac which are then arranged on croutons and garnished with sliced truffles, cocks combs and a Financière sauce made from ham, herbs, Madeira and truffles | Escalopes de homards à la Maintenon: Medalions of lobster meat served in a Maintenon sauce made from mushrooms, onion and a thickened Bechamel sauce | Sorbet | Poulardes à la polanaise, Salade: Sautéed chicken breasts covered with lemon and breadcrumbs served with red cabbage, braised chestnuts and salad | Asperges en branches: Asparagas spears | Pouding à la Chipolata: A savory pudding made from sliced pig’s kidney flamed in rum, prunes steeped in red wine, chipolata sausgaes and macaroni and then served with a Charcutiere sauce made from onions, white wine and diced gherkins | Moscovite aux oranges: Sponge cake soaked in kirsch topped with a dome of orange segments soaked in orange-blossom water mixed with cream | Fromage National et Chester: Austrian cheeses and Chester cheese | Galces aux griottes et fromage de dames: Ice-cream with morello cherries macerated in kirsch and ice-cream cake.
The bride, Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, arrives in Vienna by carriage and travels through the purpose-built wedding canopy just hours before the Imperial Wedding Banquet on 9th May 1881.
Photo: Logic Images, Alamy
"Sisi"
Empress Elisabeth of Austria Hungary
In 1869 the legendary Empress Elisabeth "Sisi" of Austria-Hungary accompanied her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph, to Zagreb on a tour of the Empire's eastern domains. The imperial couple hosted a gala ball with a menu that included spit-roasted roebuck kidney served with a cream and redcurrant sauce; and foie-gras pastries.
The menu can be viewed here:
Photo: Interfoto, Alamy Images
