The food we eat does more than nourish us. Recipes and dishes tell stories about the people who created them, wrote them down or were honoured by them.
From royals to painters, kitchen apprentices to ballet dancers, explore our menu and find out the origins, legends and stories behind what we call some of our best-loved dishes.
Starters
Carpaccio. Thinly sliced raw beef, created in 1950 by Giuseppe Cipriani at Harry’s Bar, Venice, for a countess whose doctor recommended that she eat raw meat. The dish is named after the particular shades of dark red that Venetian painter Vittore Carpaccio was known for.
Caesar Salad. A green salad with croutons, a creamy sauce, anchovies and parmesan, named not after one of the Caesars of the Roman Empire but after Cesare Cardini who created it with his team at the Hotel Caesar in Tijuana, Mexico.
Kaisersemmel or Kaiser roll. A Viennese round bread roll with a distinctive five-pointed star design on the top. Although they have existed in a similar style since at least 1760, the roll is widely thought to be named in honour of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (who reigned 1848-1916). However, there are references to Kaisersemmel from before his time (see examples here). 'Kaiser' was also used as a term used to denote high quality in food.
Mains
A selection of sandwiches. For a light bite, try that ubiquitous lunchtime staple, the sandwich. Putting a filling between two slices of bread was nothing new but the dish is thought to have been named after aristocrat and gambler John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, in around 1762 because he found it to be a snack easily eaten during card games.
Pizza. For the classic option, try Pizza Margherita, supposedly named for Queen Margherita of Savoy (1851–1926). The legend says that Her Royal Highness was served a pizza in the colours of the Italian flag on a visit to Naples in around 1889. Another theory is that it is named 'Margherita' after the Italian for the flower 'daisy' - as the toppings were arranged in the shape of petals on a flower.
Fish of the day - sole two ways. Sole Marco Polo celebrates the Italian merchant, traveller and writer Marco Polo and includes rich and decadent ingredients like brandy, lobster shells, champagne and cream. While Sole Picasso, named after the Spanish artist, is an option for less wealthy diners, with fried fish in a ginger-lemon sauce served with canned fruit.
Beef dishes. For meat lovers, try a Chateaubriand - a type of steak created by chef Montinireil around 1822 for French writer and diplomat Vicomte François René de Chateaubriand (1768–1848). An expensive and luxurious dish, Chateaubriand is a large fillet of tenderloin grilled between two cheaper cuts of meat which are then discarded.
For a slightly cheaper cut of beef, try Beef Stroganoff - strips of beef in a mushroom and sour cream sauce. Named after a Russian count in the 19th century - possibly Count Pavel Alexandrovich Stroganov or Count Grigory Dmitriyevich Stroganov.
And for a final beef option, take the Beef Wellington - a satisfying and robust dish named for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852), British hero of the Battle of Waterloo, and comprising steak, pâté and mushrooms wrapped in shortcrust pastry. Note that this is the same Duke who gave his name to the stout piece of footwear, the Wellington boot. Some have suggested the dish is named after the boot, rather than after the man, because of its shape.
Extras
Nachos. For a sharing snack, go for the nachos, created by Ignacio ‘Nacho’ Anaya in 1943 at a restaurant called the Victory Club in Piedras Negras, Mexico. The story goes that when hotel staff member Anaya was unable to find the cook to cater for a group of customers, he went to the kitchen himself and, in a moment of genius, cut some fried tortillas into triangles, added cheese and jalapeño peppers, heated them up and took them out to the waiting customers.
Pommes Anna. For another hit of carbs, try the Pommes Anna - a beautifully presented side dish consisting of layers of sliced potatoes cooked in melted butter. It is thought to be named after either Anna Deslions or actress Anna Judic - some of the grandes cocottes (high class courtesans or prostitutes) during the time of Napoleon III (1848-1852).
If you want to do the cooking yourself, don’t forget the basics - look to the French and enhance your dish with a béchamel sauce (after Louis de Béchameil), a béarnaise sauce (first served in a restaurant in the former residence of Henry IV of France, who was from Béarn), or start with a base of mirepoix. This staple of diced onions, carrots and celery cooked slowly in butter is often used as the base for stews, soups and sauces. A simple but effective recipe, the naming of it refers to Charles-Pierre-Gaston François de Lévis, duc de Lévis-Mirepoix (1699–1757), a French field marshal and ambassador who employed the cook credited with establishing the mirepoix recipe. The name of the cook themself is lost to history.
Dessert
Sachertorte. If you’re a chocoholic, try the Sachertorte. This delightfully shiny dark chocolate cake is an icon of Austria. It was first made in 1832 by Franz Sacher, a 16-year-old apprentice chef, who stepped up one evening when his head chef was ill, invented this cake and presented it to Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich and his guests. The original recipe is a strictly guarded secret still kept by the Hotel Sacher in Vienna.
Princess cake. For a touch of royal class, choose the princess cake - or prinsesstårta - a Swedish cake layered with sponge and pastry cream and topped with green marzipan. This gave it its original name ‘green cake’ but the early 20th century Swedish princesses Margaretha, Märtha and Astrid liked the cake so much that it gained a new name in their honour.
Pavlova. Or go for a slice of crunchy, creamy pavlova. Originating in Australia or New Zealand, no-one is sure which, this meringue-fruit-cream dessert was named after Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova during one of her tours in the 1920s.
Drinks
Pedro Ximénez. A fortified wine or sherry made in Andalucia and named after a grape, which itself is named after a Spanish soldier who was believed to have picked the vines on his travels in the early 1600s through Germany and the Netherlands and propagated them in Andalucia. However, modern scientific techniques have shown that the Pedro Ximénez grape does not share DNA with any of the German grapes, and it is now thought that it is native to Andalucia after all!
Bloody Mary. Looking for a kick? Ask your bartender for a Bloody Mary - this classic vodka cocktail contains tomato juice and hot flavourings like Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco. It was created around 100 years ago at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris and is often used as a hangover cure, or to start off the day’s drinking at brunch! But who is it named after? Queen Mary of England who was nicknamed ‘Bloody Mary’, or a server named Mary at the Bucket of Blood bar in Chicago, or the girlfriend of a customer at Harry’s whose name happened to be Mary? After two or three of them, you probably won’t care!
Napoleon brandy. Finish off with a nightcap, Napoleon Bonaparte style. The story goes that Napoleon took crates of Courvoisier cognac with him when he was exiled to the island of Saint Helena in 1815, and so his crew named it ‘Napoleon's cognac’, also now known as Napoleon Brandy. But look more closely at the story and you’ll see that the Courvoisier cognac house wasn’t established until 1835, fourteen years after Napoleon died, and in fact that Napoleon was reported to be tee-total. The truth might be simply that it was named after him when he visited a brandy warehouse in 1809.
