Diners prepare for Titanic cuisine
Now, 100 years later, Gilbert’s restaurant in Cobh, just steps from where the New York bound ship picked up its last passengers, has recreated the menu and will serve it up on the night the ship went down, and every Wednesday night during the tourist season.
Just two menus were recovered from the icy Newfoundland seas and they were compiled, along with detailed recipes, into a cookbook — The Last Dinner on the Titanic.
One of those recovered was the first-class menu and Gilbert’s co-owners, David, Heather and Andrew Bird, and local couple, Charlie and Ann Daly, say they were inspired by the book which gives recipes based on similar preparations on other White Star Line vessels.
Ms Daly believes the menu will be hugely popular and already has bookings from Ballincollig to Dublin and as far away as Australia.
Among the eight courses being served at Gilbert’s are a smooth and nourishing cream of barley soup, deliciously delicate asparagus salad with champagne saffron vinigarette, Waldorf pudding, champagne sorbet and the finest cheeses with homemade crackers.
One of the main courses on offer is a dish that epitomises the excess of the Edwardian era — a filet mignon (dainty fillet of beef) accompanied by a buttery wine sauce, topped with a piece of foie gras and roasted artichoke heart, set on a bed of buttery potatoes Anna.
Aboard the ship, the meal would have lasted up to four or five hours for first-class passengers — some who had paid the equivalent of $124,000 (€94,000) in today’s money for the voyage.
Gilbert’s repast does not take quite so long, and at €45 is not nearly as pricey, but guests can linger on in the classy, cosy restaurant afterwards to soak up the atmosphere of the lovingly restored historic building, which aptly was home to the offices of the Greek Line Shipping Co in the 1950s.
The harbour town expects an influx of visitors to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ship’s sinking and will host a series of events to celebrate the centenary of what was once the world’s largest cruise liner.
In 1912, 123 passengers boarded the Titanic in Cobh, then known as Queenstown.
Three days later, it struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank with the loss of more than 1,500 lives, including 79 of those who boarded in Cobh.
*Titanic Dinners will take place on Wednesday 11 and Thursday, Apr 12 in Gilbert’s Restaurant Cobh and every Wed during the season.
Pre-booking is essential on 021 481 1300
For more information about events during the year log onto titanic100.ie
