Immortal Meals #36: Courtesan and Parsley May 6, 2018
Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern , trackback
This is an account of a legendary meal (perhaps too legendary?) that took place in the 1860s in Paris. The host and the subject of the meal was Cora Pearl a British courtesan based in the French capital.
Her cuisine was legendary for the quality and quantity of the food that was served. Indeed a group of her admirers had once informed her that it would be impossible for them to imagine an occasion when they could find her food distasteful to them. To which she had replied that, on the contrary, she would be happy to prove them wrong, and that she would serve them with meat of the very finest quality which they would yet be unable to eat. A company of eager gourmets therefore assembled on the appointed evening, when a mightly silver dish was brought in from the kitchens and placed upon the table. When the silver cover was removed, Cora herself was revealed coiled up underneath and quite naked except for a few sprigs of parsley that had been tastefully arranged about her person. (Skittles, 126)
There are numerous references to Cora appearing naked before this or that famous man save several sprigs of parsley and some pearl necklaces. These date back to the 1970s, the earliest account of parsley and Cora on a plate date to the late 1960s. All of this makes your blogger suspicious… Can anyone go earlier: drbeachcombing AT gmail DOT com What is the betting that we have here an urban legend attached to various sensual women in the nineteenth century?
