Goodbye Kitty

Kittens: “either smothered in onions or in a ragout they are excellent”

Henry Du Pré Labouchère was present at the Prussian siege of Paris in 1870, when hungry Parisians had to slaughter and eat whatever animals they could lay their hands on. As well as kitten ragout, he dined on horse, full grown cat, donkey, rat and spaniel and found them all very tasty.

A Parisian Christmas menu from 1870, features stuffed donkey's head, elephant consommé, roast camel, kangaroo stew, antelope terrine, bear ribs, cat with rats, and wolf haunch in deer sauce. That's nothing, though. I once went to a works Christmas meal at a Beefeater in Luton. Having survived that experience, wolf haunch in deer sauce would be a walk in the park. Bonne app!

Via

Anachronism update:  "German" siege of Paris corrected to "Prussian". I very much hope my A-level history teachers are still alive and well - if not, they'll be spinning in their graves.