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Kitty Warren is a con artist, conniving her way into the upper echelons of Gilded Age New York Society. Taste in art, fashion, and entertainment has long been a class signifier, and food is no exception. Oysters were enormously popular among the wealthy, usually washed down with copious champagne, and this classic pairing is frequently featured in the novel. Kitty doesn’t like raw oysters, but orders them to seem fancy. Like Kitty, I don’t care for raw oysters; I’ve sometimes been made to feel like a country bumpkin for turning down this delicacy, and so it amused me to write this snobbery into the book.
Cooked and smoked oysters are delicious. I believe in the primacy of butter in making great food, which is why I love this recipe for Oysters Rockefeller. Although Oysters Rockefeller wasn't invented until the close of the Gilded Age, the dish was named after the Gilded Age tycoon John D. Rockefeller for its extreme richness. This dish would pair well with a lovely crisp white wine, sparkling or otherwise, though Rockefeller, a lifelong teetotaler, might roll in his very well-marked grave.
Like other glamorous socialites, Kitty traveled to Paris and admired all things French, and coq au vin, a divine chicken stew from Burgundy, is featured in the novel. Though coq au vin is believed to have originated as a simple country dish—a chicken cooked in a pot with veggies and a bottle of wine—Julia Child raised it to legitimate posh status when she introduced the recipe to the United States. Though Kitty pairs every food with champagne, the more knowledgeable millionaires of the era would have paired it with a hearty Bordeaux. I suggest serving coq au vin with boiled potatoes and a nice crusty French bread to sop up the delicious sauce.
Other foods featured in the book are macaroni and cheese au gratin, biscuits, stewed plums and cherries, pork chops, and nd cream puffs, for something sweet.
Danielle Teller
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