Original chicken Marengo from 19th century Italy
The story goes that, on the 14th of June, 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte, after having won the Battle of Marengo in Northern Italy against Austria, felt hungry. The supply hustle had been separated from the troops, and so Napoleon’s cook Dunant sent out soldiers to the nearby village to see what they could find. They returned with a chicken, some tomatoes, a few eggs and two crayfish (or, in another version, mushrooms): together with the Napoleon’s personal wine reserve and some old bread the cook could fry up, these are the ingredients for Dunant's chicken Marengo, since then a popular dish in France and Northern Italy. So far the legend. Only, that it is not true.
Tomatoes do not appear in Northen Italian or French recipes before the 1840ies, so it is quite unlikely that Dunant would have found that ingredient in a village a good forty years earlier. Chicken Marengo as we know it today was presumably created much later, most likely in Paris, and, from the beginning, with many different variations.
I am sticking to Pellegrino Artusi's recipe for Chicken Marengo from his cookbook “La scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiar bene“ (The Science of Cooking and the Art of Eating Well) published in 1891. It lacks tomatoes, crayfish and eggs!
“Take a young chicken, remove the neck and legs, and cut into large pieces at the joints. Sauté in 30 grams of butter and one tablespoon of olive oil, seasoning with salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg. When the pieces have browned on both sides, skim the fat and add a level tablespoon of flour and a deciliter of wine. Add broth and cover, cooking over low heat until done. Before removing from the fire, garnish with a pinch of chopped parsley; arrange on a serving dish and squeeze half a lemon over it. The result is an appetizing dish.“
You need: chicken pieces, butter, olive oil, salt, pepper, nutmeg, flour, white wine, chicken broth, parsley, lemon
Stay tuned - there are more historical recipes to come on this culinary archaeology channel. You can find more recipes in my cookbooks GARUM: Recipes from the Past“, From Eden to Jerusalem: Recipes from the Time of the Bible“, or VEGETUS: Vegetarian Recipes from the Past“.
Stew Chicken Marengo Recipes
Learn how to make Chicken Marengo with a difference and whip up this version with mushrooms, olives, tomato, and parsley!
Ingredients:
- chicken - 600-700 gr. (breast, can be legs)
- bacon - 100 gr.
- champignons - 300g. (fresh)
- onions - 2 pcs. (average)
- butter - 40 g.
- chicken broth - 200 ml.
- dry white wine - 200 ml.
- Tomato paste - 1 tbsp.
- Flour - 1 tbsp.
- Olive oil - 2 tbsp.
- parsley - 2 tbsp.
- salt, pepper - according to taste
How to cook:
1. Onions cut into thin half rings.
2. Mushrooms clean, cut into plates.
3. If you cook with breasts, cut them into small pieces.
4. In a saucepan with a thick bottom, heat the olive and butter, fry the meat on it until golden brown.
5. To the chicken add bacon, onions and mushrooms, mix and stew for 10 minutes.
6. Then pour in wine, broth and tomato paste, salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer another 30-35 minutes.
Sprinkle with parsley.
Bon Appetite!
Browse Cooking Equipment:
Browse Small Equipment:
One-Pot Chicken, Beef or Veal Marengo with Chef Ludo Lefebvre and Ellen Bennett
This hearty stew goes from stove to oven, building layers of flavor all in one pot! Follow along as Ellen Marie Bennet (founder of Hedley & Bennett) and Chef Ludo Lefebvre share tips for cutting herbs, melting butter without burning, and using the browned bits at the bottom of your Dutch oven. Chef Ludo uses veal in this video, but feel free to swap in chicken thighs or beef shoulder if you prefer.
One-Pot Chicken, Beef or Veal Marengo:
Round Dutch Oven in Nectar:
???? by Chloe Crespi for Ludo à la Maison and Food & Wine
Chicken Marengo by Daniela Manrique Lucca
Daniela Manrique Lucca, a student at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, demonstrates how to cook Chicken Marengo.
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Chicken Marengo: recipe for Napoleon (created on the battlefield)
The Chicken Marengo is recipe that was created for Napoleon on the battlefield after the victory of the battle of marengo on the 14th of june 1800. Get the recipe:
In this French cooking video tutorial I am recreating the chicken marengo recipe the way it was made by napoleon's cook ( Dunand) on the battlefield just when the battle was over. just using the basic ingredients and one cast iron skillet and one black steel pan.
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Cookware:
cast iron skillet:
Steel pan:
black steel pan:
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- Gregory Fremont-Barnes (main editor) [Attribution], via Wikimedia
Commons
- Jean Broc [Public domain]
- Louis-François, Baron Lejeune [Public domain]
David Gerke [CC BY-SA 3.0 ( from Wikimedia Commons