Among the dignitaries of the Roman Church, Richelieu was preëminent as an entertainer, his table being renowned for its excellence, and no one being more exacting with his cooks. _A chartreuse à la Cardinal_ or a _boudin_ of fowls _à la Richelieu_ at once recalls his Eminence, and the brilliant reign during which he himself virtually wielded the sceptre. "I do not think very highly of that man," said the Comte de M. in speaking of a candidate who had just secured an important position: "he has never eaten _boudin à la Richelieu_, and is unacquainted with cutlets _à la Soubise_."
During the war of Hanover, when the surrounding country had been devastated by the French army, Maréchal Richelieu, grandnephew of the cardinal, wished to give a suitable dinner to a large number of distinguished captives before setting them free. He was informed by his cooks that the larder was empty.
"But it was only yesterday that I saw two horns passing by the window."
"That is true, Monseigneur, there is a beef and some few roots; but what would you do with them?"
"What would I do with them? _Pardieu_, I would have the best supper in the world!"
"Nothing is impossible. Rudière, write out the menu that I will dictate. Do you know how to write out a menu properly?"
And with this the maréchal, taking the place of his secretary, improvised a classic supper worthy of Vatel. At the end of the bill of fare was added:
"If through any mischance this repast is not an excellent one, I will deduct one hundred pistoles from the wages of Maret and Rouquelère. Begin, and doubt no more. RICHELIEU."
There was a certain Bishop of Burgundy who took his share of responsibility in consuming, with a humour all his own, viands which had not been come by legally. Desiring to eat venison when not quite in season, he sent half the body of the deer that tempted him as a present to the prefect, who lived in the same town, accompanying the gift with the following note: "_Partageons la responsabilité: chargez-vous du temporel; je me charge du spirituel._" (Let us share the responsibility; charge yourself with the temporal part; I will attend to the spiritual.)
Equally felicitous is an incident recounted of Archbishop de Sanzai of Bordeaux, who was especially fond of the fowl which Savarin pronounced one of the finest gifts of the New World to the Old. Having won a truffled turkey on a wager from a grand vicar of his diocese, the archbishop, after waiting a week, became impatient at the delay of the loser in providing the bird. Accordingly, he took him to task and reminded him that delays are dangerous, to which the vicar replied that the truffles were not good that year. "Bah, bah!" was the rejoinder, "we will chance the truffles; depend upon it, it is only a false report that has been circulated by the turkeys."