Napoleon's Chicken Marengo
"Chicken Marengo has been subjected to its authenticity over the years and my personal determination is it’s a concept not a true recipe. It is said Chef Dunand prepared this dish for Napoleon by quickly soliciting ingredients from local farmers after the June 1800 Win against the Austrians in Marengo, Italy (which is said to become his "lucky" dish). In fact, that same evening N seized Gen. Kellerman’s dinner (not this dish), which had been donated by a local monastery. CD didn’t go to work for Napoleon until 1801 and was in Russia in June, 1800. N enjoyed chicken ala provencale often for breakfast, which could be the starter base to the CM recipe, C D recorded recipe in 1809. The use of mushrooms, truffles, garlic, black olives, white wine, seasonings, etc. have been other chef’s interpretation or personal preferences. Crawfish and French fried eggs were indeed part of the original recipe, but one or both have been left out or substituted throughout the years. I’ve written a recipe as close to the original, while making it 21st Century user friendly...."