Alysa Salzberg's blog

Paris, December, 1870: Under siege by the Prussians since September 19, the city has run out of a number of basic cooking ingredients, including most common sources of meat (cat, rat, dog, horse, and for the extremely wealthy, zoo animals, are usually substitutes), as well as milk and cheese.  Flour is also in short supply; the bread distributed by the city’s boulangeries is becoming a repugnant mix of assorted grains, dried peas, and even straw.   So what can you make for Christmas dinner?   Christmas of 1870 is considered one of the saddest in Paris's history. Besieged residents couldn’t leave the city to visit or reunite with family and friends, and food and heat were in short supply. Still, many citizens must have made the most of it.   We have a few menus that have survived from this time (yes, restaurants stayed open during the Siege - this is Paris, after all), including the most famous, that of the restaurant Voisin, which shows an array of different meat options on the men