Their Last Suppers: Legends of History and Their Final Meals (19 page)

However, the Impis had only returned to their king to sing his praises. He had had no intention to invade British territories; their job was done.

Another 10,000 troops were quickly dispatched from Britain, and they eventually got the victory they wanted at the battle of Ulundi. The Zulu power was broken and its king defeated, but even today in modern society their military traditions and strengths live on, defeated but not conquered.

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Chelmsford’s Brunch, January 22, 1879

Although today much of the wildlife that used to exist in the whole of southern Africa is limited, particularly in Zululand, to reserves such as Pinda Mountain Lodge, in the nineteenth century the region was full of game. In fact, most of the shooting done in the first few days of the war was by British officers bringing food to the camp or trophies to be stuffed and shipped home later.

Lord Frederick Chelmsford, like all British gentry on campaign, insisted on a standard, so as his wagons carried all the accoutrements of war, they also carried regimental silver and a quartermaster and native servants trained to produce all the luxuries of home, even in the bush.

I have fallen into the trap more than once of having someone in South Africa ask me, “One egg or two?” I’m a big guy, so I say, “Two,” at which point two ostrich eggs are broken into the pan in front of me (equivalent to 16 large eggs). These were available to Lord Chelmsford but probably will not be in your supermarket.

• Whip eggs; add a little black pepper. Avoid salt, as most fish will compensate. Add milk.
  
• Heat butter in nonstick pan and stir in the egg mixture, using a wooden spoon to stir constantly; keep the eggs moving so they make tighter clumps.
  
• When the eggs are almost cooked, add the onion, tomatoes, sage, and fish and serve on toasted brown bread with champagne and orange juice (mimosas).
  

Antelope is a great substitute for beef and is a very lean meat. When cooking antelope, gazelle, springbok, or warthog you need to use even more oil in your recipes. In 1850 the standard oil of the British Army was a margarine made of suet, milk, and water. For this recipe, treat yourself and use extra virgin olive oil.

• Place on medium grill for 45 minutes (about 20 minutes each side), turning only once. Slice thinly.
  
• Serve with claret, Beaujolais, or Fleur du Cap.
  

Although it may not be readily available at your local supermarket, liver of antelope, gazelle, and springbok, lightly floured, with chopped sage, makes a wonderful lunch. Possibly the nearest taste available for urbanites is veal or calves’ liver.

• Heat pan with butter.
  
• Rub chopped sage into flour, add salt and pepper, and brush both sides of the meat.
  
• Place in pan with a little butter, sauté for 2 minutes each side. In separate pan place a little butter, onions, and a touch of sage. Grill bacon.
  
• Place liver on plate, with grilled bacon on top and onions to finish. Serve with fresh sliced pears and apples. Excellent with Fleur du Cap or any other fine Cape red wine or Pinotage.
  

In Zululand there is a small sweet pineapple that grows wild, excellent grilled, eaten raw, or in salads. Much of the ham eaten in the Zulu wars was imported in cans from the United Kingdom, so the pigs and hogs in South Africa were particularly attractive to the officers.

• Cut ends off pineapples, retain for decoration. Heat pan, place half of butter in pan, then put the ham steaks in.
  
• In a separate pan place rest of butter and maple syrup.
  
• Cook ham steaks on both sides and place on a bed of pineapple leaves.
  
• Meanwhile, gently heat the syrup and butter.
  
• Slice baby pineapples thinly; place over the top of the ham with the syrup and butter sauce.
  

An abundant, readily available food in southern Africa in the nineteenth century. For this recipe, try one of the many varieties, such as acorn squash.

• Cut squash in half lengthways (horizontally). Scoop out the inside seeds, then place in a baking dish and pour boiling water up to 1 ½ inches deep around them.
  
• Mix the other ingredients and place in the hollow squash.
  
• Cover with foil and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes at 350°F.
  

GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR

Born into a patrician Roman family in 102 b.c., Julius Caesar was schooled to be a military man from an early age. Although he grew up in a dynasty that had everything, he spent his youth austerely, as he was made a priest of Jupiter while still a child. He was forbidden any delicacies or real luxuries, habits that he kept for many of his campaigning years, eating little as an officer and banning wine for his subordinates.

In the Roman military Caesar was adored by his men from the beginning; he never asked anything of them in battle he wouldn’t do himself. He often marched at the head of his troops, always coaxing more effort from them. The Rome of his day was full of jealous politicians, always squabbling among themselves for even more power. Rising stars such as Caesar were often sent overseas as consuls of legions to difficult places in the hope they might not return or, better still, their power would be
dissipated by some loss on the battlefield, an unacceptable fate for a Roman general.

Caesar would not be denied what he considered his due. After serving successfully in the East for many years, in 58 B.C. he was given the giant task of subduing the Gauls, a fierce Celtic warrior race that was spread across France and Belgium. With up to 1 million fierce barbarian troops at their disposal, the Celts were determined to remain free, and therefore they were the greatest threat to Roman power.

From 58 to 51 B.C., Caesar launched a brilliant series of battles and sieges. His legions were often outnumbered by as many as eight to one. He systematically ground the tribes down with defeat after defeat until he eventually led their King Vercingetorix back to Rome in chains, for a glorious triumph at the head of his seasoned troops, who under Caesar had become Rome’s finest available legions.

Installed as governor of Gaul, he started to reveal his other brilliant skills, using his powers of oration to finally unite the defeated tribes under Roman law, building many new roads to open up the region to Roman commerce, and imposing on everyone the Pax Romana, or Roman Peace.

Two brief invasions of Britain along the way had convinced him that the wet, miserable little island nation, with little known mineral wealth, was not really worth his time, so he began to turn his eye back to Italy and the political stage.

As his star grew, so did his enemies in the Senate, although they remained quiet out of fear of him. He formed Rome’s First Triumvirate with two other generals, Marcus Crassus and the great Pompey, who had rid the Mediterranean Sea of pirates in a little more than 40 days, enabling Rome’s commercial power to expand even more. Pompey further increased Rome’s influence in the East, but his exploits were mainly ignored by the crowds in Rome, who followed and celebrated only Caesar’s frequent victories.

Even more desperate to establish himself, Crassus went to Syria, where he conducted an abysmal campaign against the Parthians at Carrhal in Mesopotamia and was eventually murdered by the Parthian generals in a humiliating defeat for Rome. This left a frustrated Pompey all alone, facing a popular Caesar who now wanted to come home to Rome. Pompey forced the Senate to insist
that Caesar disband his legions first, a motion that Caesar refused, knowing his troops were Rome’s finest legions and his power base. But history dictated that no Roman general had ever led troops on Rome or could be permitted to.

In 49 b.c. Caesar and his veteran legions crossed the Rubicon River, which was at that time the border between Italy and France. As he crossed that small stream he knew that there was no turning back; there could be only victory or defeat now, as civil war was imminent.

Watching Caesar and his army march toward Rome, Pompey and all his followers fled to Greece to enlist the help of disgruntled eastern kings tired of paying yearly tribute to Rome, believing they would help tip the balance. But despite compiling a large army, they were wiped out by the pursuing Caesar at the battle of Pharsalus in 49 b.c., where once again the military genius of Caesar vanquished superior numbers.

Pompey fled the battlefield in desperation and looked to find some shelter in Egypt. Caesar followed not just to quash any more rebellion but also to extend the hand of peace to Pompey, who had been his friend for many years. He was horrified to be given the head of Pompey in Alexandria by Ptolemy XIII, the boy Pharaoh of Egypt, who was controlled by the palace eunuchs. Switching his attention to Ptolemy’s sister Cleopatra, who seduced him at their first meeting, Caesar made Cleopatra the sole Pharaoh of Egypt, and after several months he destroyed the forces of Ptolemy and won over the people of Alexandria and eventually Egypt by his gracious treatment of them.

With Egypt now under his sway and no real military opposition to him anywhere in the Roman world, Caesar relaxed in Alexandria and conducted a heady love affair with Cleopatra, who quickly bore him his only son, Caesarion.

Life as a military man had bred simple tastes in Caesar, a tall, lean, handsome man with piercing blue eyes. He ate the food of the common soldier: bread, olive oil, porridge, and bacon. He held a form of epilepsy at bay with a fruit juice cocktail every day and, though surrounded by the gastronomic delights of the royal palace, kept his frame lean and hard, and he expected the same from his subordinates.

Although he was incredibly talented in many fields, Caesar’s legions saw him as one of them. This connection with the real power of Rome, the army, caused endless frustration for the powerful, decadent senators, who for many years had taken the rewards and basked in the splendors of the treasures and land won by the troops.

On returning to Rome, Caesar launched himself into a rapid reform of the political system. Senators had to report to the Senate or lose their privileges, a novel idea. The legions were to be given good land to farm when they left the ranks; the calendar was revised, giving us the 365-day year we use today; and he handed more power in the running of the empire to the common man, the plebian.

An adoring Cleopatra followed Caesar to Rome, where, although she had his love, she endured the hatred of Calpurnia, his wife in a loveless marriage he had entered into some years before.

Seeing “the Egyptian harlot” who had stolen the heart of the most powerful man in Rome, a group of twenty-three senators, organized by Gaius Trebonius, decided their only hope of holding onto any remaining power was to kill Caesar because soon, three days after the Ides of March (March 15), he was leaving Rome to conduct another campaign against the Parthian nation.