The Last Dessert Served on the Titanic Was This Booze-Based Creation

Regardless of whether or not one has seen James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster film “Titanic,” they’re likely well aware of the luxury aboard the British passenger ship, especially for those occupying the ocean liner’s first-class cabins. From opulent suites and Turkish baths to sweeping verandas and smoking rooms, there was no shortage of grandeur for the most privileged voyagers. But one of the most attractive amenities for first-class passengers was the dining room, which, at the time, was the largest dining saloon ever seen on a ship.

Within that dining saloon, guests were treated to world-class cuisine multiple times a day, with dinners consisting of up to 13 courses. The most famous dinner on the Titanic was the one served on April 14, 1912, which consisted of 10 courses and turned out to be the final meal enjoyed by the ship’s passengers. Mere hours after its conclusion, the ship struck an iceberg and succumbed to the icy depths of the Atlantic Ocean.

Few items survived the tragedy, but two of the dinner menus presented to passengers on the night of April 14 were miraculously recovered. And included is a rather peculiar dessert option — one that contained an ingredient highly sought after today that most wouldn’t dream of using in the same application: Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly.

The Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly was not the only dessert included on the menu; alongside it were chocolate and vanilla eclairs, French ice cream, and Waldorf pudding — but it was likely the most visually arresting. Thought to be stacked high into an architectural mold, the jelly likely served as an eye-grabbing dessert and means to dazzle wealthy clientele.

Unlike the flavored gelatin packets that dominate the market today, the gelatin included in this dessert would have been entirely unflavored, instead getting its flavor and signature green coloring from the inclusion of green Chartreuse. To complement the bitter herbaceousness, chefs on the Titanic filled the jelly with cubes of peach that had been boiled in sugar syrup. The dish was rumored to take over three hours to complete.

Credit: Downton Abbey Cooks

While we might be quick to turn our noses up at gelatin-based desserts (or gelatin-based dishes in general) today, before products like Jell-O were widely available, this style of presentation was reserved for the wealthy. As gelatin is produced by extracting collagen from animal bones, the process to obtain it pre-mass production required money and time — two things most people did not have an abundance of in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The trend is thought to have originated with French chef Marie-Antoine Carême, who cooked for many of the 19th century’s most prolific figures, including Napoleon Bonaparte, Russia’s Czar Alexander, and King George IV of England. A fixture of Carême’s menus was gelatin-based dishes, many of which doubled as the centerpiece of the dinner table before they were consumed for dessert. And as the upper class embraced jelly-based dishes, so too did the rest of the general public.

Today, gelatinous dishes have mostly fallen out of favor — likely thanks to the existence of things like the Apple Tuna Mold featuring lemon-lime Jell-O or the Tangy Cabbage Salad made with the brand’s celery-flavored gelatin. While we can’t say we’re in any rush to try either one of those, perhaps an herbal Chartreuse jelly would be compelling.

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