Dining on The Orient Express

Really hungry passenger on the Orient Express: "I'd kill for some dinner right about now!" Agatha Christie: 👀

The luxury of travel may have been the Orient Express, but the luxury of YouTube is Tasting History with Max Miller.

As young child, I rode the Orient Express from Istanbul to Paris with my father and little brother. I think it was in 1968 or 1969. This was a multiple day journey.Unbeknownst to my father, the dining car was uncoupled somewhere in Turkey. We had NO dining car for the rest of the trip! As a result, my father would hop off the train, try to exchange money in whatever country we were in and buy a sandwich, or whatever he could get, and run, with us screaming encouragement, to hop on as the train was starting to pull away from the platform. He did it multiple times. Go daddy! We also were lucky enough to have other passengers share food with us. Still, it was a hungry trip.

I travelled on the Orient Express, though not in its heyday, unfortunately. My mother took me and my three brothers from London to Istanbul, to visit my father. We were only in second class, but I do remember that the food was appropriate for the location - some lovely waiters taught my brothers (aged 5 to 9) to twirl spaghetti in Italy. And I partiularly recall the dining car used in Yugoslavia - it was a beautiful period piece with a polished brass plaque stating that it was made in Swindon in 1912.

One of the funniest stories from the Orient Express is the story of Paul Deschanel one time President of France. It happened on June 23, 1920. Somehow he fell out of the train and escaped injury. He was found by a night watchman who assumed him to be drunk or a lunatic. When asked who he was, Deschanel truthfully said he was the president of France. The watchman’s reply is recorded as “Oh yeah, and I’m the Emperor Napoleon.”

It was max, in the food cart, with poisoned potatoes. Clue trained me

I love the idea of the menu constantly changing based on which country you are currently in. That was a stroke of genius. It allowed the passengers to to be culinary tourists without getting off the train.

For the curious, there's a set of "Behind the Bastards" podcast episodes dedicated to King Leopold II, and to call him one of history's greatest monsters is almost an understatement.

Max has mentioned Escoffier so many times by now that I recognize the man by sight and can guess when he will appear.

You know the food was good because nobody died

I just recently lost my job. Been a chef and culinary teacher since 1997. Yes, it sucks:-) But then I re-discovered the gorgeous Max and all his unbelievable food-history knowledge, culinary skills and just all-round charm and love! Thanks so much again, Max!! HUGE respect and love from Denmark!!

It's a bucket list item to ride the restored Orient Express, which runs once a year and takes about five days. You are assigned a butler, have to dress formally for dinner, etc. But the cost! Last I checked it was around $7,000.

Ferdinand I of Bulgaria was actually a huge train nerd and it is often said that he personally steered the orient express through Bulgaria despite never possessing a proper lincence. It is also said that often times the passengers, not knowing who was steering the train, complained because of the abrupt breaking maneuvers He was also the first monarch to ever fly in a plane which is also quite cool i think

I'm glad Max chose this menu instead of dish's best served cold revenge.

The idea of lemon butter with lamb chops is genius. A perfect compliment to the richness of the meat. A typical Escoffier move, I think. Nice one Max! 🌟👍

My grandfather put himself through college in the late 1930s as a train-board chef. He loved cooking the rest of his life thanks to it, and often spoke of how difficult but fun train cooking was - and how small the kitchen space was! This was a really nice reminder of him, so thank you from my sentimental self. Also, someday I would LOVE to take a first-class trip on the Orient Express!

Max: The company really relied on… Me: Don’t say it, don’t say it! Max: Escoffier’s recipes. Me: The mad man, he has done it again.

Duchess potato tips! Use the ricer before the strainer. You don't have to choose one or the other and it will make your life easier w/o sacrificing potato silkiness. Pat your potato mixture into buttered food-safe molds and turn them out onto your baking tray. They will be prettier, the portions will be consistent, most shapes will prevent burning while promoting even cooking, yadda yadda.

Max: I am going to be classy and eat the potatoes with a fork. Also Max: Eats lamb cutlet like a caveman.

My parents traveled on the Orient Express back in the early 90's, I believe. They started in Paris and ended in Istanbul. It was one of the highlights of their lives together. Before my mother retired from dancing, she specialized in Middle Eastern dance and performed on the train in one of the cars for all of the absolutely flabbergasted passengers. It was an evening to be remembered forever.