Titanic's culinary legacy: First-class dinner menu fetches £83,000 in auction

The auction of the first-class Titanic dinner menu made waves as it fetched an impressive £83,000 (approximately Rs 84.5 lakh), as reported by The Guardian.

This menu marked the final luxurious dinner for elite passengers just three days before the ill-fated vessel encountered tragedy. Dated April 11, 1912, it presented a delectable array of gourmet dishes including oysters, salmon, beef, squab, duck, and chicken. Sides featured potatoes, rice, and parsnip puree, with a standout dessert, Victoria pudding, a decadent boiled treat made with flour, eggs, jam, brandy, apples, cherries, peel, sugar, and spices, served with apricots and French ice cream.

This water-stained artefact, adorned with the emblematic White Star Line logo, offers a captivating glimpse into the culinary experience just after the Titanic left Queenstown, Ireland, bound for New York. Auctioned by Henry Aldridge & Son of Wiltshire, the menu was part of a collection that included other Titanic relics, such as a tartan deck blanket.

The menu's origin is as fascinating as its contents, discovered within a 1960s photo album owned by Len Stephenson, a local historian from Dominion, Nova Scotia. Andrew Aldridge, the auction house manager, deems it one of the few surviving menus from that fateful evening. "I can't find another one anywhere," he expressed to The Guardian after consulting museums and Titanic collectors globally.

While Titanic memorabilia auctions often feature diverse items, from wreckage salvages to survivors' possessions, the sale of this distinguished dinner menu, likely kept as a memento, holds a special place. Ethical concerns raised by Harry Bennett, an associate professor of maritime history at the University of Plymouth, revolve around items believed to be retrieved from victims. He advocates for these artefacts to find a home in museums, ensuring appropriate contextualization away from private profit, as discussed with the New York Times.