The famous Jacques-Louis David painting of Napoleon crossing the Alps on his way to Marengo		The revisionist (and more realistic)  painting of the same journey by Paul Delaroche

The story of how Napoleon's chef concocted Chicken Marengo from a scrawny chicken, a few crayfish, eggs, tomatoes,  onions, and some cognac from Napoleon's flask is purely apocryphal. No one really knows what Napoleon ate on the evening of the battle at the Villa de Marengo, a farming estate about seventy miles northwest of Genoa. It's just as likely that Chicken Marengo was named after Napoleon's behavior during the battle, than for the battle itself.

Napoleon baited the Austrian forces occupying northern Italy in attacking the depleted French troops outside Genoa. The battle plan involved a surprise attack on the Austrians by the new ragtag Army of the Reserve which Napoleon led over the Swiss Alps. After he successfully crossed the Alps, Napoleon made a serious tactical error. Erroneously assuming that the Austrian troops were retreating, he sent half of his army under the leadership of his commander, Desaiz, to Genoa to cut off the assumed retreat. However, oj the morning on June 14, 1800, the Austrians attacked and overwhelmed the inadequate French forces. Napoleon, taken by surprise, sent a panicked message to Desaix; "Return in the name of God if you still can."

By late afternoon Napoleon's exhausted troops were demoralized and nearly out of ammunition. But at about five o'clock in the afternoon, Desaiz returned with his forces. He found Napoleon nearly paralyzed with fear and took over the entire command. The revitalized army under Desaiz's command crushed the Austrians who thought that the battle was technically over and were waiting for Napoleon to surrender. The Austrians fell back into Alessandria, having lost about 9,500 killed, wounded, or captured. The French casualties were considerably less, but included Desaix, who was killed. The French victory  was responsible for  the Austrian's evacuation of  much of Italy.

The probable truth behind the Chicken Marengo legend was that Napoleon's chef had to cook a chicken dish with tomatoes which were not a popular ingredient in French cooking. Napoleon reportedly liked the dish and (after winning the battle) considered it lucky. When he returned to Paris and fabricated the details of how his superior leadership was responsible for victory, his chef probably added his embellishments to the Chicken Marengo story by adding the crayfish and eggs cooked in olive oil that usually accompany the dish, just to dress the dish up. The story swept though Paris and various versions of Chicken Marengo were the new trendy dish all over the city.

Here is a recipe for what was probably the chicken dish that Napoleon ate on the evening of the battle.

Chicken Marengo

Ingredients
Breasts, legs and thighs from 2 chickens 1 tsp salt freshly ground pepper to taste 1/2 tsp dried basil 1/2 cup olive oil 4 cloves garlic, minced bouquet garni *	1/2  cup white glace de viande 1/2 cup dry white wine 1/2 cup cognac or other brandy 6 medium tomatoes, quartered 1 lb mushrooms, cleaned and halved chopped parsley
Instructions
Salt and pepper chicken. Sauté chicken in oil over medium heat about 10 minutes on each side. Add the garlic, basil, glace de viande, wine, brandy, and tomatoes. Cover pan and cook over low heat for about 35 minutes. After the chicken has cooked for 20 minutes, add mushrooms and stir. Cook for the remaining 35 minutes. Serve on a hot platter and sprinkle with parsley.

Serves 4
*See Appendix A