May 29

Anniversary of Joséphine de Beauharnais's Death
 

She was born Marie Josèphe Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie on the French Caribbean island of Martinique. When Joséphine was thirteen she went with her friend Aimee to Elena, the local fortuneteller  Elena read their palms and told Aimee that she would be a queen, but told Joséphine that she would be more than a queen.

When Joséphine was fifteen, she married a handsome young officer, Alexandre du Beauharnais, by whom she had her two children. a son, Eugène and a daughter, Hortense who married Napoléon's brother Louis Bonaparte in 1802. Both Alexander and Joséphine indulged in several extramarital affairs and were eventually confined at the Carmelite prison during the Reign of Terror. Alexandre was beheaded on July 23, five days before Robespierre was overthrown. This ended the Reign of Terror and allowed the release of the prisoners in the Carmelite jail.

After her release, Joséphine was broke and met the challenge of raising her children and maintaining a home by taking a succession of generous lovers. When Napoléon met her, he was twenty-six and she was thirty-two. She was small, olive-skinned, starting to show her age, and had discolored teeth which she hid by her Mona Lisa smile. She was also shallow, vain, easily bored, and a reckless spendthrift, eventually borrowing enormous sums from Napoléon's generals and taking a commission of suppliers to the French Army.

Joséphine married Napoléon out of desperation. She was getting old and she couldn't count on paying the rent with her sexual charms much longer. Napoléon, however, fell madly in love with her and put up with her extraordinary indifference, infidelity, and outrageous debts for many years. However, when Napoléon became First Counsel and then Emperor, Joséphine began to return his love, although her love was more for her Napoléon's position than for the man himself. Her inability to give Napoléon an heir eventually resulted their divorce and his marriage to Marie Louise of Austria. When Joséphine died in 1814, she was buried not far from Malmaison, at the St. Pierre and St. Paul church in Rueil.

Joséphine has been portrayed in several  films and television productions. Among the most memorable performances are those by Michèle Morgan in Napoléon (1955),  Hedy Lamarr in The Loves of Three Queens (1954), and Merle Oberon in Désirée (1954).

There are several dishes created in honor of Joséphine when she was Empress. Riz a l'imperatrice (French for "rice as the empress likes it), the most extravagant form of rice pudding, was created and named after the extravagant Joséphine. l'imperatrice in French culinary terminology means Empress, and generally refers to dishes created for Marie Louise or Empress Eugenie. However, Riz a l'imperatrice is the exception.
 

Riz a l'Imperatrice
(The Empress' Rice Pudding)
 

1. Put candied fruit and Grand Marnier in a bowl to soak for at least 30 minutes.
2. Pour 1/2 cup cream and 1/4 cup of sugar in the top of a double boiler. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and half and half begins to simmer. Do not let cream boil.
3. Add rice, cover and cook until all cream is absorbed. Add 1/4 cup of remaining cream to rice mixture and cooking until rice has absorbed half and half.  Keep repeating procedure until rice becomes mushy. Be careful not to let rice scorch. Remove rice and gently press in a sieve to remove excess liquid. Set aside.
4. Pour 1-1/2 cups of cream in a pan and place over medium heat. Cook cream for 5 - 6 minutes or until it begins to simmer. Do not let it boil.
5. Pour half and half  in a slow stream into egg yolks whisking constantly. Pour custard mixture back in saucepan and and dissolved gelatin. Cook over low heat for 6 - 8 minutes until a soft custard is formed. Do not let custard boil. Remove from heat. Allow to cool to room temperature than place in refrigerator for 1/2 hour (or place custard in a bowl over ice and stir constantly until chilled and thickened).
6. Fold in rice, vanilla, and drained candied fruit. Refrigerate.
7. Whip whipping cream in an ice-cold bowl until it forms soft peaks. Fold into custard. Ladle custard into a 6-cup mold. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 6 - 8 hours. Dip mold for a few seconds in warm water and loosen sides with a knife. Remove to a serving dish and decorate with strawberries.