Thomas Jefferson's Chef

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Aram Bakshian Jr, A Touch of Sage at Monticello; Thomas Jefferson returned from Paris with exotic ingredients, novel recipes and an expert chef.  Wall Street Journal, Sept 15, 2012.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 44520599568272.html
(book review on Thomas Craughwell, Thomas Jefferson's Crème Brûlée; How a founding father and his slave James Hemings introduced French cuisine to America. Quirk, 2012)

Note:
(a) Crème Brûlée
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cr%C3%A8me_Br%C3%BBl%C3%A9e
(b) Grand Tour
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Tour
(c) Monticello
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monticello
(near Charlottesville, Virginia;  Its name comes from the Italian "little mountain")
(d) For prince de Condé, see Princes of Condé
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princes_of_Cond%C3%A9
(The Most Serene House of Condé (named after Condé-en-Brie, now in the Aisne département); a branch of House of Bourbon; 1757-1830)
(e) Gouverneur Morris
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouverneur_Morris
(1752-1816; "Morris was also an author of large sections of the Constitution of the United States and one of its signers. He is widely credited as the author of the document's preamble")

(f) Menu: "capon stuffed with truffles, artichoke and chestnut purée, Virginia ham enhanced with a Calvados sauce, slow-roasted boeuf à la mode, a selection of macaroons and meringues"
(i) capon (n): "a castrated male chicken"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capon
(ii) For Virginia ham, see country ham
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_ham
("Country ham is a variety of cured ham, typically very salty, associated with the Southern United States. * * * Virginia ham is a country ham produced in Virginia")
(iii) Regrading Calvados sauce.
(A) Calvados
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvados
(a department in France)
(B) Calvados (brandy)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvados_(brandy)
(an apple brandy from Calvados)
(iv) boeuf à la mode
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeuf_%C3%A0_la_mode
(French for "beef in the style;" is a French version of what is known in the United States as pot roast)
(v) macaroon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaroon
(The English word "come from the Italian maccarone or maccherone. This word is itself derived from ammaccare, meaning crush or beat, used here in reference to the almond paste which is the principal ingredient")

* almond
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond
(native to the Middle East and South Asia)
(vi) meringue
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meringue