A Grand Atlantic Breakfast – RMS Berengaria First-Class Menu, 18 July 1929

An Expansive Vintage Breakfast Menu From Thursday, 18 July 1929 on Board the RMS Berengaria of the Cunard Line Featured Grilled Spanish Mackerel—Fines Herbes, Omelettes, Hashed Turkey — Creole Style and American and Wiltshire Smoked and Pale Bacon. | GGA Image ID # 154c750d06

🍽 Review & Summary – RMS Berengaria Breakfast (18 July 1929)

By 1929, Cunard’s RMS Berengaria was still one of the grand dames of the North Atlantic, and this breakfast menu shows exactly why. The offerings reveal the abundance expected of First-Class dining, with a spread that ranged from fresh fruits and cereals to grilled fish, meats, omelettes, and an almost endless selection of breads and preserves. The passenger had the freedom to enjoy either a light and modern breakfast of fruit juice and cereal or indulge in a full British-style grill with bacon, sausage, and hash.

This was less a breakfast than a culinary statement: Cunard could match or surpass the grand hotels of Europe and New York, right in mid-Atlantic.

🍳 Featured Entrées of the Day

Two items stand out as the morning’s likely specialties:

Grilled Spanish Mackerel—Fines Herbes: A refined preparation with delicate French herb seasoning. Mackerel is naturally rich, and the “fines herbes” (a mix of parsley, chervil, tarragon, and chives) elevated it into something suitable for the luxury dining room.

Hashed Turkey—Creole Style: An unusual and enticing choice, especially for breakfast. This dish, cooked with peppers, onions, and a tomato-based sauce, added an American Southern flair to the otherwise Anglo-French menu. It must have been the conversation piece of the day.

Fruits

• Grape Fruit
• Cantaloup
• Bananas
• Apples
• Cherries
• Oranges
• Tangerines
• Fresh Peaches
• Honey Dew
• Melon
• Plums
• Baked Apples with Cream
• Compote of Prunes
• California Figs in Syrup
• Orange Juice
• Sauerkraut Juice
• Tomato Juice

Cereals

• Oatmeal Porridge—Cream of Wheat—Fresh Milk
• Force Whole Wheat (Flakes)
• Puffed Rice
• Breakfast Bran
• Post Toasties
• Corn Flakes
• Post's Bran Flakes
• Grape Nuts
• Shredded Wheat
• Bonny Boy Oats
• Fleischmann's Yeast Cakes

Fish

• Grilled Spanish Mackerel—Fines Herbes
• Fried Whiting Pickled Lingflsh—Egg Sauce
• Findon Haddie

Eggs and Omelettes

• Eggs Fried, Turned and Boiled
• Poached Eggs on Toast
• Omelettes Various
• Scrambled Eggs, Plain and Ecarlate
• Eggs en Cocotte à la Creme

Entrees

• Hashed Turkey—Creole
• Corned Beef Hash Cake
• Sauté of Kidneys—Chasseur

Grill

• American and Wiltshire Smoked and Pale Bacon
• Cumberland Ham
• Deerfoot Farm and Cambridge Sausage
• Hamburg Steak, Fried Onions
• Devilled Chicken's Legs
• Potatoes—Mashed, French Fried, Steamed
• Bubble and Squeak

Cold Meats Assorted

• Spring Onions
• Watercress
• Radishes
• Cucumber
• Tomatoes

Cakes

• Griddle and Buckwheat Cakes—Maple Syrup
• Waffles

Various Breads

• White and Graham Rolls
• Toast
• Hovis Bread
• French Toast
• Cottage Loaves
• Vienna Bread
• Pulled Bread
• Toasted Muffins
• Scotch Oat Cake
• Corn Bread
• Currant Buns
• Sally Lunns
• Sultana Scones
• Swedish Bread
• Triscuit
• Parkerhouse Rolls
• Soda Scones
• French Crescents
• Cinnamon Rolls
• Energen Rolls

-:-:- -:-:-

• Preserves—Gooseberry
• Strawberry
• Raspberry
• Plum
• Black Currant
• Damson
• Greengage
• Apricot
• Marmalade
• Honey
• Guava Jelly

-:-:- -:-:-

• Tea—Ceylon, China and Blended.
• Coffee—American and French
• Instant Postum
• Kaffee Hag
• Chocolate Cocoa
• Horlick's Malted Milk
• Buttermilk

⭐ Special & Engaging Items

Bubble and Squeak – A traditional English dish of fried potatoes and cabbage, usually made with leftovers. Its inclusion shows Cunard’s nod to homely comfort.

Devilled Chicken’s Legs – Spiced, roasted chicken drumsticks with a piquant seasoning.

Scrambled Eggs, Ecarlate – “Ecarlate” translates as “scarlet,” likely indicating the eggs were scrambled with tomato purée or garnished with paprika for color.

Sauerkraut Juice – Offered alongside tomato and orange juice, this was marketed in the 1920s as a health tonic for digestion.

Fleischmann’s Yeast Cakes – Served as a “health supplement,” as yeast was then promoted for its vitamin content. Not commonly eaten on their own, these might be dissolved in milk or spread thinly on bread.

Energen Rolls – A brand of easily digestible “health rolls” enriched with wheat germ and malt, popular among those following modern nutrition fads of the 1920s.

📜 Unusual or Potentially Confusing Items

To an American of the 1920s, some names might have required explanation:

Force Cereal – A now-defunct wheat flake cereal once promoted with the mascot “Sunny Jim.”

Findon Haddie – Cold-smoked haddock, a Scottish breakfast staple, but perhaps heavy for American palates.

Eggs en Cocotte à la Crème – Eggs baked in small dishes with cream, a French classic unfamiliar outside fine hotels.

Deerfoot Farm Sausage – A luxury American sausage brand from Massachusetts, considered among the best at the time but now long gone.

Sally Lunns – A light, sweet, spongy bun of English origin, often toasted and buttered.

Triscuit – Still available today, but then a novel Nabisco cracker marketed as a modern health bread substitute.

🥐 Variety & Balance

The menu offered balance across categories:

Fruits & Juices – Ranging from melon and peaches to the surprising inclusion of sauerkraut juice.

Cereals – A mix of hot porridges and branded cold cereals, showing the American influence at sea.

Fish & Meats – Rich seafood, smoked bacon, and sausages for those who wanted a hearty start.

Eggs & Omelettes – From simple fried eggs to elaborate cocottes.

Breads & Cakes – An extraordinary 18 varieties, from currant buns to Parkerhouse rolls.

Preserves – A rainbow of fruit spreads, from gooseberry to guava jelly, ensuring variety at the table.

Beverages – From coffee and tea to health drinks like Postum, Kaffee Hag (decaf), and Horlick’s malted milk.

This balance meant no two passengers needed to eat alike—the health-conscious, the gourmand, and the traditionalist were all catered for.

💡 Engaging Detail

Perhaps the most engaging detail is the collision of tradition and modernity: Bubble and Squeak beside Sauerkraut Juice; Sally Lunns beside Triscuits; Creole Turkey beside Cumberland Ham. The menu speaks to an era when ocean liners weren’t just transport—they were cultural crossroads.

Carte du Jour Menu Items (Fruits, Cereals, Fish, Eggs and Omelettes, Entrees) from the Vintage Breakfast Menu From Thursday, 18 July 1929 on Board the RMS Berengaria of the Cunard Line. GGA Image ID # 156eb2db31

Additional Menu Items (Grill, Cold Meats, Cakes, Breads, Jams and Jellies, Beverages) from the Vintage Breakfast Menu From Thursday, 18 July 1929 on Board the RMS Berengaria of the Cunard Line. GGA Image ID # 156ee73a3e

Interesting Fact: By the turn of the century, the big German liners were giving Cunard a lot of competition, and Cunard responded with three giant ocean greyhounds, the Lusitania and Mauretania in 1907, and the even larger Aquitania in 1914. -- Cruise Travel, Vol. 12, No. 1, July 1990, Page 20.