Lavish at Sea: RMS Campania First-Class Breakfast Menu, 10 September 1898 – Finnan Haddie, Porterhouse Steak & Victorian Variety

First Class Menu Card With a Liquor by the Drink List on the Reverse Side, Served on Board the RMS Campania of the Cunard Line Saturday, 10 September 1898. Breakfast Bill of Fare Featured Fried Plaice, Broiled Finnan Haddin, and Smoked Wiltshire Bacon. GGA Image ID # 154cce476c

🍽 Review & Summary – RMS Campania Breakfast (10 September 1898)

This First-Class breakfast aboard Cunard’s celebrated RMS Campania presents one of the most lavish and varied menus of the late 19th century. The bill of fare reads almost like a small restaurant’s offerings, with options ranging from light fruits and cereals to robust meat, fish, and egg dishes. A passenger could choose something as delicate as French plums or oatmeal porridge or as hearty as a Porterhouse steak or broiled chicken—all before noon.

The variety illustrates why Cunard’s liners were known for luxury: menus like this catered simultaneously to American palates, who leaned toward beef and eggs, and to British passengers, who favored smoked fish and oatcakes.

🍳 Featured Entrées of the Day

Broiled Finnan Haddie – A lightly smoked haddock, a Scottish specialty that was considered a refined breakfast choice at sea. Broiled and served warm, it was a signature shipboard dish.

Broiled Porterhouse Steak with Maitre d’Hôtel Butter – A surprisingly hearty morning entrée, reflecting American dining habits. The seasoned butter enriched the flavor, making this one of the more luxurious selections on the menu.

• French Plums
• Apples
• Oranges
• Watermelon
• Quaker Oats
• Oatmeal Porridge
• Boiled Hominy with Fresh Milk

Hot

• Fried Plaice
• Broiled Finnan Haddie
• Smoked Red Herrings (Smoked Herring)
• Broiled Salmon Steak
• Broiled Porterhouse Steak—Maitre d'Hotel Butter
• Broiled Rump Steak
• Broiled Mutton Chops
• Fried Cerealine Fritters (Corn Fritters)—Maple Syrup
• Grilled Cumberland Ham
• Smoked Wiltshire Bacon
• Fried Lamb's Frys (Lamb's Fry)—Tomato Sauce
• Broiled Chicken
• Vegetable Stew
• Poached Eggs on Toast
• Omelettes various to order (Omelette)
• Chipped Potatoes (Potato Chips)
• Mashed Potatoes
• Lyonnaise Potatoes
• Light Boiled Eggs (Soft Boiled Eggs)
• Hard Boiled Eggs
• Fried Eggs
• Turned Eggs (Eggs Over Easy, Eggs Over Medium, Eggs Over Hard)
• Scrambled Eggs on Toast

Cold

• Turkey (Cold Roast Turkey)
• Corned Round Beef (Corned Beef)
• Head Cheese
• Epicurean Ox Tongue
• Cumberland Ham
• Roast Beef
• Roast Mutton

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• Soda Scones
• Cottage Loaves (Cottage Loaf)
• White Rolls
• Graham Rolls
• Vienna Bread
• Scotch Oat Cake (Scottish Oatcakes)
• Griddle Cakes
• California Honey

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• Radishes
• Watercress
• Preserves
• Tea
• Coffee
• Cocoa (Hot Cocoa)

⭐ Special & Engaging Items

Fried Cerealine Fritters – Early corn-based fritters made from “Cerealine,” a corn grits product popular in the 1890s (produced by the Cerealine Manufacturing Co. of Indiana). Served with maple syrup, this was an early example of branded processed food at sea.

Fried Lamb’s Fry with Tomato Sauce – Lamb offal (usually liver, kidneys, or sweetbreads), fried and dressed with sauce. A dish more familiar to British than American diners, who might have found it unusual but intriguing.

Soda Scones & Scotch Oat Cakes – These nods to Scottish heritage added rustic comfort alongside finer rolls and Vienna bread.

California Honey – A luxury product at the time, marketed for its purity and sweetness, signaling the ship’s global provisioning.

📜 Unusual or Potentially Confusing Items for Americans (1898)

Finnan Haddie – Smoked haddock, common in Britain but unusual for Americans to see on a breakfast table.

Lamb’s Fry – Organ meats, unfamiliar to many Americans who expected bacon or steak but not offal.

Head Cheese – A cold cut made from the gelatinous parts of a pig’s head, served as a cold meat.

Epicurean Ox Tongue – Prepared tongue, delicately seasoned. Americans in 1898 may have known tongue but associated it more with deli-style sandwiches than fine dining.

Cerealine – A brand no longer in existence; similar to grits or coarse cornmeal, but promoted in its day as a healthful “new” cereal.

🥐 Variety & Balance

The Campania’s breakfast menu exemplifies abundance and flexibility:

Light Options – Fresh fruits, Quaker oats, porridge, and hominy.

Fish Specialties – Smoked herring, plaice, salmon steak, Finnan haddie.

Hearty Meats – Steaks, mutton chops, chicken, ham, lamb’s fry.

Eggs & Potatoes – Eggs in every style imaginable, paired with mashed, chipped, or Lyonnaise potatoes.

Breads & Cakes – From rustic soda scones to refined Vienna bread and griddle cakes.

Cold Buffet – A spread of turkey, beef, ham, tongue, and mutton for passengers preferring cold meats.

This range ensured passengers could tailor their breakfast to appetite, mood, or cultural preference.

💡 Engaging Detail

What makes this menu particularly engaging is its cross-section of culinary history: the inclusion of branded processed cereals like Quaker Oats and Cerealine alongside traditional items like Scotch oatcakes and Finnan haddie shows the intersection of modern industrial foods with old-world dining traditions. For historians and food enthusiasts, it’s a fascinating glimpse into how transatlantic liners became both preservers of tradition and promoters of new trends.

An Excellent Example of a Vintage February 1898 Wine List Menu Card From the Cunard Line Included Items Such as Liquor, Beverages, and Tobacco. Printed on the Reverse Side of This 1898 Menu Card. View the Wine List from February 1898.