August 02

Queen Claude's Birthday

Maria Doyle Kennedy (left) as Queen Katherine of Aragon and Gabriella Wright (right) as Queen Claude in The Tudors

She was literally the queen of queens. After marrying Francis I, King of France, she became mother of King Henry II, King of France, of Elisabeth, Queen of Spain, Claude, Duchess of Lorraine, and Marguerite, the queen of Henry IV, King of France, and the grandmother of the last three kings of the Valois line.

Claude was obese and had scoliosis that gave her a small hunched back and a limp. After marrying Francis when she was sixteen, Claude produced a child each year until she died when she was only twenty-four. She was extremely pious and attended chapel daily. Her husband had many mistresses, but was relatively discreet.

Two of Claude's ladies-in-waiting were the English sisters Mary and Anne Boleyn. Mary became the king's mistress before returning home in about 1519. Anne Boleyn returned to England in 1521, where she eventually became the Queen Consort of Henry VIII.

Claude may be remembered by most for the Claudine plum (known as the greengage plum in the United States and the United Kingdom) which was named after her, although no one knows why. Some historians claim that she was excessively fond of them, others claim that she experimented in grafting this variety of plum. In Food, Waverly Root reports that the plum was named after her because it resembled the shape of her ass. According to Root, "The greengage is deeply cleft on one side from stem to blossom end, its shape suggesting the buttocks, with which the queen was amply endowed. The plum, in consequence was referred to as a Queen Claude."
So to celebrates Queen Claude's birthday, we suggest making Tarte aux Rienes-Claudes (Queen Claude's Tart) and watch the lovely Gabriella Wright play the plummy-assed obese, hunched-back queen in two 2007 episodes ("True Love" and "Simply Henry") of TV's The Tudors, not a prime example of type casting. We are surprised that Jennifer Lopez wasn't considered for her ass double.

Tarte aux Rienes-Claudes
(Queen Claude's Tart)

Special Equipment

9" tart pan with removable bottom

Ingredients

1 recipe pate sucrée *
2&1/2 lbs ripe greengage plums
2 TB water

*See Appendix A

4 TB sugar
1 cup Rose's Lime Marmalade

Instructions

Roll out dough to 1/8th thick circle to fit a 8" tart pan.
Preheat over to 350º F.
Wash, half, and pit plums. Combine plums, water, and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Stain liquid from plums and set plums aside. Mix liquid with marmalade. Place marmalade mixture in a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to thicken.
Brush the bottom of the pastry with some of the marmalade mixture. Place plums in tart in concentric circles cut side up, and pour remainder of syrup over top. Bake for 40 minutes.