Sole Murat

Why this dish – which is basically sole meuniére with vegetables – should be called sole Murat is one of those little mysteries that makes the terminology of the French professional kitchen: (a) endearing, (b) insufferably pretentious.

Murat was for a time Napoleon’s favourite general. A small man, he was famous for going into battle armed with a whip with which he used to flog the retreating foot soldiers from his superior position on horseback. Perhaps he celebrated