RIDGWAY—They shared a passion for culinary greatness, but Montrose Chef Inge Cheatham differs in one very important way from the chef who served the last first-class meal aboard the ill-fated Titanic.

It would take more than an ice berg to sink the irrepressible Cheatham, who will recreate that luxurious but doomed repast through a Weehawken Creative Arts class in Ridgway on April 12.

Although there were numerous courses to the original meal, Cheatham has narrowed things down to a more simple, but sumptuous presentation. She will not only cook the dinner — which consists of creamed barley-wheat soup, Chicken Lyonaisse with hazelnut mousse stuffing, potato roesti and asparagus followed by strawberries marinated in Grand Marnier and Kirsch and served layered with Chantilly cream — but will teach proper table settings and correct use of utensils as well.

“I have done it a time or two,” Cheatham said. “There are people that do a sort of Titanic remembrance and memorial quite often, all over the place. I had gotten a book years ago from someone, and it told about the Titanic — the type of ship it was, the weight and all that.”

The famed vessel was the first ever to include refrigeration, she noted.
“So of course they carried fresh fruit, which was quite amazing for that time of year,” Cheatham said. “The book listed the different things that they ate, from first class to steerage.”

Because steerage was the “cheapest of the cheap,” occupants probably had to make do with limited choices, Cheatham said.

“They probably had stew, stale bread, maybe a baked potato,” she said. “But first class had 18 courses.”

The meal that Cheatham will prepare for local culinary arts aficionados was selected with an eye toward what is available here — and what locals will enjoy, she said.

“You have to have the genuine ingredient,” she said. “They fished these recipes out of the water! But some things were really extraordinary, and you would never get anybody in Montrose to eat it.”

Over the years, Cheatham has prepared the meal for numerous students, with interesting results.

“The first time I did it was because it was an April cooking class, and the titanic sank on April 15,” she recalled. “I think I had 18 to 20 people. When they sat down to eat, it became a very emotional thing. That surprised me — some were in almost tears, some did that little cough before talking. I think they realized this was the actual soup those people ate — it was totally recreated, every little morsel of herbs and spices, exactly like this.”

Cheatham, who was born in Germany, has always had a soft heart for travelers.

Her career path has included a stint as a nanny in a castle outside Munich at the age of 15, as well as work in customer service, as a paralegal, bailiff, and head chef at a popular resort. She has called Montrose home since her car broke down while she was passing through the region more than 20 years ago.

Today, Cheatham pursues her love of cooking — she was originally trained at Le Cordon Bleu in France — as a private chef.

Weehawken Creative Arts, the Ouray County organization that is putting on Cheatham’s class, has been phenomenally successful since its inception, according to Director Susie Opdahl.

Like Cheatham, it now has something of an international flair.

“Our success rate has been 84 percent this year,” Opdahl said. “We have offered 79 classes since last July, and 67 of them have filled. We have had over 1,600 students since we started in June of 2004. We have always students from outside the county, but now we are starting to get them from outside the country. We have got some coming from Scotland, and one from Tasmania.

“We are totally pleased!”

The biggest Weehawken draw tends to be the children’s dance program, which has 80 students enrolled. Fine and culinary arts are also popular, however.

“The nice part about offering classes in different areas is that there is always something that is going to be of interest to a student,” Opdahl said, adding that Weehawken Creative Arts has just begun to search for an executive director.

For Cheatham, the chance to share her eclectic interests and passion for exquisite cuisine with others is, as always, a delight. And while the meal is authentic, she admits to making one small change — from a dessert of fresh fruit, which holds little novelty for today’s sophisticated palettes, to Strawberries Romanoff.

“It is named for another great disaster,” she said happily. “I said, okay, we’ll do that one!”

To learn more about Weehawken classes, visit the web site at www.weehawkenarts.org or call Opdahl at 325-4005. Cheatham, whose web site is gourmetdujour.com, can be reached at 249-0630.