14 Foods And Drinks Marilyn Monroe Loved

Marilyn Monroe was a Hollywood icon and a talented actress who took an affinity to delicious food when she wasn't busy being in the limelight. Her appreciation for a good quality meal was no secret; the starlet's love affair with food is widely published, and fans lap up the intimate knowledge of what her favorites were. In addition to what she cooked for herself in the comforts of her own home, she also partook in fine meals with friends or afforded herself solo treats, according to her fancy.

So let us take a look at some of these meals, which we've gathered based on accounts of what she ate while dining out, as well as her own revelations about what she enjoyed chowing down. You may even be treated to a rare Monroe recipe — and you're not likely to be bored by her personal menu. Monroe's culinary preferences were as eclectic as her on-screen roles: She savored traditional American dishes like sundaes and chili yet also took delight in the sophistication of French cuisine. The star's passion for food provides a glimpse into the soul of a woman who, despite her fame, remained remarkably relatable.

How we start the day is important, which is why some people consider breakfast the most important meal of the day. Consume too little, and you'll be left hangry until lunchtime. Consume too much, and you might fall prey to lethargy, leading to an unproductive afternoon. In short, it's important to get this meal right according to your own personal needs. Maybe you just need a bowl of cereal with almond milk. Or a hearty omelet. Or maybe you need something outlandish to get the job done.

This was the case with Marilyn Monroe, who ate an unusual concoction of raw eggs and milk every morning. Indeed, as she told Pageant magazine, "I've been told that my eating habits are absolutely bizarre,"(via Into the Gloss). In her morning routine, she would heat up a cup of milk, "break two raw eggs into the milk, whip them up with a fork, and drink them" as she dressed. She complemented her breakfast with a multivitamin supplement.

Nowhere did she say that she loved this breakfast or even enjoyed it, but we do know that she considered it healthful and followed this recipe every day, so we can only hope that she didn't hate it!

Big Hollywood stars don't seem like the type to have the time or inclination to cook up a storm, especially if it involves a complicated recipe. Yet, not only did Marilyn Monroe cook her own stuffing, but she also used a pretty hands-on recipe involving 18 ingredients, four laborious steps, and at least two hours to prepare.

The recipe was found scrawled on an old notepad among her things and was heavy on protein, as it calls for beef, eggs, and chicken or turkey liver or hearts — not your typical stuffing elements. But perhaps what makes this recipe stand out the most is the use of sourdough bread, which must be soaked in water for 15 minutes before being shredded. Alternatively, you can soak it in broth or stock for a stronger flavor, but remember that if you plan on using this recipe as actual stuffing, any renderings from the bird you stick it into will permeate the ingredients. In other words, if you're going to try this recipe, it's probably complicated enough as it is, and there's no reason to fix what ain't broke.

A little-known fact is that many Italians eat warm cereal for breakfast at home when no one is looking. Sure, they like to talk up the espresso and croissant or biscuit breakfast, but they're not going to pass on heating up some milk and pouring it over their cornflakes, making them nice and soggy. Perhaps this is where Marilyn Monroe got her idea for one of her favorite breakfasts — perhaps not. Either way, we know from a pair of cookbooks that once belonged to her, containing handwritten notes, recipes, and other clues to what she ate, that warm cereal was something she would sometimes have for breakfast.

Without getting our hands on the volumes, it's hard to know which specific cereals she consumed that way. While warm oatmeal wouldn't so much as raise an eyebrow from most people, it is likely that the meal in question was something less conventional.

While raw eggs and milk might not be the first thing one thinks of in connection to the glitz and glamour that was Marilyn Monroe, Champagne is another story. She favored Dom Pérignon or Piper-Heidsiek, which she claimed she would drink as soon as she woke up in the morning. Not only that, but she famously took a bath, at least once, in the contents of 350 bottles of Champagne instead of using water. Her love for this drink was so renowned, even in her day, that it inspired her namesake cocktail, which uses Champagne as a base.

The Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York can lay claim to this delicious invention, which also combined apple brandy and grenadine — its red color, of course, meant to evoke the bright red lipstick the actress often wore. To make it yourself, just combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker along with ice, shake thoroughly, and pour into a Champagne flute.

As beef bourguignon was one of the recipes found in Marilyn Monroe's old cookbooks, it's not too much of a stretch to say that she probably liked this dish, which is not simple to prepare.

Beef bourguignon, or boeuf bourguignon as it's more commonly known, requires nearly 20 ingredients and almost three hours of cooking, during which time you will have to be hard at work. Only after a series of browning and braising steps have been completed, and the main ingredients have been carefully cooked under very specific conditions, can you rest a little, while the meat softens and the sauce thickens. In other words, it seems like Monroe was no slouch when it came to cooking, and we can only hope that she enjoyed some of that red wine that goes in the dish as a reward for her hard work. A dinner party at her house would have been a memorable affair.

It's no secret that Marilyn Monroe loved Champagne, but perhaps she knew that when one has too much of a good thing, of that same good, one will soon be bereft — to paraphrase William Shakespeare. Enter rum and Coke, which she reportedly drank only while alone, and notably at the Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel, where she sometimes stayed while filming.

While there is no shortage of rum and cokes in bars across the country, most of these are just comprised of cheap rum poured into a glass of Coke or Pepsi from the soda fountain. A more elevated version can be prepared by following our rum and cola recipe, which calls for a good rum, namely Bacardi Facundo Neo, cola syrup, fernet, Orinoco bitters, Champagne, and a lemon twist. Given the inclusion of Champagne, Monroe might just have made this her new favorite drink.

Romanoff's restaurant in Beverly Hills, which opened in 1939, was the place for Hollywood celebrities for many years. One of those stars was Marilyn Monroe, who was partial to the restaurant's chocolate soufflé. We may never know whether she liked chocolate soufflés in general or just the one from Romanoff's, which has now sadly closed, taking its chocolate soufflé recipe with it.

But in the spirit of emulating her food preferences, we have a great chocolate soufflé recipe with orange sauce that is not to be missed. This recipe by legendary chef Jacques Pépin is simple — as far as soufflés go — and delivers its best results when made with good quality bittersweet chocolate, which pairs beautifully with an orange topping made with orange juice, zest, and sugar. Incidentally, it also pairs beautifully with Champagne, so maybe Marilyn really would have liked this recipe.