There is a Portuguese dish, carne de porco com ameijoas (pork and clams) that served the same purpose. However, since Muslims could eat neither pork nor shellfish, it was a double whammy. :-)
I find myself reaching for an Italian name... Catherine de' Medici & all of the intrigue that swirled around her & her family.
Catherine de Medici was Queen of France, ruled as Regent for he second son, Charles IX, and continued to dominate him even after he reached his majority. She played a balance of power game between the Huguenots and the Roman Catholics led by the house of Guise.
As I recall, the Pope once asked his Papal Ambassador to France what Catherine's true beliefs were, Catholic or Protestant. The Ambassador replied, "Your Holiness, the Queen does not believe in God."
Didn't assassinations & brokered deals have a lot to do with France finally settling down to be a Roman Catholic nation?
When the Protestant Henry of Navarre was foiled in his attempt to capture Paris by force of arms by Spanish intervention in 1590, he decided to renounce Protestantism and convert to Catholicism. He was then accepted and crowned as King Henry IV of France in 1594.
His comment was, "Paris vaut bien une messe (Paris was worth a Mass)."
"Your Holiness, the Queen does not believe in God."
ROTFL From some of the stuff I've read, dare I say he could have just said, "Your Holiness, the Queen is a de' Medici."?
Okay, ducking for cover, cuz I'm pretty sure that might not be taken too kindly by some around here.