Gilded Age Menu Etiquette

“Escargots” sounds more palatable than “snails,” oui? – For well over a century and a half, the etiquette has been that formal dinner menu cards in the United States are to be written in French. This rule remains in many etiquette books today, although White House State Dinners, under the Clinton Administration, dropped the French menu terminology in the 1990’s and began listing the foods in English.

 French Food Names

It is unfortunate that a prejudice exists against the high-sounding names given to some delicious dishes of a simple character. Naturally, Americans would prefer to see all titles written in the English language, but the fact that a French name has been applied for convenience should not deter people from reading a receipt and ascertaining the nature of the dish to be made by following it. Most of the formidable titles with which one meets, have been given to commemorate the inventors of the dishes or some popular place. An example is “Fillet of beef à la Chateaubriand,” which stands for tenderloin steak, served with a rich, brown sauce – an excellent dish. 

One of the most delicious sauces for fish, Bechamel sauce, is probably not nearly so well known as it would be, but for its French name; yet it is simple and exceedingly useful. As said above, then, a foreign name should be no bar to experiments, for the English equivalent or interpretation might be absurdly long and complicated, and the dish would be none the simpler. 

Speaking of sauce brings to mind the old saying, that “the sauce makes the pudding.” It may be added that it makes the fish and meat, also. Fish always requires a sauce to bring out its best flavor; nevertheless, the art of making sauces is not extensively cultivated. It should be, in company with the making of soups and salads and good bread, the cooking of fish, meats and vegetables, and last, though certainly not least, the making of a cup of perfect tea or coffee.— Good Housekeeping, 1885

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia