Italianate Style Dining

“… meals had been served in what was called the Italianate style, which had been brought to the French court by Catherine de'Medici. In this style, apparently revived from the Roman Empire, all food was prepared, then placed helter-skelter on the table. There might be separate “services” or “plates,” but since each service might include fish, fowl, game, fruits, and sweets, there was little point in keeping them apart.” — Public domain engraving of Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, in his Physiology of Taste, published in 1825, had introduced a new “ordinance of the table,” which he is said to have devised during his exile in the United States during the last years of the 18th century. Prior to the introduction of his new theory, meals had been served in what was called the Italianate style, which had been brought to the French court by Catherine de'Medici. In this style, apparently revived from the Roman Empire, all food was prepared, then placed helter-skelter on the table. There might be separate “services” or “plates,” but since each service might include fish, fowl, game, fruits, and sweets, there was little point in keeping them apart.

Under Savarin's system, which has now become so common that few people realize how original it was at the time of its introduction, the old “services” became “courses,” each consisting of only one fundamental food, and these were arranged in a logical order. The logic was Savarin's; if anyone questioned why fish should come before meat, or a stew before a roast it was because Savarin said that was the way it should be -and Savarin was confident of his own taste. He stressed the necessity of having the wines complement the food, and taught that every meal should be a festive occasion with gay, cheerful conversation and a well-chosen group. The new scheme was adopted to a limited extent throughout Europe during the ensuing years; it made its appearance in the United States about mid-century, but was not generally accepted until after the War between the States.

At least one silverware manufacturer paid his debt to Savarin by naming a tableware pattern after him; there seems to be no record of the dedication of one of the numerous books on decorum and etiquette to the French master, but that was surely merely an oversight on the part of the authors and publishers for whom a whole new field had opened.— From “American Silver Flatware 1837-1910,” by Noel Turner, 1972

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