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| The records preserved of the ancestor’s feats of the fork (and the finger) are woefully thin, but now and again one of these very human documents in the form of a menu is unearthed and tells its own story. |
Table Fetes of Some Famous Feeders of Bygone Days
A generation holding critical views on a man's intelligent, or unwise, choice of parents is not likely to indulge in ancestor worship. But there are at least one or two things in which our ancestors were truly greater than we of the present day can ever aspire to be. Take them, for instance, at table. If ancient books on table etiquette are to be taken seriously, and there is no reason why they should not be, the ancestor was in the habit of gnawing bones, a la chien, and of disposing of them by the simple means of throwing them under the table or over his shoulder.
He worked hard with his hands in the dishes, when a succulent but slippery morsel refused to come to him by means of knife and fork. He used his table napkin for unspeakable purposes and his fork in utter forgetfulness as comb or toothbrush. In one sense, therefore, he did not know how to eat. Meanwhile, in another, he was truly great for the quantities of food which he caused to disappear at a single meal were nothing short of' marvelous. The records preserved of the ancestor’s feats of the fork (and the finger) are woefully thin, but now and again one of these very human documents in the form of a menu is unearthed and tells its own story.
Such is the following list of dishes served in 1334 to a worthy citizen of Valencia on the occasion of his taking unto himself a wife. Across the space of close upon the six centuries the cranes and lampreys, the peacocks and boar’s head of the feast made fine display. This is the order in which the fourteenth century wedding breakfast was served:
MENU
Roast crane, venison, lamprey
Peacock, pheasant, guinea fowl, osprey, snipe, pike
Baked pomegranates, burnt almonds, vegetables,
Fish
Eel pie and toast
Galantine of sprats and cheese cakes.
Peacock, crane, pheasant
Crayfish, boar's head and savouries
Figs, medlars and wafers
WINES
Saint Jangon, Branne, Burgundy and Hock
The Italians also were famous feeders and seem to have distinguished themselves in particular during the early days of the Renaissance. The Bourbons valiantly followed suit, one of the most distinguished successes being scored by Louis XIV., of whom an eyewitness wrote: “I often saw him eat four plates of soup, a whole pheasant, a guinea fowl, a large dish of salad, several slices of mutton with garlic sauce, two large slices of ham, a dish of cake and dessert.” The threats of his physicians finally reduced his majesty to such meager fare as two plates of pigeon broth and three roast fowls.
According to Arenberg, the great King was later in life subject to attacks of indigestion. The little suppers in the reign of the next Louis, though on a slightly less gigantic scale, are still sufficiently impressive. The Marquise d’Artenay, for instance, put before her guests after they came from the theater and before they went on to a dance this collation:
Pigeon soup, with lentils and carrots
Chicken broth
Patties of fowl, veal, capon, pheasants, guinea fowl
Sweetbread and roast poulets
Baked starlings, wood pigeons, wild duck and snipe
Cakes
Sweets
Fruit
It seems a pity no record is preserved of what happened at the dance following this supper party. – San Luis Daily Telegram, 1907
🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia
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