An Interview with Alisa Kazka

Meet Alisa Kazka. Alisa is a Blue Ribbon Award Winner from our Second Annual International Place Setting Competition. Alisa is shown sitting at her Regency Era place setting.

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Alisa Kazka is an etiquette consultant and a table setting specialist from Ukraine. Alisa writes, lectures and provides etiquette training. She told us that she is currently living in Kyiv, because her hometown is not safe. Alisa wrote, “The love for this topic appeared in my childhood and I gradually studied and got acquainted with etiquette and art of table setting. I really love the beauty and cosiness in the house, so I apply the knowledge that I share with my students to my home. I love beautiful porcelain and use it every day in serving.” 

Congratulations, Alisa!

Alisa’s choice of table elements was surprising, until we learned of her circumstances. Alisa was living away from her home and her country, due to the war in Ukraine. She could only use what was on-hand where she was temporarily living.   

           What an inviting menu for an Italian with a love for Italian foods! This is a table I’d love to sit at for dinner. We would have loved to have seen a menu more in line with foods that one generally thinks of during the Regency Era, but I’m certain that a soup, vegetables with pasta, fish with white wine, and ices, etc… were likely served on fine tables of the era.

              

1. How did you choose the menu and various elements you used in your setting and why? Please explain each of the utensils in your setting… For which of the foods on your menu (or course) was each different item intended? 

1) My table setting consists primarily of knowledge and love for porcelain, history, etiquette, and beauty. The menu is made up of favorite dishes of the Italian kitchen, which I am a fan of.

You may notice that cutlery is not from the same collection and modern production. Unfortunately, due to the war in Ukraine, I am far from home, my favorite dishes and serving items were left at home, so I didn’t have to choose dishes and cutlery. But, it was very important for me to take part in this competition, to represent my country and myself as a professional, so I took what was in my temporary home and fit the beautiful Regency Era theme.

I wanted to create an airy, romantic table setting that would capture the spirit of the era - Royal Albert porcelain did a great job of emphasizing this, and antique-style glasses from a nearby store helped to set the necessary accent.

2. Why did you choose this particular period in time to set your table?

2) Regency Era is my favorite, it's an inspiring time with a unique style and exquisite porcelain, the spirit of that era, dresses and balls, good manners, and incredibly beautiful table setting. When I saw the proposed list, I didn’t doubt for a second what to choose! I really wanted to show this in my table setting.

3. How, if at all, did Covid-related social restrictions affect your choice of setting? Were you ready to celebrate? Feeling in the mood to do something different? Etc… 

3) Covid did not affect the choice of conditions. And if my family were nearby, I would gladly celebrate with them. But, due to the events in Ukraine, I was forced to leave the house, so I will celebrate with my relatives via video call.

4. Have you always enjoyed a properly set table? Or, if not, was the table setting something you learned to enjoy through your social life and/or business later on in life? 

4) I have loved tableware since childhood. It has always been important for me that the table should be beautiful: a white tablecloth, porcelain, and beautiful tea pairs for breakfast.

I often helped my grandmother to decorate the table, and arrange cutlery. Like many years ago, I still love the perfect table, beautifully served food, English porcelain, and French faience, always flowers and appropriate decor. In such an atmosphere, communication with family becomes special.

5. Did you do any research on table setting etiquette before setting your elements at the table? 

5) Yes, sure! I professionally study the subject of etiquette and table setting. Before participating in the International Place Setting Competition, I also re-read Maura Graber's articles about the Regency Era and was inspired by films about this era.

 6. Do you plan on entering again next year?

6) Yes, with great pleasure! I was very happy to take part in the International Place Setting Competition, it gave me inspiration and the push to move on! I want to thank Elizabeth Soos and Maura J. Graber for the opportunity to participate and show my knowledge, experience, and love for table setting, to be inspired and filled with strength to go forward!

Elizabeth Soos and I would both like to congratulate Alisa on her award winning setting. We are honored that she entered our contest and love meeting others who are so willing to share their talents, enthusiasm for etiquette, and their wealth of knowledge. Congratulations!

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

An Interview with Natalya Listishenkova

Meet Natalya Listishenkova, shown with her granddaughter Milana, a teacher in Chelyabinsk, Ural Federal District, Russia. Natalya is a Blue Ribbon Award Winner from our Second Annual International Place Setting Competition. Natalya is shown sitting at her Regency era place setting.

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Natalya wrote that pre-Covid, she often, (about once every two months), “hosted house parties in various styles” for her Women's Club guests. She wrote that this was her hobby. We think this is a great hobby to have!

The harmonious colors and elements which Natalya carefully chose for her setting, show the research Natalya was able to do on the era. That research included a book she read on the life of the British Politician and Statesman, Benjamin Disraeli.

Natalya’s menu is an inviting mix of dishes she found from the period. The Raspberry Tart and Crème Nouveau sound especially tasty.

The mixed metals were a great choice for the Regency era. This was a time in which the Prince Regent had a lot of gilt tableware on display at the palace. According to the Royal Collection Trust, “The Grand Service is the magnificent silver-gilt dining service commissioned by George IV (1762–1830) when Prince of Wales. It is made up of over 4,000 pieces for dining and display in a vast range of styles. Among them are elaborate dessert stands, candelabra and ice pails, as well as simpler items like trays and egg cups.”

1. How did you choose the menu and various elements you used in your setting and why? Please explain each of the utensils in your setting… For which of the foods on your menu (or course) was each different item intended?

1. Since in the competition was the condition to set the table for at least five different dishes, I settled on the following:

1. The first hot dish is chicken broth with celery (after cooking the celery, it is removed along with the chicken), the broth remains clear-and can be eaten with a broth spoon or drunk from a broth cup, holding the handles. The bouillon cup is visible in the picture.
2. Next on the menu is a soft-boiled egg and bread toast. (I was specifically interested in whether eggs were served for dinner inEngland. It turned out that they were). For soft-boiled egg, an egg-stand is provided on the table, an egg spoon and a small plate for the shell.
3. Further on the menu, after the broth, Strasbourg pie is presented(a bread plate is intended for it on the top left). Since often theStrasbourg pie is a meat pate, a pate knife is intended for it, which also lies on a bread plate;
4. Before the main hot dish, a warm salad of green beans in a creamy sauce is served. A salad fork and knife are intended for it(they are slightly smaller in size than a table fork and knife), as well as an upper shallow plate;
5. The main hot dish – roast beef with mustard sauce and a side dish of mashed potatoes and spinach stewed in butter. For it, a lower, shallow plate and a dinner fork and knife are intended (fully gilded), as well as an individual gravy boat for mustard sauce and a set for spices( salt and pepper)
6. After the break, guests move on to desserts. For desserts a spoon-scoop (for Creme Nouveau) and a fork for raspberry tart are intended. Desserts are brought after the used dishes are removed from the table;
7. For drinks there is a large crystal glass on a stem (Mineral water), a glass for red wine (it is located in the middle) and a glass-bowl for Sussex sparkling wine, which is served with dessert;
8. Besides of these elements in a personal cover has a linen napkin with a ring, a cover card and a menu on a stand. 
9. …a s well as a personal compliment for the guest – a small boutonnière of garden flowers from the hosts of the reception. 

2. Why did you choose this particular period in time to set your table?

2. When I carefully read the conditions of the competition, I studied all the eras, the recipes corresponding to these eras, the elements of table setting, I also watched several films, the Regency Era seemed closest to me in terms of aesthetics. I carefully studied the dishes and cutlery that were produced by manufactories indifferent eras, compared with what I have at home in the cupboard. I had to buy a few things from an antique shop, so you could say that the owner of the shop shared the excitement of the competition with me. So I bought dinner plates, a plate for bread, a part of knives, forks and spoons decorated with oak leaves in this store, as well as an individual gravy bowl and a device for salt and pepper.

I did a little historical research and found in the book of old English cuisine a reception menu dating back to the Regency Era (1811-1830), I also found in the Internet several examples of menus in the French, Polish and Russian aristocratic environment of that time I also love to cook, I am interested in cooking from different countries and eras. I really like the Regency era for a large number of balls and parties, for combining different cuisines, for an abundance of beautiful dishes. This is the era of carelessness and lightness

3. How, if at all, did Covid-related social restrictions affect your choice of setting? Were you ready to celebrate? Feeling in the mood to do something different? Etc… 

3.Before Covid, as I mentioned, we got together very often with family and friends at my home and I set the table for 12 people. Then there was a period of apathy, when there was no desire for parties at all. And now we are going as a family again. And I'm planning to have a Christmas party for my friends at home. Most likely, I will even cook dishes from this menu for them. And I'll tell you about participation and victory in your competition

4. Have you always enjoyed a properly set table? Or, if not, was the table setting something you learned to enjoy through your social life and/or business later on in life? 

4. Oh! For as long as I can remember, mom and dad have always set the table beautifully, prepared delicious dishes and decorated them beautifully. There was a white tablecloth and linen napkins, a complete set of cutlery and crockery. So you could say I grew up with good table manners.

5. Did you do any research on table setting etiquette before setting your elements at the table? 

5. Of course, I had to consider various patterns of dishes and cutlery in order to get as faithfully as possible to the Regency Era style. Floral motifs on plates and cutlery handles, romanticism and tenderness in decorative elements, English solidity and French elegance - this is how I imagine this table. Just by chance, while reading the biography of Benjamin Disraeli, I found a mention that glasses with a wide bowl for sparkling vine were only in vogue then. And I chose this one.

 6. Do you plan on entering again next year? 

6. I would like very much to enter the competition next year.

Elizabeth Soos and I would both like to congratulate Natalya on her award winning setting. We are honored that she entered our contest and love meeting others who are so willing to share their talents, enthusiasm for etiquette, and their wealth of knowledge. Congratulations!

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

Etiquette and Traveling with Utensils

What Have We Here? — A Regency Era, mother of pearl handled, folding pocket or travel fork, by Aaron Hatfield, in 1818 — Until the early part of the eighteenth century, a gentleman who traveled carried a knife and fork of his own, as the inns were not likely to have them.  

The earliest forks made were for the most part of iron and steel, with a few in silver owned by families of great wealth. Until the early part of the eighteenth century, a gentleman who traveled carried a knife and fork of his own, as the inns were not likely to have them. Visitors to England were continually criticizing the lack of forks, as they thought the English custom most unsanitary. — From “The Book of Old Silver,” by Seymour B. Wyler, 1970

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

Georgian and Regency Era Dining

Amy Willcock was the Best in Show winner for the Professional category in the 2nd Annual Etiquipedia International Place Setting Competition with this spectacular Georgian Era place setting. Amy is an author who contributes to several publications and has authored several books. The following post is an extract from a book she wrote for English Heritage.

The Customs and Culture from the Georgian Era to the Regency Era: An Age of Elegance,        from 1714-1837, with Four Georges and a William (IV), by Amy Willcott

While we can see that so far people were entertaining from Eve taking the apple to up to this moment, the Georgians seemed to take dining to another level.

The middle and professional classes were growing and the aristocracy and gentry were still enjoying the high life but for the majority of the population little advance in their standard of living. Bread and wheat, still a staple went through ups and downs due to wheat prices falling because of a number of bad seasons. Spiced buns and fruit breads were still popular and muffins so popular in the North moved South and were eaten with lots of butter. Butter was extensively eaten from very early times but you could also say that butter, cream and nutmeg were major features of Georgian cookery. Fashionable families built Ice houses and ice was (Edwardians brought it over from America) taken off the estate ponds. It was used for preserving and the making of elaborate Ices- ice cream. 

The English were well known throughout the continent for being massive meat eaters and the enclosure of land and the new game laws made poaching an offence with a death penalty attached to it if caught; making Game highly prized and only legally available through a land owner. Rabbit was still able to be eaten by the ordinary people but hare was not. Jugged Hare was a favourite dish in the 18th century. Fish eating habits changed. Gone were the compulsory “fish days” of the church. Salmon and trout was plentiful but salmon still reigning as the king of fish and was expensive. Towards the end of the Georgian period ice houses were being built along the salmon rivers in Scotland so that Londoners and other towns could enjoy fresh iced packed salmon. One dish that I am glad has not survived is turtle soup. Green turtles would be kept alive in fresh water tanks on ships from the West Indies. 

The skills of the Head Gardeners and the wealth of their employers were shown off in the fruits and vegetables they served in and out of season. The masses still ate greens, roots and potatoes regularly. While the upper classes and the aristocracy were eating asparagus, cucumbers and melons. Pineapples now a little more accessible were the great show off – If you wanted to stick it to your neighbour you grew and served pineapples. Greenhouses were built so that pineapples, grapes, melons, nectarines and peaches could be grown by the great estates. 

Dairies were also a great source of pride so much so that one Gentleman in his 70’s courted a fine Dairy maid and eventually married the dairy maid. Dairy Maids were well known for their beautiful complexions and soft skin. (The reason was down to cox pox – the dariy maids became immune hence the first vaccines) Cream was eaten in abundance and cheese was so popular that cheese mongers ran their own fleet of ships to distribute the cheeses from Liverpool to London. Stilton was named after a village near Peterborough. The landlord of the Bell Inn at Stilton was supplied by his sister in law, a farmer’s wife who made a variety of cheese now known as Stilton although back then it was eaten with a spoon so that you didn’t miss the maggots! Cheese was, for the fashionable set the end of the meal with it being eaten in pieces or in savoury dishes such as Welsh Rabbit. 

Because of the political troubles with France, wines and brandies were not being brought into the country legally and were very expensive, (a lot of smuggling was going on) so wines from Portugal and Spain were drunk instead. The government encouraged the production of home-made wines and brandies to combat the lack of and price of imports. Gin was cheap and widely available. Also known as Geneva, from the French genievre-juniper- that it was estimated that over 9,000 children died in 1751 after being given gin to keep them quiet. 

As well as the rise in spirit drinking Tea was taking the nation by storm and so to was the rise in sugar consumption. The introduction of treacle, a by-product of sugar was used for sweetening cakes and biscuits. Coffee and chocolate while remaining expensive were gaining momentum. Bell calling systems in houses appeared around 1760’s. Georgian kitchens were moved to a separate part of the house and in some cases a whole other wing. The risk of fire was quite high. Cooking ranges became more sophisticated and kitchen equipment and eating utensils changed. 

Eating times changed from mid-day to 3pm around 1780’s but by the early 1800’s it was 7pm. Dining rooms were now fitted out with side boards, wine coolers, knife boxes. The Family plate was shown off -The Georgians were all about showing off the new dining rooms and furniture to great effect. Up until the early part of the 19th century, the furniture was arranged around the room leaving the centre of the room open. By the end of the century, it was fashionable to leave the table and chairs ready for dining. 

Soon into the 1780’s people, especially in the country, started changing for dinner. It was considered important for dinner guests to wash and change into their finery and eating etiquette was moving in fast. By this time the usual seating arrangements of women at one end of the table and men at the other had made way to the “promiscuous” seating arrangements of boy girl boy girl…or should I say gentleman lady gentleman lady! Precedence was hugely important and had to be given great thought.

Huge white table cloths down to the floor were used not only for covering the table but in place of napkins. Although thankfully napkins, which were indeed used earlier, came back into fashion especially in sophisticated house with French habits.

Table decorations were very important to the Georgians. Silver candlesticks, fruit bowls and other silver was laid down the centre of the table and the food was arranged around it then later sugar was molded and shaped into bucolic scenes or seascapes and were placed on mirrors. In some houses porcelain figures adorned the tables. 

Forks were by now three pronged and knives round bladed. Fish was eaten with two forks. It is worth noting that forks were placed face down to avoid lace cuffs catching the tines. Food and Fashion once again intermingling. Glass was still very expensive and “rinsers” were common so one could rinse the same glass before starting a different wine. Porcelain and bone china were being pioneered by the likes of Spode, Worcester and Wedgwood (names still around today) and Chinese porcelain although highly desirable and expensive was making way for English porcelain. 

Food was all brought to the table at the same time, with soup served in large tureens followed by fish then meat. That is why we see so many large silver covers as decoration scattered around dining rooms now. Kitchens today are much closer to the dining room and courses come out one at a time. Dessert was the grand finale to dinner and was a whole course on its own. The table would be deconstructed, cloths removed and everything changed. Fresh napkins, glass dishes and water bowls for rinsing, dipping and freshening of the fingers and mouth – quite disgusting really! 

The dessert was taken to extreme lengths with lots of the confectionery and sweet meats being bought from continental confectioners. Glass tazza’s were piled high and on top of one another in diminishing order and were covered with candied fruits, dried fruits, flowers and sweet meats. All of it shimmering and sparkling against fantastically polished wooden tables. Port, Madeira, claret or sherry would be served. And passed round the table – there are many stories about how and why port is passed to the left - in my research none of them have been conclusive but the one I like the best is a Naval tradition. The Port passes to Port. Port of course being on the left.

The ladies would then withdraw and the men would then and “speak freely” around the dining table. — By Amy Willcock, 2022

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

Royal Dining Etiquette History

When meals began to be served à la Russe, every guest was served with the same menu. The table should have been less cluttered, but flowers, lighting, decorations and expanded place settings with new items - such as fish knives and forks - soon filled the gaps.

Traditionally… even the grandest of banquets had been laid out on the table so that the guests could help themselves. Over the course of the eighteenth century, the layout had become an art form in its own right. It necessitated at least two tablecloths, both of which were laid on the table at the beginning of the meal. The cook would have planned how the dishes were to be displayed, balancing foods of different types with their colour and form both to achieve an attractive table layout and to offer each guest a variety of dishes. 

Of course, not everything by any means would be within reach of each guest. The options were for the guest to ask for a dish to be passed or to content him or herself with the dishes to hand. At a royal dinner, inhibitions were certainly greater than in a less formal situation. yet the variety of food on one's plate depended on cultivating a rapport with one's fellow diner, otherwise the meal might be very frugal indeed.

As one course ended, the dishes were removed and replaced by those for the next course. Until about the end of George IV's reign, sweet dishes were still included in the first and second courses. Large joints of meat would be carved at a sideboard and brought to the table. After the first two courses the top tablecloth was removed and the dessert, arranged with artistry, served on the clean cloth. Sculptures in sugar and ice fitted perfectly into this mode of service, known as service à la française, and fruit was often displayed in a silver epergne or in pierced and patterned silver bowls or trays.

One can immediately see the advantages and pitfalls of such a manner of serving. In its favour, the food is seen as being plentiful and beautifully presented; in theory guests can help themselves to whatever and however much they want; and it encourages conversation among guests. But there is little room on the table for anything but food; you may very much want a dish but not have access to it; and since all the food for each course has to be served at the same time, hot dishes are likely to be eaten lukewarm.

From the mid-nineteenth century, service à la russe was gradually adopted in large establishments, including the court, and it is still in general use today. – From “At the King’s Table,” by Susanne Groom

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