{"id":33370,"date":"2019-06-23T11:46:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-23T09:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lhonoremagazine.com\/2019\/06\/23\/the-french-table-service-2-3\/"},"modified":"2022-11-26T14:22:19","modified_gmt":"2022-11-26T13:22:19","slug":"the-french-table-service-2-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lhonoremagazine.com\/en\/2019\/06\/23\/the-french-table-service-2-3\/","title":{"rendered":"The French table service (2\/3)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The gastronomic meal of the French, a figure of the intangible heritage of humanity, is the heritage of an ancestral and unknown know-how, which has been refined throughout history.<\/span><\/h3>\n\n

By Jean-Robert Pitte<\/span><\/h4>\n\n

(Continued)<\/p>\n\n

During the Empire, the sumptuous chef Antonin Car\u00eame not only codified new recipes, but also insisted on the presentation of the dishes, which were as important as the taste for him and his demanding clientele who wanted to look good (Talleyrand, Napoleon, the ambassadors stationed in Paris, all the princes of Europe who ordered from him on special occasions extraordinary<\/em>). Its p\u00e2t\u00e9s and desserts are shaped like Egyptian or Greek temples. It is the triumph of decorative haute cuisine.<\/p>\n\n

Even\nif Berchoux prescribes “Serve hot!”, the problem of service\nis that the multiplicity and complexity of the preparation of\ndishes forced to eat lukewarm, especially in palaces where the kitchens are\noften far from the salons or anterooms where one lunches, dines and eats.\nThe dining room will appear only in the course of the nineteenth century, at the same time\ntime as the new way of serving. The other disadvantage is the confusion\nof flavors – we mix a variety of dishes in our plate – which does not leave\nmemories of the meal and forbids any idea of a harmonious marriage with\nthe wines. Moreover, only one wine is served at the table, often clear, generally\ncut with water and, sometimes, with ice kept since winter in a cooler\nin the park. Sometimes, we serve with the dessert or after the meal\nsweet wines (sauternes, port, sherry, madeira, constantia from South Africa,\netc.) or brandies and liqueurs. Jos\u00e9phine had an ample supply of these\ncollection at Malmaison.<\/p>\n\n

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First\nchanges at the end of the Empire, probably because a new generation of\ngourmets was born: not only do they like good food, but they also like\nalso like to talk and write about it. Grimod de La Reyni\u00e8re, Berchoux\nor Brillat-Savarin illustrate this new art. <\/p>\n\n

Small\na new and much more subtle way of serving is being imposed, which carries the\nname of “Russian service”. In reality, it is a\nreformed “French service”, but its invention is attributed to the\nPrince Alexander Kurakin, ambassador of the tsar in Paris from 1808 to 1812. At\nduring a ball given at the Austrian Embassy by Prince Karl Philip von\nIn Schwarzenbeg, on July1<\/sup>, 1810, a fire broke out. In the\npanic, Kurakin is trampled and badly burned; the “prince\ndiamond”, as it is called, owes its life only to its heavy clothes\nrichly decorated. Convalescent for several months, he never stops receiving,\nbut imposes seated dinners and service at the dish which does not require to stretch the\narms or to move. As a result, the habit is formed of serving the dishes one after the other.\nin a carefully considered order from cold to hot,\nfrom fish to meat, from the less spicy to the more spicy, from salty to\nsweetness. Food and wine pairings are finally possible. <\/p>\n\n

The table setting benefits greatly from this revolution, as the tablecloths remain clean and the centerpiece can be occupied by a centerpiece or by flowers. Soup plates or flat plates, large or small, are changed with each course. The same goes for the cutlery, which can be placed in front of each guest, from the outside in, in the order of use, on either side of the first plate on which a folded napkin is placed. These are adapted to the dishes: large for meats with a sharp knife, smaller, specially shaped and without a knife edge for fish, even smaller for cheese and desserts, the latter being placed parallel to the edge of the table between the plate and the glasses. The knife is placed on the right, cutting towards the plate, the fork is placed on the left, according to the French custom, points towards the tablecloth, whereas in England, the points are in the air, as it is also the case in the United States and in certain families of Bordeaux of the quai des Chartrons or the cours Arnozan. <\/p>\n\n

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This is why when cutlery bears coats of arms or initials, they do not appear on the same side on either side of the Channel, with the exception of Scotland, which follows the French practice. This difference dates back to at least the 18th century, but its origin is still mysterious. Certainly, the downward points give a less aggressive impression than when they are arranged upward. Today’s restaurants are divided, but it is advisable to keep the more refined French usage. Several glasses of different sizes and shapes are placed on top of the plate to accommodate the different wines. Since that time, porcelain makers, goldsmiths and crystal workers have been competing with each other in their creativity to make prestigious tables shine with beauty and harmony. <\/p>\n\n

The\nThe “Russian service” requires dexterity on the part of the waiter and\nof the guest, because it is the latter who takes his share in the dish that\nis presented to his left, which is easier for the right-wing majority\nof humanity. Once the food is eaten, the plate is removed from the right side with\ncutlery that has been placed at an angle on the plate. This service is practiced\nstill at the \u00c9lys\u00e9e Palace, the Quai d’Orsay, in a few rare ministries and large\nembassies of France, as well as at the table of certain sovereigns and\nforeign presidents, including from the antipodes like the Emperor of Japan or the\nking of Thailand. Sometimes, if several meats are served, the knife\nremains at the table, placed on a knife rack, but this is not the most\nmore elegant. <\/p>\n\n

During the 19th century, all of Europe’s high society adopted this way of serving and organizing meals. This is not surprising insofar as since the beginning of the 18th century the courts and the great houses have been serving French cuisine, sometimes employing French chefs – as in the case of Frederick of Prussia, for example – and writing menus in French, the only language practiced by the European elite. Even the English high society follows this fashion, except in the arrangement of the forks, as we have seen, and in the way of presenting the dishes. The waiter takes a portion from the presentation plate and places it on the guest’s plate. He uses his right hand, gloved in white, to dexterously handle the cutlery: in flat tongs, with spoon and fork nested together, in round tongs, with the cutlery facing each other, and in shovels, with the cutlery positioned side by side. This “English-style” service is practiced with panache at the Ch\u00e2teau du Clos de Vougeot during the colorful chapters of the Confr\u00e9rie des Chevaliers du Tastevin during which more than 500 gourmets are gathered 17 times a year. It has the advantage of being faster than the French method, but does not allow the guest the freedom to serve himself according to his appetite.<\/p>\n\n

(to be continued…)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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