[Sca-cooks] Swan recipes
JIMCHEVAL at aol.com
JIMCHEVAL at aol.com
Wed Jan 23 10:02:33 PST 2013
In fact it's worth noting that the whole idea of a fixed set of courses was
still very much in flux in this time. The Menagier de Paris includes over
20 menus and most follow no obvious shared sequence. It's mainly the
wedding menus - the grandest - which follow something like the soup, etc. courses
that became the Western standard.
The history of courses (which I believe Flandrin has done to some degree)
is interesting in itself. The Romans (at least at the highest levels) had a
fairly (if loosely) organized sequence (which they shorthanded as "from
eggs to apples"). There are still traces of this in the early Merovingian
period, along with clear indications then and in Charlemagne's time that SOME
idea of services existed. But exactly what we don't know, except that by the
time records become more extensive the sequence seems to have become
anarchic.
Bear in mind too that in France at the start of the fourteenth century, in
theory, at least, meals were supposed to be limited to two courses.
Some credit Ziryab, a fascinating figure in cultural history, with
inventing the sequence that became standard in Western cuisine. He lived in Spain
about 100 years after Charlemagne (and is also credited with establishing
the bases for flamenco and for seasons in fashion); if his ideas made it to
fourteenth century France, I would guess it was via the East.
But we should be cautious about saying any food was universally served in
any course at this time; there still seems to have been a lot of room for
leeway.
Jim Chevallier
www.chezjim.com
Newly translated from Pierre Jean-Baptiste Le Grand d'Aussy:
Eggs, Cheese and Butter in Old Regime France
In a message dated 1/23/2013 8:11:30 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
ranvaig at columbus.rr.com writes:
The progression of dishes is different too.
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