[Sca-cooks] 1926: an Ecuadorian medieval meal

[JIMCHEVAL at aol.com]

Interesting find. In fact this account says it was to HONOR the Minister of 
 Ecuador, whereas Andrieu (Fine Bouche) says the idea was "conceived by" 
the  latter.
 
This entertaining French account reproduces a description of the event in  
pseudo-medieval French, but without saying who requested it:

http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7513000t/f3.item.r=1926%20Taillevent.z
oom
 
 
"Just historical inaccuracy based on someone's misunderstanding of medieval 
 French culture."
 
If so, it is a misunderstanding shared by Terence Scully. who says in  
several places that lap-runners (or longieres) were used to wipe one's fingers,  
even suggesting one anticipate this use in creating one's own medieval  
feast.
 

https://books.google.com/books?id=7HSgVfQszCkC&pg=PA313&dq=inauthor:scully+t
ablecloth&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiwqNnu98DKAhUQ22MKHV6rDgkQ6AEINjAB#v=onepage
&q&f=false
 
"It was quite correct to use this cloth to wipe one's fingers or mouth as  
the meal progressed."
https://books.google.com/books?id=i5h7_HXPHvwC&pg=PA40&dq=inauthor:scully+me
dieval&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjOi7ir-MDKAhUB3WMKHUloAicQ6AEIJDAB#v=onepage&q&
f=false


And again, the English were still doing this in the eighteenth century, so  
it's not far-fetched to imagine it being done earlier.
 
 
Jim  Chevallier

Contributor, Savoring Gotham
A Food  Lover's Companion to New York City
Editor-in-chief: Andrew F. Smith  and Foreword by Garrett Oliver
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/savoring-gotham-9780199397020?cc=us&
lang=en


In a message dated 1/23/2016 1:55:13 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
t.d.decker at att.net writes:

Also,  the feast was not organized by Ecuador's minister to France, but by 
a  
Peruvian Marquis to honor the minister's arrival in Paris.

The  event was off enough interest to be reported in the Chicago Tribune  
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1926/10/05/page/2/article/twenty-milliona
ires-stage-medieval-banquet-in-paris