"DINNER IS SERVED."

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 200, 24 August 1929, Page 9 (Supplement)

"DINNER IS SERVED."

MEDIEVAL MEAL HOURS.

EATING HABITS AND

ETIQUETTE.

WHEN FINGERS WERE FORKS

From a Northumberland household book, dated 1512, we learn that a wellordered medieval family "rose at six breakfasted at seven, dined at ten, supped at four." Advancing the dinner hour from ten in the morning till nine in the evening means that the hour for the principal meal of the day has in four centuries progressed around almost the entire face of the clock.

Procedure at table and manner of serving a "dinner has also undergone drastic change with the centuries. A French writer describing the function in 1350, says: "The principal guests are put at the head of the table, with the master of the house; none sit down until they have washed their hands. The daughters and the rest of the family are seated according to their social position. The salt cellars, the knives and spoons are then put on with the bread, and afterwards meats cooked in different ways are brought. Those who are at table talk to one another and try to amuse themselves in an agreeable manner. Then come the minstrels, with all their instruments, to delight the company. When the meal is finished, water is brought to wash the hand 3, the cloth is taken away, the table lowered, the grace is said, and thanks and compliments rendered to the host." Soup Without a Spoon. It will be noted that no mention is made of forks; these objects did not come into general use until a hundred years later. Spoons were used sparingly, the same one often serving half-a-dozen guests. There were no soup plates. The diner, if unable to borrow a spoon, drank from the tureen. A familiar article on the medieval board was the covered serving dish, but its purpose was radically different from that of to-day. In baronial times.peer and lord lived in constant fear of treachery on the part of retainers and even kindred. As a consequence all foodstuffs were covered in the kitchen to eliminate danger of poisoning on the way to the table. A feudal lord's retainers were nearly all delegated to some position connected with the culinary department of the establishment. One was privileged to preside over the dairy, others over the pantry or bread closet. Some- acted as carvers and cup bearers. After dinner the ladies retired to their "bower," a small room adjoining the dining jiall. The men remained to drink and to*talk of war and conquests. Sitting is to-day regarded as the natural position while eating, most of us being unacquainted with the fact that this posture is actually a comparatively recent development of civilisation. Fingers and Feasting. In early times, especially in warm climates, man reclined or lay prone on the ground during a repast, raising himself slightly as occasion demanded. The Egyptians, Assyrians and Persians are nowhere mentioned as having had chairs at the festive board. At grand banquets the Romans used couches. Guests supported themselves on their elbows while eating and dipped their fingers into dishes disposed in the centre of the table. As to finger eating, a noted French writer on etiquette says: "From the creation of the world to the seventeenth century, man ate with his fingers." The knife and spoon date back to prehistoric time, but the practice of giving individual utensils to each diner is a little more than two hundred and fifty years old. Montaigne found the custom prevalent in Switzerland in 1580, and remarked on it as a curiosity.