A 100-Course Meal (Beg Pardon?!?)
Have you ever wondered what that means exactly? It may sound obvious, but you may be surprised.
The idea is based on what is known as the "full course dinner". That's a meal that consists of multiple dishes, known as courses.
So far, so good.
But there are two forms of this kind of meal. The first is where all the different dishes are served at once; this is known as service a la francaise. Banquets in ancient times were like this. At the beginning of a meal the servants paraded around the tables showing off all the (often exotic) dishes. Then when the signal was given to start eating, they would go around to each table and present their dishes to the guests, who could then take a sample. Enterprising guests could sample everything offered, or just concentrate on certain favorites, but it was all available at the same time.
The second form is when each dish is served and consumed one at a time in sequence; this is known as service a la russe. We think we're familiar with that in the modern world. After all, we'll eat our salad first, then our entree, and finally our dessert.
But if, say, you have soup, a steak, a baked potato, broccoli, and chocolate cake, how many courses is that?
If you said three...nope, sorry, it's five.
Remember, a course is an individual dish. An entree of steak, potato, and veggie is not a single dish but three dishes combined together.
So while we may think we tend to eat sequentially, in actual practice we don't (this is known as "family style"), at least not as we would in a formal dinner, and often we don't eat the soup or salad separate from the entree either. If we did eat supper like it was a real formal dinner, it would go more like this:
First we'd eat the soup (first course);
then we'd eat the potato (second course);
next we'd eat the steak (third course);
after that we'd eat the veggie (fourth course);
and finally we'd eat the cake (fifth course).
Though we wouldn't have to eat everything of each course before being served the next, technically we wouldn't be served the next until we were finished with the previous.
See how that works? Each dish is literally eaten one at a time, with the sequence of courses determined before the meal.
Of course, generally a full course dinner is a kind of formal dining, which explains why it's served and eaten this way. The courses are carefully planned to complement each other gastronomically. They generally have smaller portions, and they are spread out over a long evening, up to three, four or five hours. In particular settings, these dinners follow conventions of menu planning that have been established over many years, even centuries. Each course (except for the lighter ones) is usually paired with a different wine, liqueur, or other spirit; each is likely to have its own dishes and silverware. The entire setup can be quite elaborate.
Technically, there is no limit to the number of courses served, though 10 or 12 is the usual limit. Here, for example, is a sample dinner served to the first-class passengers on board RMS Titanic:
1st Course -- Hors D'Oeuvres or Oysters
2nd Course -- Consomme Olga or Cream of Barley soup
3rd Course -- Poached Salmon with Mousseline Sauce, Cucumbers
4th Course -- Filet Mignons Lili or Saute of Chicken, Lyonnaise
5th Course -- Lamb, Roast Duckling, or Sirloin of Beef
6th Course -- Chateau Potatoes, Boiled New Potatoes, Green Peas, Creamed Carrots, or Boiled Rice
7th Course -- Punch Romaine
8th Course -- Roast Squab on Cress
9th Course -- Cold Asparagus Vinaigrette
10th Course -- Pate de Foie Gras or Celery
11th Course -- Waldorf Pudding, Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly, Chocolate & Vanilla Eclairs, or French Ice Cream
And here is an example of a 16-course meal:
1st Course -- Oysters or clams on a half shell. Alternatively, fruit or caviar may be served
2nd Course -- Soup (each guest may choose between clear or thick)
3rd Course -- Radishes, celery, olives and almonds
4th Course -- Fish, with potatoes and cucumbers with oil & vinegar
5th Course -- Sweetbreads or mushrooms
6th Course -- A roast
7th Course -- A green vegetable
8th Course -- Frozen Roman punch (an alcoholic fruit punch thickened with egg whites)
9th Course -- Salad
10th Course -- Game
11th Course -- Artichokes, asparagus or spinach inside a shell of pastry
12th Course -- Creamed sweet (e.g. a heavy pudding)
13th Course -- Frozen sweet (e.g. a sorbet or ice cream)
14th Course -- Cheeses with biscuits and butter
15th Course -- Crystallized and stuffed dried fruits served with bonbons
16th Course -- Coffee, liqueurs, cognac, and sparkling water (at this time cigars may be smoked)
It should be noted that it isn't strictly necessary to serve each course individually. Some naturally go together, like a meat and veggie, or foul and salad. These courses could be combined to help speed things up.
However, for the ultimate in fine dining, there is the 21-course dinner:
1st Course -- Amuse; a single bite-sized hors d'oeuvres meant to stimulate the appetite
2nd Course -- Second amuse
3rd Course -- Caviar
4th Course -- Cold appetizer
5th Course -- Thick soup
6th Course -- Thin soup
7th Course -- Shellfish
8th Course -- Antipasto; a plate of smoked salmon, smoked chicken, roast beef, pate, cabana sausage, brie-style cheese, cheddar-style goats milk cheese, Jensen's red washed rind cheese, olives, tapenade, rocket pesto, and tomato chutney
9th Course -- Pasta (short)
10th Course -- Sorbet; a frozen dessert made from sweetened water flavored with fruit (typically juice or puree), wine, and/or liqueur, used to cleanse the palate
11th Course -- Quail
12th Course -- Wild mushrooms
13th Course -- Beef
14th Course -- Green salad
15th Course -- Puffed pastry filled with herbed mousse
16th Course -- Cheese
17th Course -- Pudding
18th Course -- Ice cream
19th Course -- Nuts
20th Course -- Petit four
21st Course -- Coffee and liquor
Makes your mouth water, doesn't it!
The idea is based on what is known as the "full course dinner". That's a meal that consists of multiple dishes, known as courses.
So far, so good.
But there are two forms of this kind of meal. The first is where all the different dishes are served at once; this is known as service a la francaise. Banquets in ancient times were like this. At the beginning of a meal the servants paraded around the tables showing off all the (often exotic) dishes. Then when the signal was given to start eating, they would go around to each table and present their dishes to the guests, who could then take a sample. Enterprising guests could sample everything offered, or just concentrate on certain favorites, but it was all available at the same time.
The second form is when each dish is served and consumed one at a time in sequence; this is known as service a la russe. We think we're familiar with that in the modern world. After all, we'll eat our salad first, then our entree, and finally our dessert.
But if, say, you have soup, a steak, a baked potato, broccoli, and chocolate cake, how many courses is that?
If you said three...nope, sorry, it's five.
Remember, a course is an individual dish. An entree of steak, potato, and veggie is not a single dish but three dishes combined together.
So while we may think we tend to eat sequentially, in actual practice we don't (this is known as "family style"), at least not as we would in a formal dinner, and often we don't eat the soup or salad separate from the entree either. If we did eat supper like it was a real formal dinner, it would go more like this:
First we'd eat the soup (first course);
then we'd eat the potato (second course);
next we'd eat the steak (third course);
after that we'd eat the veggie (fourth course);
and finally we'd eat the cake (fifth course).
Though we wouldn't have to eat everything of each course before being served the next, technically we wouldn't be served the next until we were finished with the previous.
See how that works? Each dish is literally eaten one at a time, with the sequence of courses determined before the meal.
Of course, generally a full course dinner is a kind of formal dining, which explains why it's served and eaten this way. The courses are carefully planned to complement each other gastronomically. They generally have smaller portions, and they are spread out over a long evening, up to three, four or five hours. In particular settings, these dinners follow conventions of menu planning that have been established over many years, even centuries. Each course (except for the lighter ones) is usually paired with a different wine, liqueur, or other spirit; each is likely to have its own dishes and silverware. The entire setup can be quite elaborate.
Technically, there is no limit to the number of courses served, though 10 or 12 is the usual limit. Here, for example, is a sample dinner served to the first-class passengers on board RMS Titanic:
1st Course -- Hors D'Oeuvres or Oysters
2nd Course -- Consomme Olga or Cream of Barley soup
3rd Course -- Poached Salmon with Mousseline Sauce, Cucumbers
4th Course -- Filet Mignons Lili or Saute of Chicken, Lyonnaise
5th Course -- Lamb, Roast Duckling, or Sirloin of Beef
6th Course -- Chateau Potatoes, Boiled New Potatoes, Green Peas, Creamed Carrots, or Boiled Rice
7th Course -- Punch Romaine
8th Course -- Roast Squab on Cress
9th Course -- Cold Asparagus Vinaigrette
10th Course -- Pate de Foie Gras or Celery
11th Course -- Waldorf Pudding, Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly, Chocolate & Vanilla Eclairs, or French Ice Cream
And here is an example of a 16-course meal:
1st Course -- Oysters or clams on a half shell. Alternatively, fruit or caviar may be served
2nd Course -- Soup (each guest may choose between clear or thick)
3rd Course -- Radishes, celery, olives and almonds
4th Course -- Fish, with potatoes and cucumbers with oil & vinegar
5th Course -- Sweetbreads or mushrooms
6th Course -- A roast
7th Course -- A green vegetable
8th Course -- Frozen Roman punch (an alcoholic fruit punch thickened with egg whites)
9th Course -- Salad
10th Course -- Game
11th Course -- Artichokes, asparagus or spinach inside a shell of pastry
12th Course -- Creamed sweet (e.g. a heavy pudding)
13th Course -- Frozen sweet (e.g. a sorbet or ice cream)
14th Course -- Cheeses with biscuits and butter
15th Course -- Crystallized and stuffed dried fruits served with bonbons
16th Course -- Coffee, liqueurs, cognac, and sparkling water (at this time cigars may be smoked)
It should be noted that it isn't strictly necessary to serve each course individually. Some naturally go together, like a meat and veggie, or foul and salad. These courses could be combined to help speed things up.
However, for the ultimate in fine dining, there is the 21-course dinner:
1st Course -- Amuse; a single bite-sized hors d'oeuvres meant to stimulate the appetite
2nd Course -- Second amuse
3rd Course -- Caviar
4th Course -- Cold appetizer
5th Course -- Thick soup
6th Course -- Thin soup
7th Course -- Shellfish
8th Course -- Antipasto; a plate of smoked salmon, smoked chicken, roast beef, pate, cabana sausage, brie-style cheese, cheddar-style goats milk cheese, Jensen's red washed rind cheese, olives, tapenade, rocket pesto, and tomato chutney
9th Course -- Pasta (short)
10th Course -- Sorbet; a frozen dessert made from sweetened water flavored with fruit (typically juice or puree), wine, and/or liqueur, used to cleanse the palate
11th Course -- Quail
12th Course -- Wild mushrooms
13th Course -- Beef
14th Course -- Green salad
15th Course -- Puffed pastry filled with herbed mousse
16th Course -- Cheese
17th Course -- Pudding
18th Course -- Ice cream
19th Course -- Nuts
20th Course -- Petit four
21st Course -- Coffee and liquor
Makes your mouth water, doesn't it!
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Songs of the Seanchaí
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