Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver: Stories of Dinner as a Work of Art

by Carolin C. Young

The author answers the question "what does it mean to dine?" by focusing on twelve historic dinner parties, deconstructing each to describe the personalities who attended each banquet, the food served, and the general ambience.

Genres: Food History

384 pages, Hardcover

First published July 30, 2002

Reviews

[Robert]

(In the interest of full disclosure, Ms. Young is a dear friend whom we admire greatly.) Even a sybarite is prey to habit. Epicureans fall out of sort. Voluptuaries run out of steam. We all need to recharge our enthusiasms. We need to recall the lives of the masters. Those inspired spirits who ate, drank and made merry. Those great men and women for whom appetite opened the doors of paradise.

Toward that end, to remind you that there is a right way to live—a life of the senses; a life of taste; of appetite; of anticipation and of satisfaction; passion and contentment; and of desire and surfeit. I offer "Apples of God in Settings of Silver," a book that will help you keep you on the straight and narrow—to live, as men and women were intended to live.

Ms. Young, the author of this book, is a devotee of the good life, of the table and those who set it, and of the appetite and of those who set it free. A chapter here, a chapter there, and before you know it, you'll be hard at work honing and perfecting your own appetites.

[Nicole C. (using StoryGraph more these days)]

This was pretty interesting, if a bit overlong in some sections. The author describes 12 historic dinners, not necessarily "historic" in the well-known sense, such as Casanova's liaison with a nun, or a dinner at Talleyrand's to fete Napoleon, and gives the reader the pertinent background of the major players, as well as what was served, what it might have looked like (based on art and cookery of the period, as well as any first-hand accounts), even the venue. There are copious illustrations throughout, as well.

[Jennifer Heise]

A good solid work on the history of grand eating, even if my favorite time periods were only lightly represented!