Feast: A History of Grand Eating

by Roy Strong

What occurs when we gather to dine? More than just eating, says Roy Strong, whose remarkable A History of Grand Eatingreviews sumptuous dining from ancient Greece to the present. What is discovered, again and again, is that "the meal, and everything connected with it has been, and still is, a vehicle for determining status and hierarchy--and also aspiration--no matter what pattern of society prevails." To illustrate, Strong takes readers on a journey that encompasses the banquets of ancient Rome, which, preceding their decadent excesses (Caligula liked dinner with decapitations), were models of civilized entertainment; to the Christian and Renaissance eras, a transformation of dining from symbolic ecclesiastical ritual to splendorous high-court ceremony; to a newly hierarchical world which, in counter-distinction to French Revolution commonalties, yielded the 19th and early 20th-century's defining status event, the dinner party; and finally to our own dispiriting time, in which the erosion of traditional forms has left us with TV-snacking, grazing, and the restaurant as surrogate rank-delineator, once society's task. Strong is a master distiller who keeps a sharp academic lookout while proving a companionable, entertaining guide. It's hard to imagine anyone who could more pithily explore, for example, the evolution and meaning of manners (from courtly ritual to aspiring-class impediment); the invention of the dining room (which required a permanent dining table, long in coming); sugar's pivotal role (as a baroque sculptural medium!); and the history of cookbooks (keen mirrors of class). For anyone interested in what it has meant to use a fork (first a status marker then, supplanting the knife, the only approved implement for carrying food to mouth) among much else, this is a perfect read. --Arthur Boehm

Genres: Food, History, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food History, Food Writing, Historical

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Sir Roy Colin Strong FRSL (23 August 1935 - ) is an English art historian, museum curator, writer, broadcaster and landscape designer.

He has been director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He was knighted in 1983.

Reviews

[Wealhtheow · Rating 2 out of 5]

A history of upper class meals and the customs surrounding them, from antiquity to the present. The book almost entirely deals with Western Europe, particularly England, Italy, and France. It's a very scattershot view; there are a few tasty tidbits of knowledge, but they're so randomly chosen and so unorganized in presentation that it was hard to get a good overall picture of the subject. It's not clear what Strong's thesis or even true subject is, since sometimes he talks about formal feasts alone, while at other times he expands his view to all upper class meals, or even to dinner in general.

This is the basic gist I gleaned: feasts in Ancient Greece and Rome were men's affairs, very long and with live entertainment. As with everything else, feasts at the end of the Roman Empire had gotten really ridiculously opulent. The "barbarian hordes" that took down the Empire in the West brought in their own style of feasting, which focused on drinking. The food was no longer honey-drenched doormice stuffed with herbs, but instead simply prepared hunks of meat. In the medieval ages, nobles and the clergy often silently ate while others read to them (usually the Bible). By this time, people had discovered ancient texts and were recreating Roman tastes and obeying the idea of different foods being linked to different humors, which were in turn linked to health. By the Renaissance, the feasts got even more ridiculous (see my status updates for a few details, but suffice to say they involve models of churches made of meat and pastry, with stuffed birds standing in for a church choir, or flame bursting forth from mythical animals' mouths), and the point of the dishes was presentation, not taste. These luxurious feasts and displays continue, but with the rise of a middle class the upper class emphasized manners and taste over display in order to keep out the new rich. After WWI wasteful ostentation was cut back, and cut back further (at least in England) post WWII. And nowadays, few people eat dinner together, and host dinners at restaurants instead of within their own homes.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the most thorough, comprehensive, and expansive documentation of formal dining I have ever read or considered. Strong's knowledge of the classics is remarkable, his breadth of detail is impressive and so is his personal relationship to history perhaps because of his museum background. He writes clearly and in a familiar, almost informal manner that is eminently readable. Feasting - how preparing, presenting and sharing food is an exercise of political and cultural power that morphs to meet the times.

I am so hesitate to seem critical of this magnificent work, but there are a couple of points that I think could have been strengthened. Strong identifies at least two, perhaps three, major transitions in culinary history but doesn't provide sufficient justification for these transitions, leaving me hungry for more detail (yes, I know the book long as it is). These are: the development of the cook book as a means of formalizing a culinary tradition (literacy); the movement from food as a magical, medical concern to a gastronomic experience (science revolutionizes medicine); and lastly restaurants (refrigeration and transportation). Finally, I would have loved to see Strong include some reference to how the culinary timeline he defines is reflected in population health and disease.

Feast: A History of Grand Eating should be required reading for all food studies scholars, food producers and makers. It is a delight and a revelation. Thank you Roy Strong.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5. My only complaint was the feeling of being rushed through the twentieth century. If the feast and grand eating fell so spectacularly, why not examine it in its own chapter rather than 5 pages? Otherwise, this was a great book. It talks about the food, people, classism, revolutions, manners, etc throughout history. I loved his conversational way of presenting the information and how many primary sources he included. He organized it well and the pictures were brilliant. Very helpful.

[Young Soo Jeon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has the amount of information about foods. I read a translation of this book. There's not a lot of food I've never heard of before, but I'm also amazed by the variety of human appetites.

[Karl Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prompted by anecdotes of a friend’s childhood dining experiences which seemed to be trapped in the shackles of C19 gastronomical etiquette compared to mine, Feast : A History of Grand Eating proves an engaging read. Hugely informative, especially in terms of Italian and French secular and courtly feasting through C12 – C17 and as a text, provides an excellent foundation of understanding as to how we have arrived at today’s current dining arrangements. Very well written but clumpy, I thought – we were bogged down in C16 Europe for too long. The palace of Versailles has its qualities, for sure: its opulence, its extraordinary assortment of fayre, guests and staff; but I loved the final 50pp or so as Strong ushered us into the Victorian age – the importance of cutlery, conversation and Careme. From the birth of the restaurant to the birth of the refrigerator, it seems that ‘grand’ eating continues to succeed in keeping people in their place. Enjoyable.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but so messy and disorganised in presentation it really detracts from the reading experience.

[Anne Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sort of a hodge-podge of a book, it's full of jaw-dropping, eye popping accounts of fantastic sounding food from Roman and Greek times, dark ages, middle ages, and on up to the present. Although the focus is not on every day food, but special feasts, still.....it's an interesting way to feel directly connected to another time. And, to think about the differences, too.

[Teresa Ma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really nice intersection of world exploration, plants, tradition, and cooking/dining