Description

Book Synopsis
First published in 1920, How to Dine in Style opens a window onto the golden age of elegant dining, where the basic function of ingesting nourishment was elevated to a high social art, attended by intricate details and elaborate ritual. Starched linens, candles, white gloves, apéritifs, ball suppers, French menus and garden-parties – this is the world of the decadent classes who came to prominence in the post-war period. Published in an age where achieving a reputation for throwing recherché dinner parties was a route to international celebrity, this is a book about food as performance art. In it we catch tantalizing glimpses of astonishing excess such as the craze for eccentric venues for dinner parties, including the roof of a Chicago home (for amateur mountaineers), a lion’s den, and a gondola in the Savoy. An engaging blend of practical advice and a catalogue of eccentricity, this book contains everything you need to know, from the fine art of composing a menu to the practicalities of the correct order and temperatures for serving wines.

How to Dine in Style: The Art of Entertaining,

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    A Hardback by J. Rey

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      Book details

      Publisher Bodleian Library
      Published 4 October 2013
      ISBN-13 9781851240869
      978-1851240869
      ISBN-10 1851240861
      Also in:
      Home & Garden Table settings and arts of the table Cultural studies: food and society

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      First published in 1920, How to Dine in Style opens a window onto the golden age of elegant dining, where the basic function of ingesting nourishment was elevated to a high social art, attended by intricate details and elaborate ritual. Starched linens, candles, white gloves, apéritifs, ball suppers, French menus and garden-parties – this is the world of the decadent classes who came to prominence in the post-war period. Published in an age where achieving a reputation for throwing recherché dinner parties was a route to international celebrity, this is a book about food as performance art. In it we catch tantalizing glimpses of astonishing excess such as the craze for eccentric venues for dinner parties, including the roof of a Chicago home (for amateur mountaineers), a lion’s den, and a gondola in the Savoy. An engaging blend of practical advice and a catalogue of eccentricity, this book contains everything you need to know, from the fine art of composing a menu to the practicalities of the correct order and temperatures for serving wines.

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