The Invention of the Dining Room

In the past, I have read a number of books that discuss the history of French and European food, the creation of France as a leader in culinary excellence, and books that discuss the history of gastronomy. Somehow, I’ve read works by many more American and English authors and scholars than by French writers. In my not-too-systematic searching, I’ve found that only a few of the well-respected works by French authors have been translated. So I decided to read this untranslated book by Patrick Rambourg: Histoire de la cuisine et de la gastronomie françaises  (The history of French cuisine and gastronomy) This book was first published 2005; the author is a professor of history at the University of Paris 7 and has written several other books and many articles on food history.

Much of the material about the Middle Ages and the Renaissance covered here is fairly familiar: many books on the history of food that I’ve read have the same sources and present the same details, including quite a few that were published before this one. This includes both the history of the food eaten in the wealthiest homes and palaces, and the food of bourgeois and impoverished French people. Similarly, I found much that was familiar to me in the last chapters on the role of Gault and Millau and their guide in redirecting interest to new restaurants, new chefs, and new ways of cooking.

In contrast to the beginning and final parts of the book, Rambourg’s later chapters include very interesting material that is mainly new to me; for example, a detailed history of the use of the potato in French cuisine. One topic that I particularly enjoyed was the history of the dining room. He explains the invention of a special room in the homes of wealthy French people that was dedicated to serving meals. Also newly developed, purpose-made dining tables and chairs were permanently kept in the room, as well as side-tables or buffets to facilitate serving many dishes and elegant preparations.

Until the reign of Louis XIV (1638-1715) meals in a palace or a home of a rich family would have been served in a large meeting or reception room, where long trestle tables would be set up for the purpose, and then removed to prepare the room for other uses. If only a few people were present at a meal, smaller tables could be placed in a variety of other rooms — even in bedrooms. A very early reference to a “salle a manger” is in an inventory at the chateau of Vaux-le-Vicompte in 1661. 

The dining room at Vaux-le-Vicompte as you can see it today —- Wikimedia photo.
(I can’t resist saying that Vaux-le-Vicompte is a fabulous place to visit and see the innovations of 17th century architects.)

Bourgeois homes of the earlier era might have had several rooms for cooking, communal activities, and sleeping, but no dedicated dining room — though they soon followed the nobility in the new arrangement. In the homes of poor city people or peasants, there was usually only one room with a fire where people ate, cooked, and slept; if there were domestic animals they too might share this space. Poorer French families didn’t even use a table, but sat on a bench to eat their meals, which would have been cooked in a family-size pot over an open fire in the center of the room, or (if they were lucky) in a fireplace. For people who could afford such things, this changed slowly in the eighteenth century.

Although this book has no illustrations, the author made references to some intriguing art works to support the historic record of how the dining setup would have looked in early days, and to illustrate the special-purpose dining furniture that was developed. I looked up some of the images that the author refers to:

“Le Déjeuner d’huîtres” by Jean-François de Troy,

“The Oyster Lunch” by Jean-François de Troy, was painted in 1735 to be displayed in the first dedicated dining room at Versailles. It shows the changes in meal service: a group of men are enjoying oysters and white wine. On the round table, covered with a white cloth, you can see plates, silverware, wine glasses, and bowls that probably allowed each individual to be served separately — all of these features contrast with the earlier ways that food would have been presented.

In the previous century, artist Abraham Bosse created several etchings dated 1636-1637 which illustrate how people ate at the time. Here are several examples:

Women at a table eating a meal. You can see a canopy bed behind the table; that is, this not a dedicated dining room!

“The Benediction at the Table”

“The Banquet of the Rich Man”

“Taste”

Many other interesting changes in upper-class dining were also introduced in this era, such as individual place settings of china and silverware set on the table with spaces between them to accommodate formal seating. Descriptions from that era mention elegant napkin-folding techniques and various new styles in serving pieces and table decor. The responsibilities of servants and waiters became more formalized as well, and books that explained the right way to do all these things were written and published. The order in which different dishes (soup, entrees, desserts, etc) were served and the ways of cooking and purchasing foods became more codified. The details of all these changes are fascinating, as are the excesses of the nobility and rich bourgeoisie in those times.

In fact, reading about the luxuries and indulgences of the French monarchs and nobles and their contrast to the impoverished masses makes one understand why a bit later in the century there was a REVOLUTION! 

Happy Bastille Day, everyone!

Blog post © 2023 mae sander

Images as credited.

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