The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1907-07-03
ANCESTRAL APPETlTES.
Table Feats of Some Famous Feeders
Of Bygone Days.

Of Bygone Days.
A generation holding critical views
on a mans intelligent, or unwise,
choice of parents is not likely to in
dulge in ancestor worship But there
are at least one or two things in which
our ancestors were truly greater than
we of the present day can ever aspire
to be. Take them, for instance, at ia
BILE. If ancient books on table eti-
uuette are to be taken seriously, and
there is no reason why they should
not be, the ancestor was in the habit
of gnawing bones a la CHEN and Of
disposing of them by the simple means
of throwing them under the table or
over his shoulder. He worked hard
with his hands in the dishes, when a
succulent but slippery mOrsel refused
to come to him by means of knife and
| fork He used his table napkin for
unspeakable purposes and his fork in
| utter forgetfulness as comb or tooth
brush. In one sense, therefore, he did
not know how to eat. Meanwhile, in
another, he was truly great for the
quantities of food which he caused to
disappear at a single meal were moth
ing short of marvellous.
The records preserved of the anees-
tors feats of the fork land the f1nger)
are woefully thin, but now and again
one of these very human documents
| In the form Of a menu is unearthed
and tells it's own story. Such is the
following list of dishes served in 1884
to worthy citizen Of Valencia on the
occasion of his taking unto himself a
wife. Across the space of close upon
the six centuries the cranes and lam
preys, the peacocks and boar's head Of
the feast made fine display. This is
the order in which the fourteenth cen
fury wedding breakfast was served:
MENU.
Roast crane, venison, lamprey.
Peacock, pheasant guinea fowl, osprey,
Snipe, pike,
Baked pomegranates, burnt almonds. veg
etables, fish. .....
Eel pie and toast.
Galantine of sprats and cheese cakes.
Peacock, crane, pheasant.
Crayfish boar's head and savouries.
Figs, medlars and waters.
Wines.
Saint Jangon, Branne, Burgundy and
Hook.
The Italians also were famous feed
ers and seem to have distinguished
themselves in particular during the
early days of the renaissance. The
Bourbons valiantly followed suit, one
of the most distinguished successes be-
ing scored by Louis XIV, of whom an
eyewitness wrote: 81 often saw him
eat four plates of soup, whole pleas
ant, guinea fowl, large dish of
salad. several slices of mutton with
garlic sauce, two large slices of ham,
dish of cake and dessert" The threats
of his physicians finally reduced his
majesty to such meager fare as two
plates of pigeon broth and three roast
fowls. According to Arenberg, the
great king was later in life subject to
attacks of Indigestion.
The little suppers in the reign of tho
next Louis, though on slightly less
gigantic scale, are still sufficiently i'm
pressive. The Marquise d'Artenay, for
instance, put before her guests after
they came from the theater and before
they went on to a dance this collation.:
Pigeon soup, with lentils and carrots.
Chicken broth.
Patties of fowl, veal. capon. pheasants.
guinea fowl.
Sweetbread and roast poulets.
Baked starlings, wood pigeons. wild duck
and snipe.
Cakes Sweets. Fruit.
It seems pity no record is preserved
of what happened at the dance follow
ing this supper party.