Sequence Of A Meal

Wherever we go, this is pretty much the flow we get in western cuisines: cold starter, hot starter, fish, meat, cheese, dessert.

Have you ever wondered why isn’t the dessert the first course in a meal with the soup as the one wrapping up at the end?  Why isn’t the fish after the dessert or maybe the fish first, then soup followed by meat?

The other day sitting in front of my computer not knowing what to write, I was pondering this very sequence and decided to search for old menus to see how courses were served in the old days.

I found a seventeen-course French classic menu, dated a century ago which looks like this:

1. Hors-d'oeuvre
2. Potages (Soups)
3. Oeufs (Eggs)
4. Farineux (Pasta & Rice dishes)
5. Poisson (Fish)
6. Entree
7. Sorbet
8. Releve
9. Roti (Roast)
10. Legumes (Vegetables)
11. Salade (Salad)
12. Buffet froid (Cold Buffet)
13. Entremets (Sweets)
14. Fromage (Cheese)
15. Savoureux (Savouries)
16. Dessert (Fruits)
17. Beverages

A bit of further reading reveals that the French did not earn the recognition of its exceptional culinary art overnight.

Food historians credit the ancient Romans for initially bringing French cooking to the level of an art form during Renaissance.  Then in the modern times, American Julia Child is distinguished not only as a chef and cookbook author, but also for her passion and respect for French cuisine.  She hosted a TV cooking show "The French Chef" in the 1960s and it was her, that marketed the skills and glamour of the classic French cuisine to the mass public worldwide.


As I always say, nice meal and a good wine, definition of a good time.  

My way to enjoy French cuisine is to eat with all senses opened and indulge in totality.  I should probably leave the pondering work to the good old food historians for now.