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French State dinners through the ages
By Ann | December 4, 2009
I’ve always thought that few occasions could be considered more glamourous, alluring or intriguing than a State Dinner — an opinion clearly shared by others, as, ahem, evidenced by current events — so I was delighted, a few weeks ago, to catch an inside glimpse of France’s State Dinners. No, I didn’t crash one.
Paris’s historic restaurant, Maxim’s, is hosting an exhibit of menus from France’s first table. Called A la table des Présidents: 100 ans de menus de gala au Palais de l’Elysée, the show features a parade of elaborate menus, which dip into the last two centuries.
Many of these state dinners have been forgotten by history, such as the one given for the King of Portugal (photo top, detail of menu, and photo above) on December 15, 1904. The menu featured an elaborate feast of sixteen courses.
Some were stylish representatives of their period, like the clean Art Deco fonts of this 1932 menu, from a dinner that celebrated the launch of the ship, the Normandie. If you look closely at the menu’s cover, you’ll see that the diners signed it, in a not-totally-sober manner.
All the menus featured elaborate decoration, like this 1922 jazz-era menu, with its pretty, embossed details.
Who knows, perhaps creating these menus was once a full-time post at the Palais de l’Elysée (France’s equivalent of the White House)? I loved the design of the menu above, with the meal’s courses floating in the cool waters of the Seine. The dinner, by the way, was in honor of President and Mrs. Truman, given in 1951.
A detail of the drawing.
Of course some evenings are more memorable than others. Like June 1, 1961, or the night JFK became “the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris.” Here’s a photo of Jackie entering this very dinner on the arm of Charles de Gaulle.
Now, if you’re anything like me, you’re probably wondering: What did they eat? The photo above, of the menu, is rather dim, so I’ve transcribed it for you:
Velouté Sultane
(A puréed soup, but not sure what “sultane” means — raisins? Or an ornate pastry decoration?)
Timbale de soles Joinville
(Sole, cooked in a timbale mold, garnished with prawns, mushrooms, truffles and a velouté sauce)
Coeur de filet de Charolais Renaissance
(Filet of beef, from Charolais, a region of France known for its cattle. “Renaissance” probably refers to the garnish of baby spring vegetables: young peas, tiny carrots, new potatoes, and artichoke hearts.)
Chaud-froid de volaille
(A cooked dish of poultry, served cold, covered in a layer of aspic or a chilled sauce.)
Salade de romaine à l’estragon
(Romaine lettuce salad with tarragon vinaigrette.)
Parfait Viviane
(A “parfait” is a frozen mousse, like ice cream, but I can’t figure out with “Viviane” refers to.)
For your very own State Dinner experience, visit the exhibit, A la table des Présidents, which will be on view until February 28.
Maxim’s
3 rue Royale, 8ème
Paris
tel: 01 42 65 30 47
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5 Responses to “French State dinners through the ages”
Comments
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December 5th, 2009 at 2:30 am
This was a fascinating exhibit and it’s a good thing we went after lunch or I would have gotten too hungry! The wine listed on the menus was also probably very impressive, but alas, my expertise in that realm remains lacking. Except when it comes to plain old drinking the stuff. The other interesting aspect was the info board listing the number of state dinners each French president held from the Third Republic on. Some leaders were more social than others!
One nice thing is that for anyone who works in the neighborhood, it’s a perfect exhibit to race to during a lunch break — it’s small, you can probably see the whole thing in a half hour. The closest metro is Concorde; if you take the rue Royale exit, Maxim’s is only a few steps away!
December 6th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Thanks for the interesting tour of elaborate menus and menu decorations which I thoroughly enjoyed. Paris is already interesting because of traditional permanent exhibitions, monuments, and sights … but you fill in the gaps with all the on-going local happenings which gives us the vicarious flavor of actually living in Paris.
December 7th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Cool! I’m always fascinated by those old menu prints at the bouquinistes – it’s wild to see how much has changed… and how much hasn’t with regards to menu writing.
December 10th, 2009 at 7:46 am
Chris — I should have credited you as we saw the exhibit grace à toi! Thanks for finding it!
Dad — I’m glad you enjoyed the post, even though the photos really didn’t do the menus justice. Some of them were works of art.
Camille — Me, too — I could spend hours poring over those old menus. One thing that struck me about the exhibit was how little the food varied between decades and even centuries. Lots of chaud-froid, consommé, velouté, sole, and coeur de filet.
March 11th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
I love this website! France and cooking are the two passions of my life and this website is just the ticket. The added links you posted, such as the one on life in france was very helpful as I am planning to reside in Paris when I am older. I am currently learning french and will move there as soon as I am fluent at the language. Once again, this website has been a huge help. Thanks for setting it up. Yours, Georgina.