NEN Gallery

Meal times were an opportunity for the rich to display their wealth. This was done through rich foods, use of fine cutlery, china and servants. At the start of the period, French cuisine was in fashion, with as many as 20 dishes served at the same time in two great courses. Tastes changed during the period and, by the 1860’s, dishes were being placed on the sideboard and then served, one after another, by footmen. This was known as serving a meal ‘a la russe’. Picture from Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management 1904.