Where a large number of guests are being entertained, as at wedding breakfasts, or where the luncheon is accessory to some other entertainment, the guests are frequently seated at small tables placed throughout the room. In this case, no ornamentation is attempted other than a few flowers on each table, as anything more would be an inconvenience.
|Lighting|The lighting of the table requires careful consideration. Artificial light is not used unless necessary; but a dark, gloomy table should always be avoided, and if the room is dark candles should be lighted. Sometimes half the guests face bright windows, while the faces of those sitting with their backs to the windows are in shadow. Shaded lights in the chandelier will often remove this shadow; and, if carefully managed, the gas-lights will not be disagreeably noticeable. This, together with a careful adjustment of the curtains, will often equalize the light; but if a blinding glare cannot thus be overcome, it is better to draw the shades and curtains and light the candles. In city houses this is frequently done.
|Laying the table|The table is laid as for dinner, except that bread-and-butter plates are placed at the left of the dinner plates, each bread-and-butter plate having a small knife laid across it. These plates are small, and are used for the breads and hors d’oeuvres.
|The food and courses|At luncheon the soup is served in cups, and, where the guests are seated at the table, roasts are seldom presented, the meats being served in the form of chops, or individual portions; otherwise, the service is the same as at dinner.
At buffet luncheons large cold roasts are used, and ordinarily not more than one or two hot dishes are served, such as bouillon, creamed oysters, or croquettes. Cold fish, cold joints, gelatines, and salads make the substantial part of the luncheon. All the dishes, including the ices, are placed on the buffet table at once, and no order is observed in respect to courses, each person making his own selection. On these occasions the gentlemen serve the ladies, and but little extra household service is needed.
Where the guests are seated at small tables the service is the same as if all were seated at one table, and a number of servants are required. There should always be enough waiters to serve the meal quickly. An hour and a half is the extreme limit of time that guests should be kept at the table. Seven or eight courses are all that should be presented, and these should be served quickly, but without apparent haste. The days of long feasting are passed. People of to-day value their health and time too much to sit for hours at a time at the table. The meal should be over before there is any fatigue or dullness; but on the word of Brillat-Savarin, an accepted authority on gastronomic subjects, it is safe to detain guests at the table for one hour. He says:
“La table est le seul endroit où l’on ne s’ennuie jamais pendant la première heure.”
GARNISHING AND DISHING MEATS
One celebrated French chef says: “Il faut viser a charmer les yeux des gourmet avant d’en satisfaire le goût”; and another, in giving advice to beginners, says: “A cook should have that artistic feeling which imparts to everything, great and small, that harmony of style which captivates the eye.”
This necessity is well recognized by every good cook, and such a one tries to give dishes the inviting appearance justly demanded by epicures. It is not necessary that the dish belong to the category which in cooking parlance is termed “high class,” for the simplest one comes under the same rule and is capable of being raised to a higher rank by careful dishing and tasteful garnishing. The greatest cooks are renowned for such specialties.