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Some unusual yet vaguely interesting morsels to tickle your appetites.
Napkins
Individual napkins became de riguer by the 16th Century.
Before then mulitple table cloths were spread and the top one
was generally used to wipe one's fingers on.
At first it was customary to wear the napkin over the left arm
but the advent of starched ruffs as a fashion statement meant
it became necessary to tie the napkin around your neck.
A popular move with everyone but starch merchants and dry cleaners.
A King's napkin was always presented to him rolled up and with
great ceremony by a high ranking person. Thus a Maitre d'hotel
would carry a rolled-up napkin over his left shoulder as an
insignia of office.
Superstitions
Never have 13 dinner guests at table or T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E things will
happen!. This would mean that one of your guests would die
before the year was out. This apparently comes from the
Last Supper where Judas' treachery was discovered and later
Jesus would die.
Never cross your cutlery on your plate when you've finished
eating, This could indicate that your meal was poisoned and you
would die from this.
Never turn your bread upside-down. Bread is considered
as the staff of life and turning it upside-down means death
will come to someone at the table.
Never spill the salt. Salt is a sign of friendship,
spilling it means disagreement and the loss of a friend.
Always destroy your empty egg shells. It was thought that
magicians would use them to make evil spells. Crushing the shell
meant you were destroying the magic.
A fresh egg could be used as an augury as in this tale. Julia
(daughter of Emperor Augustus) desired a son, so she carried a
fresh egg in her bosom, (as you do!) keeping it warm (as it would
be). When required to give it up she passed it on to a wet nurse
to take over the duty. A cock-bird eventually hatched and the
omen was therefore good. It is reported that Julia later gave
birth to a son, thus proving the theory.
If you drink the last wine in the bottle you shall marry
within the year, If you are already married, it means you will
have a daughter within a year (not be arrested for bigamy!).
If you spill wine, this is a good thing (some would disagree!)
Romans would spill wine over the table before a meal to honour
their gods.
Don't eat St Stephen's cabbage on St Stephen's day. He hid
in a cabbage field and this saved his life. I'm not sure many
people would know what St Stephen's cabbage would look like now.
Supermarket labelling tends not to be this specific. Best to avoid
cabbage altogether on St Stephen's day, just to be sure.
This is my own piece of advice. Never go to dinner with a
Geophagist. The meal will be mediocre at best. The most that can
be said about eating Earth is that it has little nutritional
value but in times of need can be filling. Some Native Americans
used to eat it for this reason alone. Other peoples of the world
do make more of it, by mixing it into a paste with water, then
rolling it into thin cakes and baking them over a fire. Children
of course make mud pies and eat them raw, I always found they
tasted better if they had a fat juicy worm in
(see earlier discussion of bug eating).
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