Royal Appetites.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 11 July 1911, Page 4

Royal Appetites.

SOM-K SAVOTRIKS OK FRENCH KINGS' TABLES. We hear a great deal nowadays of the clangor of indulging in various articles of food which have always been regarded as essentials— meat, for one example—an.d warnings against giving too free satisfaction to appetites that certanlv are not as a rule voracious are calculate dto bring nervous people to the very verge of self-imposed starvation. How did the old 'French rulers get along? is a question that is not without interest, and it is answered in a hook on the culinary art which devotes sn?cial attention to the tastes of these august pers-o.Ti-ages. Francois I. and Henri IT. 'are described as having only been poor eaters; but Catherine die .Medici seems to have been on the contrary, a tremendous gourmande. She was certainly partial to kidneys. and to a light poultry dish, to which, on one occasion, ins a cointemporary chronicler records, slue did such ample justice that she quite "blew herself out" and nearly "burst." This record performance took place at a banquet g'ven in her honour by citizens of Paris, at which every kind of bird, beast, and fow.l was served in such lavish abundance that upwards of 300 pigs, stuffed with, herbs, figured on the general menu. Henry TV. was very fond of game,» to which he mostly confined his attention. washing it down with Argentcu.'l wine. As for Louis XTTT., he ate little, although lie was an amateur cook, being particularly proficient in turning out omelettes and expert in the making of pastry. Louis XTV. was a gourmand, but he was a gonrmat too. He had: as mamv as 1,500 men to buy and cook for him. and to wait at his banquets. T.% menus were simply immense. The dirtirictive feature at his table, as well 'as at that of Louis XV., was the number of different soups that were served' at e.ach meal. Sometimes there were a dozen, and Le Roi -Sort-oil partook of ewnh and all. It was "the oldi capon" which was so much in favour, and no soup was deemed worth tasting unless it was a factor.

Louis VI.. like Louis XTV._. wdio would l often have a substantial meal served up in the middle of the night, was a l.vg feeder. He had what was called "the appetite of the Bourbons." He did not eat; he bolted his food. On the very morning of the d'ay on wlu'ch he was guillotined on the Place d'a In. Conc.rde lie put down am entire brer'kfast. The first Napoleon did not waste much of his time at table. He got through his luncheon in ten minutes, and throu£rh his dinner in a quarter of an hour; for he. too, mas a bolter, and it is pointed out that if lie had: only chosen tomcat slowly audi deliberately lie miigiht hlaive escaood the disease that took him to tho grave. As for Louis Philippe, he had 1 a healthy appetite, hut no more. He had sonp, and tbp boiled beef and vegetables from which it had been made, on fhiis tahle every d-av. As fotvNapoleon ITT., I have iheiard it said' hv people wh'o were often' with him that lie never spent more than twentv .minutes at tiable if ho could, help it, as he was triad to get on his coffee and cigar. He,was no more,of a gonrmefc than .was%is*unc3e.- - ~ ""V. - "'. ' 1