FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 312/666-1200
Rhonda O'Neill
rhonda@paintmeaparty.com
(Chicago, Ill., April 2, 1999) It's hard to believe there was ever a time when belching at the dinner table was considered a gesture of good breeding and manners. We take for granted the many options we have for entertaining in today's world, from being able to order in sushi, pizza or barbecued ribs with little notice, to serving chocolate dipped strawberries and Champagne Bellinis. It's easy to forget that it took the last millennium to bring us these and other common celebratory treats.
"At Paint Me A Party, we've gotten caught up in the millennium mayhem as we plan client events, and were curious about how it related to our industry, so we gave ourselves a history lesson on the top innovations in food and entertaining over the last thousand years," said Sally Schwartz, president of Paint Me A Party Productions, a special event planning and management company. Working with the firm's food historian, Kelly Amienne, Paint Me a Party uncovered a number of delicious historic morsels.
"We discovered that it's often the simple things that enhance the American tradition of celebrations, big and small. When the year 2000 hits, we will begin new traditions in dining and entertaining. We can't wait to bring on the New Year!" she said. According to Schwartz, a special events consultant since 1985, the top ten celebration necessities through the millennium are:
1. Champagne: The French region of Champagne was famous for its wines long before 1698 when the Benedictine monk Dom (Pierre) Perignon created the sparkling wine we know today. Perignon invented champagne by pure accident when he tried to ferment wine in the bottle.
2. Caviar: This jewel of the sea was once the food of poor fishermen. Caviar remained unpopular in Western Europe until fairly recently when two Russian brothers who fled the revolution to Paris missed their native dish and began importing it from Russia.
3. Dessert: Sugar was brought back to Europe from Crusades, and centuries later became the highlight of the Renaissance meal. In the 17th century, the English adopted the French word desservir (to clear away), and the adoption of New World chocolate changed the taste of dessert forever.
4. Cheese: In the Middle Ages, cheese was used by farmers to pay rent to their lords. In the Renaissance, France tasted the most delectable mozzarella from buffalo introduced by Italians. While sweet desserts were preferred in the 18th century to cheese, the 19th century French bourgeoisie revived the more aromatic final course.
5. Cookbook: The Forme of Cury, the first cookbook published in English in 1390, set off a trend as Renaissance readers hungered for more and better guides for the kitchen. Amelia Simmons gave us the first truly American cookbook in 1796. In the nineteenth century, Fannie Farmer and her Boston Cooking-School Cook Book spread the new practices of precision measurement and "household sciences."
6. Fork: The fork wasn't used in English-speaking countries until this millennium was more than half over. At medieval feasts, guests were usually expected to bring their own knife to the meal or to use their hands. By the time Victoria became Queen of England, settings sometimes had as many as 20 pieces of silver.
7. Gay Apparel: Men no longer receive their guests dressed in the early-millennial feast's attire of tights, cote hardie (mini-dress), and mantle (robe). Today the dinner jacket which replaced Victorian tails has become standard at elegant affairs. Women have said good-bye to the fashions of the past millennium such as the 19th century corsets and bustles, and Elizabethan ruffs around neck and wrists.
8. Ethnic foods: This has been the millennium of contact. The New World gave Europe such common fare as corn, potatoes, chilies, chocolate, and tomatoes. From the East, Europe gained spices, sugar, and rice. Americans have continued to change the way they eat with each new immigrant group that arrives. Today's fusion cooking celebrates this cultural mix at the table, and our party foods are evidence of the exchange of tastes among the people of the world.
9. The table setting: Though sixteenth-century hosts sometimes covered their tables in velvet or woolen rugs, white damask tablecloths were the standard for formal events and have been ever since. Napkins then were one yard square and kept over the shoulder. Elaborate Venetian glasswork reigned in the Renaissance, but only the most wealthy could afford enough individual glasses for large parties. Instead, an ornate communal cup was brought by a servant from the "cup board" as requested.
10. Venue: The medieval hall acted as estate office, living room, dining room, bedroom for servants and thoroughfare to the rest of the house. We've come a long way, though, from expecting our guests to belch and throw food on the floor. In Queen Victoria's reign after dinner women retired to the drawing room for tea, while men chatted at the table and smoked. Today we have gender equality at the table, and sometimes even ask our guests into the kitchen where a snack may be enjoyed while we prepare our end-of-the-millennium feast.
Paint Me A Party Productions, Inc. is one of the country's top special event planners, recently collaborating on parties to honor filmmaker and Oscar-winning best actor, Roberto Benigni, recognized last Winter for artistic achievement by the Anti-Defamation League; to celebrate the Financial Times, the London-based business daily, expansion to Chicago, and to celebrate E! Channel's Talk Soup. Paint Me A Party is a complete special event, meeting planning, incentive travel management and production company. The company consistently provides creative solutions to business problems, and operates worldwide. Founded in 1985 by Sally Schwartz, a veteran of the Chicago advertising world, PMAPP serves companies who recognize the importance of consistent, integrated marketing messages and positive bottom-line impact of a professionally planned and executed event.
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