Napkin V Serviette

One thing that has caused a great discussion over the 20th century is the simple question, what is the correct term, Napkin or Serviette? What exactly is a Napkin and a Serviette? Well, before we go into the correct term, let's solve the issue as to what exactly they are.

Napkins, Serviettes or face cloths are pieces of cloth used in dining situations for wiping the mouth and fingers to clean excess food etc from your face and protect you from spills and crumbs which you may acquire during a meal. The word Napkin comes from the French word nappe which is a cloth for covering a table. 

Before we used the cloth we have today, the Romans would use a lump of dough (bread) to wipe their hands. The Romans then had a cloth which was pocket sized and would be carried by them which they would use to mop their brow and was called a sudaria. They also had another cloth called the mappae which was made in medium and large lengths. This went over the edge of the sofa as a protection for the food they took in a reclining position. The fabric was also used to blot the lips. The mappae was used to take away leftovers so in theory the first ever doggy bag.

During the middle ages, the napkin disappeared and you would wipe your hands on whatever came to hand. It was not long until cloths began to be laid on the table of which there were three. These cloths were of a certain length and one was used to wipe your hands and mouth and this evolved into a piece of fabric draped over the arm of the servant. By the 16th century, napkins began to be made of different sizes for different events. In the seventeenth century, the napkin was 35 inches wide and 45 inches long, however, when forks became part of fine dining, the napkin reduced in size as diners were less messy thanks to the use of knives and forks together.

The French court had codes of etiquette for the aristocracy, which included how to use a napkin, when to use it and finally how far to unfold it in the lap. A French treatise dating from 1729 stated that "It is ungentlemanly to use a napkin for wiping the face or scraping the teeth and a most vulgar error to wipe one's nose with it.” This, of course, is very much still the rule for using a napkin to this day. In 1740 tablecloths were made with matching napkins. Dining Napkins can be from 18” x 18” up to 27” x 27”.

Now to a Serviette which is also a piece of cloth or paper and again similar to a napkin but this was used more for meals where you stand up, similar to cocktail napkins. The Chinese are believed to have used paper napkins in 2 BC. A serviette is an old French meaning “to serve”.

In 1954 Nancy Mitford wrote in her essay on “The English Aristocracy” that to say serviette was not correct and the right term is napkin. This, of course, is a debate that continues as some people mistakenly think that a paper napkin is a serviette which is course is incorrect as a napkin is made from paper as well as cloth. As mentioned, napkin means cloth which is exactly what we use to this very day for formal meals. Paper Napkins tend to be used for cocktail receptions and similar.

When it comes to using a Napkin, it is opened and placed on the lap. It is normally opened fully to protect you from crumbs, however, on occasions, ladies and gentlemen will place it on the chest, below the neck to protect the clothes especially when wearing ballgowns etc. Ladies may also place the napkin on their laps with the napkin half folded with the crease away from them so they can use a corner nearest to dab their lips and then place back down so any possible lipstick stains are hidden. Napkins only get placed on the table once the meal is finished, however, if you need to leave the table during the meal then the napkin is placed on the chair. 

In my poll recently I asked, “This Easter when laying your dinner table what is the correct term for the linen cloth?”; the results were:

Napkin    78%

Serviette 22%

As you can imagine this caused a certain amount of wonderful discussion and debate as to what people felt about the terms and the uses connected to them. I personally teach people that we will continue to practice Nancy Mitford’s U & Non-U so we still refer to this piece of cloth as the Napkin! I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone, who took part in this poll and I look forward to running my next one this week. 

Breakfast Etiquette

Breakfast

One of my favourite meals of the day is the first meal of the day, breakfast! Breakfast is classed as the most important meal of the day. Those of us who skip it realise that it affects our daily performance. I have personally discovered that on many occasion, if skipped, then by lunch time I struggle with concentration and accuracy of what I am doing. I am sure this is the case for many  people who choose to do the same.

Breakfast today has become more than just cereal, cooked breakfast and toast with many variations from pancakes and syrup to chocolate cereal bars.

As with all my blogs, lets begin with a little history behind breakfast. As the name suggests, Break Fast was breaking the fast from the previous night.

An early morning meal has been taken for thousands of years going back to the Neolithic times when people then used quern-stones to grind hulled grains and then boiled them to make something similar to porridge. Workers of ancient Egypt would also eat an early morning meal of beer, bread and onions before they were put to work by the Pharaohs. In Ancient Greece, their early first meal of the day consisted of barley bread dripped in wine accompanied by figs and olives. Greeks were also known to have pancakes. In Rome, the early morning meal was known to consist of bread, cheese, olives, salad and cold meats left over from the night before, as well as drinking wine.

In the Middle Ages breakfast was not considered important, but they would have two meals during the day. One in mid morning and one early evening, though this did vary throughout Europe.

In the 13th century, Dominican priest Thomas Aquinas wrote in his Summa Theologica that breakfast committed “praepropere": a sin of eating too early, which was connected with gluttony. In this time, overindulgence and gluttony were considered wrong by the Catholic Church. The Catholics  presumed that if you ate breakfast then you had other lusty appetites too. Alcohol, wine and ale were considered to be a weakness.

Breakfast in certain areas was only taken by children, the elderly, the sick and working men. Everyone else did not speak of or take part in eating in the morning. To eat  breakfast meant that you were poor, or worked as a farmer or labourer who needed the meal to sustain work. Medieval people saw gluttony as a sin and a sign of weakness and men became ashamed of eating breakfast.

In the 15th century, breakfast included meat. At this point, noble men were seen to enjoy and take part in breakfast and therefore it became common practice. In the 16th-century the Europeans were introduced to caffeinated beverages and this paved the way for consideration to allow breakfast. It was believed that coffee and tea helped the body in “evacuation of superfluities" and it was therefore consumed in the morning.

In the early sixteenth century, some physicians warned against eating breakfast because they said it was not healthy to eat before a prior meal was digested. By the 1550s, however there were multiple sources that claimed breakfast was actually an essential necessary meal. In 1551 Thomas Wingfield stated that breakfast was an essential meal. In 1589, Thomas Cogan stated that it was unhealthy to miss breakfast in the morning. Mr Cogan was one of the first to claim that it was healthy for those who were not young, ill or elderly to eat breakfast.

Prior to 1600, breakfast in the United Kingdom included bread, cold meat, fish and of course ale.

Today, the full English breakfast consists of bacon, sausages and eggs, often served with a variety of side dishes and a beverage such as coffee or tea.

The etiquette of breakfast is very simple. Breakfast is a sit down meal with a spoon and a starter fork and two starter knives (small); you also have a side plate and napkin. Your breakfast starts with a glass of freshly squeezed orange or apple juice. You then have a cereal, such as bran or similar, followed by the full English breakfast which always includes toast. During the meal, you would take tea or coffee. The toast should arrive with the crusts cut off and in rectangles. The reason for this is the fact you never cut toast at the table, nor should you break it. The pieces in the toast rack should be small enough to eat in a few bites. You apply the butter and condiment of your choice on the side of your plate and apply it to the toast from there. If you have larger pieces of toast, don't butter and apply your condiment all in one go, rather focus on a small piece at a time, but as mentioned you don't cut or break it.

Last week I ran a poll on Twitter asking if my followers like the crusts left on or cut off. The results were the following:

Crust% on 82%

Crusts off 18%

This was an interesting result showing that the majority felt the crusts are an important part of their breakfast. I was asked what should happen to the crusts that are cut off and it is simple. All crusts are given to the chickens or to the birds.

I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part in the poll and I will run my next poll later this week.