Jean de La Bruyère at the table

At the table of the Grand Siècle, dishes were not served one after another as they are today: instead, the table was covered all at once, in several successive "services." First came the potages and entrées, then the roast (roasted meats and game accompanied by salads), and finally the sweet entremets, creams, preserves, and fruits. Opulence was measured by the number of dishes displayed simultaneously: at Chantilly, chez Condé, it was a veritable edible architecture. La Bruyère, a sober man, partook sparingly of this abundance.

Classic 17th-century French cuisine shunned the heavy spicing of the Middle Ages but retained a queen of acidity: verjus (juice of unripe green grapes) often replaced lemon, while cinnamon, cloves, and sugar sweetened meats as well as sweets. This sweet-and-sour edge is the true gustatory hallmark of the era.