In the golden age of opera, the diva does not dine before singing: she sups afterward. Around midnight, in the grand hotel-restaurants (the Savoy in London, the Ritz in Paris), a "fine supper" is served à la russe — dishes arrive one by one, in order, from clear soup to sweet entremets. Everything is light and refined to spare the tired throat. Daytime snacks (consommés, toasts, voice-friendly drinks) revolve around this great nocturnal scene.

The Melba hallmark is Auguste Escoffier: a cuisine that favors lightness to spare the vocal cords, and this raw raspberry coulis, never cooked, that coats the poached peach. It is this gesture — fresh fruit, perfumed syrup, tangy raw purée — that defines the signature.