A Recipe for Success

Partridge soup with cabbage, veal's ear croquette, émincé of fattened chicken with cucumber, baby rabbit à la Genevoise, loin of mutton with iced water… As impressive as it is mouth-watering, this menu for the meal wolfed down by Louis XV on 21 June 1751 has been unearthed from the Château de Versailles archives for an unprecedented project shedding light on heritage through the prism of gastronomy. A thematic audioguide will provide fresh material for a tour of the Grands Appartements – and the Petits Appartements, too, with human mediation. The visit will be multidisciplinary, mingling artistic, culinary, social and political considerations, and will cover the iconography of various species (like tomatoes, which were used for decoration before being eaten), as well as the expertise of the royal porcelain factories. The strict etiquette in vogue at the sovereign's table, where 500 officers of the king's household had to parade before him, reminds us that his meals were nothing less than a further instrument…