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LECTURES
45 MIN- 60 MIN POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS

For those who love food and are fascinated by history, Eva's presentation takes you on a journey through time from the Greek Symposium to the French Revolution and on. Exploring the political intrigue, symbolism, and traditions throughout the history of the Western world to the dining customs we are familiar with today.

HISTORY OF CHAMPAGNE
(AND THE JOY OF DRINKING IT):

We associate Champagne with celebration and the good of life. The pop of the cork and the bright sparkle of bubbles emulate glamour and more often than not, the distinct possibility of romance. It is the wine of weddings and New Year's kisses. It is beautiful and delicate and above all it is a wine associated with women. Champagne was the beverage of the courts of Europe. Louis XIV rarely drank anything but wine from the region of Champagne. Madame Pompadour had a soft spot for Champagne and Napoleon Bonaparte is said to have claimed, "in victory you deserve it, in defeat you need it." Meet the men and women who brought Champagne to our table. 

HISTORY OF THE CHEF, HIS KITCHEN AND THE RESTAURANT:

"A kitchen only comes alive when you cook in it." The entire kitchen was once organized around the open hearth. When you walked into a kitchen you expected to see fire, now the presence of fire is a signal of panic.  What made the food scene spring up in Paris? Historians tend to put the creative moment after the French revolution. Saying chefs were pushed from the aristocrats kitchens as the mouths they fed, lost their heads. Also, that they were desperate to make a living and thus opened up restaurants. But, there is more to this story. A place to sell prepared food for money would never have opened if the interest wasn't there to start. After the French Revolution a new privileged class was born. Paris was flushed with money from Napoleon's conquests and Paris began to establish itself as the gourmet capital of Europe. We have a dinner invitation and the chef, known to everyone as Antonin Careme. Careme gave birth to the age of gastronomy. 

THE HISTORY OF WINE, BREAD AND SALT ON OUR TABLE:

Salt was once the most sought after commodity in human history. It was also the first traded commodity. Governments have commonly improved their finances by putting a tax on salt. So vital to life was salt that it denoted rank and defined seating arrangement at the table. People of power and importance sat at the high table "above the salt" while those of lesser rank sat at the table with family, friends and strangers. Paintings and written documents have us to view and understand how important bread has been to our survival. The wealthy man ate white bread, the merchant ate grain bread and the common poor man ate dark bran loaves. Wine became part of the cradle of the Western thought process, when Greek thinkers laid the foundation for modern Western politics, philosophy, science and law. The Romans made wine a social symbol, a mark of wealth and status of the drinker. The best wine ended up in the wealthy man's goblet. 

THE ARRIVAL OF COFFEE AND CACAO IN 17TH CENTURY EUROPE:

The arrival of coffee and cacao to Europe during the 17th century, caused many changes in the lives of Europeans and the people of the British Colonies. The impact of the introduction of coffee and tea was particularly noticeable because the most common beverage at this time, even at breakfast, was weak ale and wine. In the crowded cities these beverages were safer to drink than water. Those who drank coffee and tea instead of ale and wine, began their day alert and stimulated rather than relaxed and inebriated. The quality of their work improved and Western Europe began to emerge from an alcoholic haze that lasted for centuries. When the first commercial cargo of cacao beans arrived in Spain in 1585, hot chocolate quickly became part of the Spanish way of life among society's elite. France was next to fall under the chocolate spell.

TEA IS THE ANSWER TO EVERYTHING:

The story of Tea is the story of imperialism, industrialization and world domination, one cup at a time.

HERBS AND SPICES AND THEIR JOURNEY TO OUR TABLE:

The history of worldwide trade is the quest for spices. Not a day goes by without our taste buds coming in contact with all kinds of herbs and spices. Each and every one has its own background and nature as well as its place on our table and in culinary history. Early on, Europeans developed a fashion in cooking by using spices in their food. Dinner guests presented with highly spiced food, meant they were sitting at a wealthy man's table. The peasant, the common man, the majority of all Europeans including the New Colony was not affected by the shifts and fashion of upper-class taste. They used herbs in their cooking and exotic spices only for religious holiday meals and special celebrations. 

THE POLITICAL TABLE CLOTH (HISTORY OF TABLE LINEN):

Recounting the history of table linen is not only a delightful excuse to "Spin a tale" it also provides a fascinating insight into social rites governing the use of table linen throughout history. It tells us of life's basic everyday acts, to which the household linen is so closely linked. Information concerning linen actually owned by individuals is available to us from around the 13th century and onwards from documents known as "death inventory". These sources provide a picture assessment of quantity and type of items found in the linen closet of Medieval kings and nobility and later the wealthy bourgeoisie.

TABLE HOPPING THROUGH HISTORY
FROM A GREEK SYMPOSIUM TO HENRY VIII TABLE:

Held to strengthen alliances in politics, business and marriage, formal dinners and banquets have maintained an essential social purpose through recorded time. Indeed, much of  Western history has been written over the course of a meal. And so, in our exploration of the evolution of the dining table, we will go "table hopping" visiting Agathon of Athens, Nero, "Rome's Bad Boy" at his Dumus Aurea. We will travel to Renaissance Italy, Medieval Englad and Baroque France to discover how makers of history dined. Join me as we crash history's most important dinner parties. 

EVERYDAY LIFE AND DINING AT CHATEAU VERSAILLES:

Buzzed with spectacular food presentations, music, dancing, fireworks and gambling. The sound of the rustling of colorful silk and the sparkle of priceless gems.

THE 19TH CENTURY DINING REVOLUTION:

When Napoleon Bonparte came to power in 1804, the Industrial Revolution was in full swing. Aristocrats had lost power around the baquet and dinner table. For the first time, a "common man" was to significantly change the course of dining history. Napoleon exerted sweeping changes not just in France, but at the tables of all of Europe. It was a new and exciting time at the dining table. Perhaps the greatest of change to the dining table was the style in service. Service "a la russe" the English intorduced eating in the "English manner" and the well-apportioned Victorian home which featured a dining table filled with gleaming silver-plated dining tools. 

TASTE AND DINING TRADITION:

The pleasure of the table is a reflected sensation that originates from various places, like things, people and facts. Eating is an intelligent act or is it merely an animal one? What makes it intelligent? Is it the company, your tastebuds or your mind? Is it your social and cultural background or your economic vitality? 

Corporate Events

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Conferences

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Corporate Parties

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Employee Fun Days

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