A Taste of the Past: Menus from Lavish Luncheons, Royal Weddings, Indulgent Dinners and History's Greatest Banquets - Tapa dura

A rich collection of menu cards from historical feasts forms the basis of this journey back to an age of excess, via wartime culinary quirks and unusual gourmet delights, where kings and princes dined in style and politicians and presidents entertained one another with the fashionable food of the time. The menus themselves are delightfully decorated, and beautifully made. A dinner held in honour of General Garibaldi was graced by a paper lace meny card - the delicate filigree is still perfectly intact, unlike the warlike guest of honour. And Art Deco ladies lounge langorously in fruit dishes on the cover of a hotel menu from the early 1920s. From royal weddings to dinner at the captain's table, this fascinating collection of menus is brought to life by a commentary exploring their historical context, the people involved, and the culinary nuances of the menus themselves.

John Lane has been collecting menu cards since his father, a chef at Buckingham Palace, introduced him to the world of gourmet dining as a boy. Growing up surrounded by some the the greatest chefs in Europe, John's interest never abated and now he has a collection of hundreds of these delightful and valuable artefacts, John lives in Workingham, Berkshire.