The laying of the table: couverts, glassware and napery

The French table is laid according to an order that grew out of the great households and the restaurants of the nineteenth century, and it was in the professional kitchens and dining rooms of that period that its rules were fixed. Henri-Paul Pellaprat, who taught and wrote as a practising chef, set down the arrangement of the cover in Modern French Culinary Art as part of the craft of the kitchen and dining room, and his account serves here as the guide to the usage.

The cloth comes first. It is white, of linen or of a good cotton, laid over a felt or a thin undercloth so that plates and glasses make no noise and the surface lies smooth. It is ironed so that the folds fall in straight lines, and it hangs evenly on every side. The napkin, of the same material, is folded simply and set on the plate or to the left of the cover; elaborate folding is a matter of the household and not of the rule. The couvert is the place laid for one guest, and it is measured so that each guest has room to eat without crowding a neighbour. The cutlery is arranged in the order in which it will be used, working from the outside towards the plate. Knives are set to the right with the cutting edge turned towards the plate, forks to the left, and the spoon for the soup to the right beside the knives. The tines of the forks and the bowls of the spoons are laid according to the usage of the house, but the order of the courses governs the sequence in every case. Cutlery for the dessert is conventionally brought in with the course or laid above the plate, so that the cover is not overcrowded at the outset. Only what the menu requires is laid, since a piece of cutlery without a use has no place on the cloth. The glasses stand to the right, above the knives, in the order of the wines to be poured. The water glass is the largest and is set nearest the guest, the red wine glass beside it, then the white, and the glass for the wine of the dessert or for champagne last. The glasses are clean and polished and are held by the stem when set down, so that no mark is left on the bowl. Bread is placed to the left of the cover on the cloth or on a small plate, and salt, pepper and the cruets are set between guests, so that they are within reach of all. The plates complete the cover. A service plate may stand at each place when the guests sit down and is taken away when the first course is served. Plates for hot dishes are warmed and those for cold dishes are kept cool, because a dish served on a plate of the wrong temperature loses what the kitchen gave it. The whole arrangement is checked before the guests enter the room, with the distances between covers, the alignment of the cutlery and the cleanliness of the glass examined by the one responsible for the service. The discipline of the laid table prepares the meal, and the order of what is on the cloth announces the order of what will follow.

The laying of the table serves the dish at the moment of eating. Warmed plates keep hot food at its proper temperature, glasses of the right size and shape allow each wine to show its aroma, and cutlery suited to the course lets the guest eat the dish as the cook intended.