10 Legendary Dinner Parties in History
If we are lucky, we get to eat dinner every day. While eating dinner is in itself, an ordinary ritual, there are just a few dinners that make for extraordinary legends. Decadence, survival, love, forgiveness, and heck, a bit of humility all play roles in what makes a dinner one to remember.
The Last Supper
While Jesus makes the cut for many people’s “5 People I’d Like at My Dinner Party” list, the most famous dinner party Jesus actually attended, held just before his crucifixion and later coined the “Last Supper.” Likely to have also been a Passover Seder, the Gospel of Mark 14:12 says, “And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?”” Leave it to Jesus to keep calm and carry on.
The First Thanksgiving
For many Americans Thanksgiving means one thing: Football. But that four-day-weekend in November began as a group of Puritanical Christians fled persecution in England in 1620. They set sail for the “New World” only to get lost along the way, finding shore in what is now Massachusets. They were cold, sick, starving, and didn’t know how to live off the land. Luckily (for them) Squanto, a Native American who escaped enslavement, but not before learning to speak English from his captors, showed the Puritans how to survive. When they made it through the first winter and grew a successful crop in the summer, the Pilgrims celebrated with a Thanksgiving Feast, as a thanks to the people who literally helped them survive.
The Titanic’s Final Meal
When it comes to cautionary tales, the Titanic takes the cake. The “unsinkable” luxury liner that sank on its maiden voyage is one of the most legendary examples of decadence meeting hubris and getting their just desserts. But before dessert, First Class passengers on the fabled liner, enjoyed a ten-course meal. Yes, you read that right. Ten. Courses.
First Class passengers would dedicate four or five hours to these decadent dinners. Each course was paired with a wine or other libation such as “Punch Romaine” a concoction of wine, rum, and champagne. You know, to cleanse the palate to properly enjoy the following four courses. Other items included the regulars of haute cuisine: oysters, filet mignon, lamb, duckling, and my personal favorite celery.
If you are curious about what it would have been like to eat all this, you’re in luck, because reenactments of this infamous dinner happen every year amongst Titanic enthusiasts. A little macabre, but hey, think of the costumes you can wear to this party.
The Dinner Where George H.W. Bush Vomited
While not legendary for its fanfare, extravagant food, this dinner made the list because it stands out in my mind of “things that happened at dinner parties.” So bear with me. In January of 1992, while on a trip to Japan, President George H.W. Bush, attended a state dinner with over 100 people. His seat next to the Prime Minister of Japan had cameras fixed on them, and suddenly the pale President collapsed and vomited. Bush Sr. had not been feeling well that day, after losing a doubles tennis match to the Prime Minister, he felt ill. His doctor advised him not to attend the dinner in the evening, but Bush ignored such advice and suffered the consequences. At a press conference the following week, he described the vomiting as “embarrassing.” Indeed.
Cleopatra’s Feast
Cleopatra is probably one of History's most fascinating people. Intelligent, charming, and extravagant she wagered with Mark Anthony a Roman Commander and suitor to the queen, that she could throw a more extravagant dinner than he could. After winning, Cleopatra took a pearl from her earring and dropped it in a cup of vinegar. After the pearl dissolved, she drank the pearl vinegar down to the last drop. That’s one way to get your calcium for the day.
Sir Robert Dudley’s 17-Day Feast in Honor of Queen Elizabeth I
If you thought ten courses or a freshly sacrificed lamb were decadent. Try attending a 19-day-long feast. Sir Robert Dudley was purported to be Elizabeth I’s lover, and lavishly showed his affections for his grace by throwing a feast to end all feasts. Of the over 300 dishes, items on the menu included whale vomit and dried sturgeon stomach and the decor consisted of a quarter-ton of sugar sculptures. Now who says the Elizabethans didn’t know how to party.
Parisians in 1870: Hungry Enough to Eat an Elephant. Literally.
It’s hard to imagine being in a situation where you have to eat your pets, let alone eat the animals at the zoo, but in 1870 after months of being encircled by the Prussians, Parisians were faced with just that dilemma.
On September 19th, 1870 instead of bombing the City of Lights, the Prussians blocked Paris from receiving supplies.
In the following months, Parisians ran out of food and were forced to find unusual food sources including rats and horses. For Christmas, after exhausting nearly all their food supply they turned to the zoo, and in true French tradition, they made the best of a bad situation.
The menu for the feast has since become one of the most legendary menus of all time, with elephant consume, stuffed donkey’s head, and kangaroo stew among the delicacies. The Parisians held out from being conquered for three more weeks when the Prussians finally began bombing the city.
The Dinner Table Bargain
While this dinner isn’t legendary for its exotic menu or embarrassing events, the Dinner Table Bargain of 1790 was a meal that helped shape the United States as we know it today. In June of 1790, then Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson ran into Alexander Hamilton in the temporary US Capitol of New York City. Hamilton apparently looked like a hot mess, he was frustrated with the deadlocked congress over who was going to assume the debts of individualized States of the new Union. When Jefferson saw Hamilton in this disheveled state, he invited him to dinner with James Madison, a politician who was hoping to nail down the permanent home of the US Capitol since the nation was divided by slavery. During this dinner, the three founding fathers came to an understanding which unlocked Congresses deadlock: moving the Capitol to Philidelphia then what is now Washington D.C. and to consolidate the nation’s debt enabling the new country to establish credit abroad.
Surrealist Dinner Party
When you have all the money and connections in the world. What do you do? Throw extravagant dinner parties. Naturally. On December 12, 1972, Marie-Hélène de Rothschild, a Parisian Socialite threw an epic dinner party in the spirit of Surrealism. So much so, even Salvador Dali was among the guests. The invite was written backward as to be read in the mirror instructed guests to wear “Black tie, long dresses & Surrealists heads.” The results were spectacular. Even Audrey Hepburn wore a birdcage over her head. Another woman did the perfect Marguerite Apple Face costume.
The tablescapes and place settings were works of art in their own right. Fur chargers with place card holder lips and centerpieces stranger than a Dali painting. Let’s hope Dali didn’t feel put out by the display of surreal.
The Dinner Party Where Sesame Street Was Invented
Sesame Street may seem simple but the show is revolutionary. The idea mixing education and television came from a dinner in New York City in 1966 where Lloyd Morresett a Carnegie Foundation executive complained how is daughter loved to watch TV (like all kids do!). The hostess of the party, Joan Cooney a PBS producer got the idea to investigate how to make educational programming fun for children to watch. This evolved into a series with colorful monsters, human characters and lots of fun singing and catchy tunes. I still count to twelve to the tune of that trippy pinball song from the 70's.
