Trenchers making a comeback...?

Lightmancer

Legend
Location
Sunny Frimley
Name
Bill Palmer
We went out to dinner last night. Not a cheap one, over £50 a head for two courses and wine.

My rump steak turned up on a wooden board, with my chips (all nine of them...) in a little galvanised steel bucket. My dessert (a really nice raspberry parfait with a small quenelle of basil ice cream) was served on a small piece of slate.

Plates have been in use for years - they are easily washed, thus hygienic and easy to store, not to say easy to eat from. why change now? Neither a chopping board nor a bit of roofing tile has the necessary concavity to contain even the slightest dribble of sauce or meat juice or indeed a melted pool of ice cream, as the waiter found to his cost when he came to clear. And chips in a bucket? Buckets are for mopping floors and slopping out.

I have decided in future that if my food is served on such poncy frippery it shall be returned to the kitchen forthwith, with a request for it to be returned upon a simple, honest plate, round, white, food for the use of.
 
I do recall a particular dish of fame that was served on a shingle, so there is historical precedence.

Five Guys Burgers serves fries/chips in a large bag. As long as my food-serving-receptacle is not actually disposable I consider it fine dining.
 
We went out to dinner last night. Not a cheap one, over £50 a head for two courses and wine.

My rump steak turned up on a wooden board, with my chips (all nine of them...) in a little galvanised steel bucket. My dessert (a really nice raspberry parfait with a small quenelle of basil ice cream) was served on a small piece of slate.

Plates have been in use for years - they are easily washed, thus hygienic and easy to store, not to say easy to eat from. why change now? Neither a chopping board nor a bit of roofing tile has the necessary concavity to contain even the slightest dribble of sauce or meat juice or indeed a melted pool of ice cream, as the waiter found to his cost when he came to clear. And chips in a bucket? Buckets are for mopping floors and slopping out.

I have decided in future that if my food is served on such poncy frippery it shall be returned to the kitchen forthwith, with a request for it to be returned upon a simple, honest plate, round, white, food for the use of.

I'm with you. If you want to be really daring, send it back and demand it be served on a well-washed 8x10 sheet film holder.

Cheers, Jock
 
For anyone like me who is clueless as to "trencher" here you go:

From wikipedia:

A trencher (from Old French tranchier; "to cut") is a type of tableware, commonly used in medieval cuisine. A trencher was originally a flat round of bread used as a plate, upon which the food could be placed before being eaten.[1] At the end of the meal, the trencher could be eaten with sauce, but was more frequently given as alms to the poor. Later the trencher evolved into a small plate of metal or wood.



375px-BLW_Trencher.jpg
 
Largely. It was at a local hotel named The Aviator - judge for yourself ;) Thing is, you can eat better and cheaper at a Michelin-starred restaurant such as L'Ortolan*. It's a hotel brasserie, for heaven's sake. Pretentiousness is style without substance, in my opinion.

*where they use "plates"...
 
In Senegal, food was often served on pieces of discarded paper cement bag... but I do feel your pain, especially when liquids are involved.

Learned a new word in English today, thanks Bill and Dean! :)
 
If you will eat in establishments owned by stupidly-expensive-and-noove-watch manufacturers, you deserve all you get ... and it's in farnbro' for god's sake.
 
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