[MR] Remove vs. Course

[Elaine Koogler]

Having seen several listings of menus from various sources recently, I 
thought I'd share some information. 

Use of the word "remove" is definitely not a period usage.  As it 
happens, it is a term used to indicate the presentation and removal of a 
single dish.  The term "course" is, firstly, a perfectly period term, 
one that conveys the same meaning as we use it in modern times...a set 
of dishes that are served at a single time. 

To quote an article from Stefan's Florilegium by Countess Alys Kathrine 
(OL, OP) from "Of Course, It's Course...":

All printed references refer to the "first course" or the "second 
course" and refer to a collection of dishes, sometimes twenty or more, 
which were presented to the diners.  Dishes were brought in and set on 
the table. At least at the head table, certain dishes would be carved 
and served to the feasters. Other dishes would be placed in selected 
spots on the table. When the course was over all the dishes were taken away.

To quote from /The Appetite and the Eye/, "...there is even the recently 
adopted usage of the 'remove' (a dish to be succeeded by another). The 
circle at the head of the first-course table is inscribed: 'A pottage, 
for a remove Westphalia ham and chickens.'  The pottage was served out 
to everyone present, and its large serving-bowl or tureen was then* 
removed* (emphasis mine).  In its place was set the item of meat or fish 
written in the lower half of the circle.  The soup and its 'remove' or 
replacement marked the first step towards a different division of the 
courses which led eventually, after the coming of Russian service early 
in the nineteenth century, to the usual sequence of courses at today's 
formal dinners.

...(text removed)

A "remove", therefore, is just that.  It is a dish that is taken off the 
table after people have been served, with another being set in its 
place.  It is not a "course".  The term didn't exist until close to 1700 
or even after.  It was *new* in the early 1700s.  In no way did it ever 
exist within the SCA's time period.

Just some information that may be of interest....

Minowara Kiritsubo, OL, OP

-- 
Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it's at the end of your arm. 
As you get older, remember you have another hand: the first is to help 
yourself, the second is to help others 

                        -- Audrey Hepburn