In 1592 the rich folk of Europe used to wear fancy, albeit uncomfortable looking things called a ruff around their necks. See this picture painted in the early 1600’s called ‘Portrait of an Old Woman’ by Frans Hals of Antwerp. Popular King Henry IV wore a ruff too.
In fact in Paris 1592 King Henry IV inaugurated use of the very first fork ever because of his ruff. The food tool was designed to keep people’s dinner off of their ruffs. Henry may have been a slave to fashion but using the fork stuck, so to speak.
This establishment where the 1st fork thing went down with Henry happened at a restaurant known as Tour d’Argent. This place once made a menu for a dinner hosted by the Duke of Richelieu, who was the nephew of a French Cardinal, that consisted solely of beef prepared 30 different ways! I wonder if this is where steak tartare came from? In 1929, La Tour d’Argent prepared it’s 100,000th famous ‘Caneton Tour D’Agent’ dish. For the curious non French reader this translates as pressed duck. They began numbering the amazing dish in 1890 and served pressed duck number 1,000,000 in 2003. That reminds me of a joke that always quacks me up.
Q: Why did the duck cross the road?
A: He saw a Tour d’Argent chef ahead.
You can read more about the historic La Tour d’Argent and it’s history at https://tourdargent.com/en/heritage/ To read more about the famous chefs of La Tour d’Argent click to
http://www.foodreference.com/html/artlatourdargent.html
