Let them eat edible candles

last month it was eating gold, this month it's candles. Obviously the only way to finish any self respecting dinner.

A banquet was recently staged in Versailles to coincided with the opening of a major exhibition celebrating the art collection of Louis XIV 1643-17115 - French king from the age of 4 (the sun king to his friends). Louis took his food seriously and his main meal of the day would often last 4-5 hours and consist of 20 courses or more, Les hors d'oeuvre, Les potages, Les rots, Les entremets, and yes they did eat gold - Beef madrilene with gold leaf spangles, herb salad sprinkled with gold. The man entrusted with recreating this repast was Jean-Francois Piege. But it was the chocolate candles with sugar flames to finish which swung it for me. I can imagine no more civilised way to bring an evening to a close and send you off to bed. For more on the gastronomic influences of the period try this 2009 book, A revolution in taste in the library