Supper : Supper is a meal taken late in the evening or at night, after a show or with friends.
Formerly, the word designated the evening meal (today called "dinner"), most often consisting of a soup. It was from the XNUMXth century that the fashion for supper as an intimate and late dinner imposed itself in high society, which copied the famous Regent suppers: they prepared refined, rich and extravagant cuisine, alternating between gras (marinated wild boar kidneys) and lean (oysters in cream) followed by cakes, pies, salads and desserts.
This habit continued under Louis XV; marquises and duchesses practiced in the stoves, all the more freely since the servant was often kept away from those gallant evenings, where witticisms were exchanged and cabals were held. Until the middle of the XNUMXth century, supper was the necessary conclusion to any successful evening; when it was a question of a ball, it was the orchestra which gave the signal for the supper by a brass band. Then, little by little, it was abandoned, because it was too expensive and caused too much embarrassment. It was sometimes replaced by buffets or refreshments. Nevertheless, intimate supper remained the prerogative of a refined elite, and restaurateurs kept the practice, especially those who had private offices.
Nowadays, we still sometimes have supper at the end of a show, at home or in a restaurant, often with a platter of oysters, foie gras or some refined dish, sometimes with traditional dishes such as onion gratinée. or the grilled piece of beef.
(See " Medianoche " and " New Year's Eve ").