Entrée de table, entrance, or entrée, appetizer, aperitif

Entrée de Table: Appetizers for a Medieval Feast

The entrée de table (or entrance to the table) refers to the first stage of a historical feast. Long before the main meal began, this was the array of dishes placed on the table before diners entered the room—designed to awaken the appetite and set the tone for what followed.

The term entrée appears around 1536 (Hyman, 1992), and while its modern meaning has shifted, its medieval function was clear: light, enticing foods and drinks to open the meal. Think of it as the historical precursor to the modern appetizer or aperitif.

Historical Sources and Examples

• Le Ménagier de Paris offers a first platter of:
  • Veal or fish pies
  • Sausages
  • Toast rounds with a sweet wine or grape juice
  • Capons in cumin sauce
  • Cress and sorrel with vinegar
  • Olives and veal tarts
• John Russell’s Boke of Nurture suggests:
  • Brawn with mustard
  • Herb and wine pottages
  • Leche Lombard

Ideas for the Modern Medieval Table

The modern feast-goer expects something ready to taste upon sitting. A medieval-inspired entrée de table can be as simple or as elaborate as you like. Consider serving:

• Sweet wines or mulled beverages
• Boiled eggs with herbs or sauces
• Spiced confections (ginger, caraway, fennel, anise, or cumin)
• Fresh fruit: grapes, peaches, cherries, strawberries, melon
• Dressed lettuces or cabbages (oil, vinegar, or verjuice)
• Honeyed tarts, preserved fruits, or cheeses
• Cold pies or sausages, especially veal or poultry-based

Recipe Index: Medieval Appetizers & Entrées

Below is a growing list of recipes appropriate for this stage of a medieval-style meal. This assumes a four-course structure:

1. Entrée de Table (Appetizer)
2. First Course
3. Second Course
4. Final Course / Dessert

Click the links below to explore period-appropriate starters:

• Spiced Wine (Hypocras)
• Herbed Boiled Eggs
• Peach Tart with Rosewater
• Capon in Cumin Sauce
• Brawn with Mustard

Recipe Index: Medieval Appetizers & Entrées

• A far morselletti Romaneschi
• Aemaze あえまぜ
• Bryndons
• Fish flavored in sake (sakabite)
• Fride Creme of Almaundys - Cold Cream of Almonds
• Fukujinzuke (red pickles for curry)
• Garbage
• Gari ガリ
• Gyngaudre
• How to pickle Cowcumbers
• Insalata di arance tagliate a fette, servite con zucchero e acqua di rose
• Kohaku-namasu 紅白なます
• Let Lardes
• Mikawa ae (みかわあへ)
• Milke Rostys - Fried Custard
• Mortrews of Pork & Chicken
• Mortrews of Fish
• Pickled Barberries (Blueberries/Lingonberries)
• Pickled Mushrooms
• Quynade
• Sarada yō kyabetsu (Japanese Slaw)
• Sausages, Otherways
• Tamagoyaki - 玉子焼き - Japanese Rolled Omelette
• To make a grand Sallet of minced Capon, Veal, roast Mutton, Chicken or Neats tongue
• To Marinate Salmon to Be Eaten Cold
• To Pickle Grapes
• To pickle Purslane to keep all the year
• Vaccina salpresa alessata, servito con petrosemolo
• Vegetarian Gyoza 餃子