A LOOK INTO THE PAST

A banquet and its organization are elements of an ancient culture that originates from diverse

social classes. The rich as well as the poor used to hold a banquet to celebrate civil and religious

events. Needless to say, that those banquets differed from one another depending on the cultural

traditions and economic means, but they all had the same aim.

The food and the table have always played the main part, from grand Roman salons to the Medici's

courts, and in the dynasties of France and England.

In Ancient Greece they used to serve ready-made food on a small wooden table. This style of

service still exists nowadays and is named "à la Russian"; it corresponds to a common way of

serving dishes already placed on the plates..

During the Roman Empire even the table was characterized with luxury and pomposity, meals

became refined and elegant, which was a distinctive symbol of wealthy classes. In those times a

great importance was given also to tableware and dishware which usually were made of lead and

bronze.

In the Classic Age the convivial moment was not only an occasion to demonstrate good taste of life,

in reality it was more a public than a private rite full of social and political significance.

In the Medieval Times, a banquet held by a noble man became a kind of public performance with a

lot of acting which let him show off his richness and power.

The first set of etiquette rules started to be formulated in the courts; it was aimed at systematizing

the norms of carrying out a banquet, for example, how to lay the table and which good manners to

stick to during the meal. In the 16th century started the tradition to use round dining tables in order

to overcome the hierarchical difference among the guests (in Medieval Times the seats were

assigned according to the guest's social importance; the less important people sat further away from

the landlord)

In the 18th century started a reversal tendency: the convivial moments even within a family

became more austere. First the nobility and then the middle classes started to use the etiquette as a

discriminating factor with the plebeian class. With the fallen privileges of the nobility and the rise

of the middle class in the social structure spread the custom of organizing feasts in the hotels and

restaurants (which was rarely used for wedding receptions).

The growth of the social wellness spread during the economic boom in the 1970s entailed general

availability of places used for ceremonies. That is why many people were pushed to search more

exclusive places, like villas and castles, which used to be closed for years. In Italy the growth of

mass tourism in the 1970s marked the development in the restaurant sector, so the establishment of

the catering was brought into being by the demand to satisfy the diverse flows of customers.

The word catering started to be used in the Italian language in 1971, while banqueting dates back

to the first half of the 1990s (1994) when appeared the demand to elevate the odor of the meal

courses served together to a service of a different quality.

A LOOK INTO THE PRESENT

In the restaurant world, we speak of catering for a relatively short time: the places where we serve

lunch and dinner prepared by professionals were, by definition, the restaurants. Today it is a

flourishing art whose name (catering & banqueting) evokes efficient organization, competence

and business.

A caterer works closely with clients to design, prepare, and serve menus for events, including

wedding dinners, charity balls, holiday brunches, office lunches, and any other occasion where

people gather and consume food. A caterer must understand how certain dishes work together, have

strong interpersonal, particularly listening, skills, and the ability to manage a cooking and serving

staff. Over 70 percent of all catering services are owner-run, so many caterers must also have sharp

business acumen. The caterer must guarantee an appropriate safety food management system based

on the principles of HACCP ( Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point) and implementing them.

FUTURE TRENDS IN CATERING

The world of restaurant and catering is always looking for new ideas, to innovate, to amaze and

why not, to improve the quality of the food it offers. There are two slogans that pervade trends and

culinary innovations of 2012: health and sustainability, foods and flavors to give pleasure

without harm to health.

One of the most interesting trends is the spread of food without salt. The human body, in fact,

does not need more salt contained naturally in foods. With a little 'skill you can cook good food

without salt: it is to combine foods with less salt or spices, seafood, vegetables with sour or bitter,

creating contrasts of flavors that make up for the need of salt.

Another interesting trend is the raw food, which consists of eating only raw or cooked foods unless

it 48 degrees. The raw food is stated in vegetarian and vegan cuisine. The theory holds that the

human body to be strong and healthy, it needs elements of nature, fresh and healthy, as they are.

As for the other aspect, that of the sustainability of the food, there is a widespread tendency to seek

products Zero Kilometer, that is directly from the farmland. The idea is to avoid excessive

contamination from transport with the happy consequence of stimulating the local economy.

Given the progressive depopulation of fish resources more and more people are sensitive to the

issue of sustainable and responsible fisheries and accordingly call for catering to account for the

origin of the fish, and avoid serving protected species in danger of extinction.

u