King Charles II's 1671 dinner for the Garter Knights

[LouisFerdinand]

At a lavish dinner given by King Charles II of England for the Garter Knights at Windsor Castle in 1671, guests were served 145 dishes during the first course.     
The catering included 2,150 poultry, 6,000 asparagus stalks, and 22 gallons of strawberries.

[Curryong]

At a lavish dinner given by King Charles II of England for the Garter Knights at Windsor Castle in 1671, guests were served 145 dishes during the first course.     
The catering included 2,150 poultry, 6,000 asparagus stalks, and 22 gallons of strawberries.

^ Of course in those days food was served in what they called 'a la Francaise' rather than 'a la Russe' as we do now.

There would have been innumerable dishes, soups, meat, fish, sauces on the table at the one time and neighbours would have passed dishes to each other and sometimes served each other. A very friendly way of eating I think! (A disadvantage to that is that if you fancied a particular dish at the other end of the table you would have had little chance of trying it.)

Then the dishes would have been covered and taken away and another set would have arrived, along with the jellies and cakes. 'A la Russe' became fashionable in the 1860's and that's when the modern custom of one dish per course (with perhaps a few side dishes and maybe one alternative)  and at the most four or five courses, became established.