Thersandre keeps one of the finest tables in Paris, frequented by the most discerning courtiers. Instead of entertaining his visitors, however, he has decided to woo Lucile and her mother Melinte in his private apartments. While his guests wait for a dinner that never arrives, they recount their culinary exploits and compare notes about their favourite delicacies, including a potage aux oignons blancs farcis and a canard sauvage. Published in 1665, Les Costeaux ou les marquis frians is an unsigned one-act comedy that satirizes the culinary fashions of seventeenth-century high society. The...