An invitation to twelve historic dinner parties from a dining historian who gracefully traverses ten centuries of Western history in answer to the question, what does it mean to dine? Carolin Young believes that eating is biological and that dining is what makes us human. APPLES OF GOLD IN SETTINGS OF SILVER is a celebration of this philosophy, where the universal impulse to dine elegantly is on exquisite display. Each of these twelve time-travelling banquets offers an opportunity to dine with some of Europe's most fascinating personalities; to sample the food and music, the wardrobe and etiquette that marked such infamous occasions as Casanova's seduction diners, Talleyran's foreign-affairs soirees, and the entertainments of bell epoque Vienna, inspired by the ancient Egyptian adage, "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." In the telling emerge such important developments in the history of dining as the European discovery of porcelain, the introduction of the fork, and the arrival of turkeys from the New World.
