What did the regulars of the intellectual and culinary clubs of the past, which could still be popular today, do?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In the 18th - 19th centuries, like mushrooms after rain, various clubs appeared. Gentlemen's clubs like White's and hobby communities thrived literally everywhere. Regardless of hobbies, interests, religion or political convictions of a person, there was a club for everyone. Sometimes it seemed that people didn’t want to go home. The culinary clubs offered good food, gourmet companionship, brandy, cigars, and most importantly, common interests. But some clubs have gone further. They sought to combine intellectual interests with food. Sometimes this led to, to put it mildly, strange results.

1. Fish Eaters Club

The Ichthyophagous Club was one of the most dining clubs in New York. From 1880 to 1887, the club held an elaborate banquet each year, during which members tried to eat as many unusual sea creatures as possible. The goal of the club, according to its members, was to prove that there are a number of edible creatures that remain underappreciated in this regard (which, in their opinion, is a shame).

The club members included fishing experts (but not fishermen, who were considered too "down to earth"), foodies, journalists and writers. The first dinner was featured in the New York Times and reportedly served Spanish-style moonfish, sea cock and lettuce. By the third year, the club served dolphin steaks, lampreys (with teeth), breaded in breadcrumbs, and shark croquettes. At the last banquet, there were already 15 species of sea creatures, ranging from common salmon to stewed turtle. The dolphin tasted particularly bad, the alligator steak went well, and the starfish soup was a hit of the evening. Ultimately, the club did not last long.

2. The glutton club

The Glutton Club was not founded to simply overeat. Rather, the members of the club gathered to taste "strange flesh", and that sounds even more ominous. The people under the leadership of the young Charles Darwin were eager to try new products. They began with a bird, eating a hawk and drinking. But when they came across a particularly tough owl, they switched to meat from "more common" animals. Darwin did not give up unusual eating habits during his travels, enjoying the taste of the armadillo and some other animals that cannot be found in Europe. Rumor has it that he somehow jumped up right in the middle of lunch when he realized that he was eating a very rare bird. He immediately took her meat away for study.

3. Bullingdon Club

Founded in the 18th century, the Bullingdon Club opened its doors only to Oxford students who had enough money and connections. The dining club soon became known for its lavish celebrations, alcohol consumption in large quantities, and downright vile behavior of its members. Wealthy aristocrats defiled both private and university property, insulted the staff who cooked for them, harassed waitresses, ransacked restaurants, and engaged in bizarre and illegal dining rituals. Although the club still exists today, its membership has dwindled, in large part because details were leaked to the press about how abominable the rite of passage was for the British Prime Minister, who was once a member of the club.

4 Beaver club

The Beaver Club was founded in Canada in 1785 and only admitted fur traders. To become members, candidates had to spend the winter in the harsh Northwest Territories and have a reputation for being honest citizens. The club held meetings every two weeks, and once a year they had a big banquet, which was to be attended by all the participants. It was one of the many rules clubs. Lunch attendance was a must unless someone was sick or away on business. Beaver Club members were encouraged to share stories during their meetings of the hardships and dangers they experienced during their travels. At such dinners, pemmican was served - a mixture of dried buffalo meat, berries and fat. Pemmican was the staple food of such people during their travels, but at the club it was served on silver platters in a sumptuous dining room. At the end of the evening, these fur traders sat on the floor in a row, as if in a large canoe, and pretended to row on their imaginary boats, singing "courageous" songs at the same time.

5 Club

In 1764, writer Samuel Johnson and painter Joshua Reynolds created their own dining club for artists and gentlemen associated with literature. The Club's motto was: Esto perpetua (Let it always be). It sounded impressive, but nobody seems to know what it means. The members of the club (originally there were 12) met at the "Turk's Head" tavern in London's Soho, where they had a hearty dinner, talked and drank a lot. The number of members continued to grow, which clearly did not please the founders. And they were especially annoyed by the appearance of politicians in the club.

6 Explorers Club

In 1904, a group of adventurers decided to create their own club in New York with the aim of promoting adventure and nature conservation. Among the participants were the pioneers who were the first to climb Mount Everest, step on the surface of the moon and descend into the deepest depths of the ocean. The Explorers Club contains several strange artifacts, including a Yeti scalp and the remains of an elephant with four tusks. Once a year, the organization hosts a dinner for its members and guests. These dinners have given a whole new meaning to the term "exotic food". Dishes are prepared by top chefs and include delicacies such as tarantulas and big game. However, in 1951, the club's customs sparked controversy when it was revealed that one of the dinners was served with the meat of a frozen woolly mammoth found in Alaska. It was assumed that the mammoth was discovered by a researcher with the nickname "Priest of the Glacier". The meat sample was kept in a museum and then DNA tested. It turned out that it was actually the meat of a green sea turtle. The Explorers' Club still exists today, and in the same way holds an annual banquet. But the woolly mammoth is no longer on the menu.

7 Princeton food clubs

Princeton University is known for its large number of food clubs. The first such official club, known as Ivy, was founded in 1879. Applicants are required to complete 10 one-on-one interviews with club members on a variety of subjects. After that, the entire composition (more than 100 people) votes for the potential candidate. To be accepted, a candidate must receive 100 percent of the vote, which is quite a daunting task. The food club idea came about when a group of wealthy students, unimpressed by the meager menu on campus, decided to organize their own meals. They rented rooms at Ivy Hall, hired a cook and waitress, and bought themselves a pool table for after-dinner entertainment. Today there are 11 such clubs in Princeton.

8 Couch club

The Divan Club was founded in 1744 by John Montague, 4th Earl of Sandwich, and Sir Francis Dashwood. Membership was only available to those who visited the Ottoman Empire. In fact, the club gets its name from the Turkish word for council or assembly of rulers. The goal of the club was to allow members to share their experiences in the East. After lunch, the participants made a toast to the club "a harem". The club lasted less than two years. It is believed that the main reason for its closure was that the criteria for membership were so strict that almost no one could apply for membership.

9 Beefsteak Club

During the 18th and 19th centuries, several dining clubs were called the Beefsteak Club. The first of these was founded in 1705, and its full name was The Sublime Society of Beefsteaks. It was immediately successful, and included members of the nobility, eminent personalities and royalty. The meetings were held weekly. Participants dressed in blue coats and vests with brass buttons that read Beef and Freedom. Dinner was always served with steak with baked potatoes and lots of port. More steak clubs soon opened, each with their own rules and terms of membership. But they all advocated the importance of freedom and the elevation of steak-shaped beef. Although the club disappeared in the 19th century, it was rebuilt in 1966 and has been meeting regularly since then.

10 Hellfire Club

The Hellfire Club (or, to use its less catchy official name, The Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe) was founded in the mid-18th century by Sir Francis Dashwood (yes, the same man who also founded the Sofa Club). He bought an old Cistercian abbey for use as a meetinghouse. Dashwood had a deep hatred of Catholics, so he came up with the club and its rituals as a mockery of the Catholic Church. In fact, the rituals of the club were deliberate pseudo-religious "mumbo-jumbo". The organization held a meeting of chapters twice a year. Members wore hats that were a cross between berets and clown hats, with "Love and Friendship" embroidered on the front. The men enjoyed sumptuous and extravagant dinners and were encouraged to bring in women of a "cheerful, cheerful disposition." The members of the club were called "monks" and their companions were considered "lawful wives", at least for the duration of their visit. In 1762, Dashwood was named Chancellor of the Exchequer. It suddenly occurred to him that the audience might not appreciate the humorous nature of the club the way he did. After that, he abandoned The Hellfire Club, which quickly languished without guidance.