#schauessen

In the mid-eighteenth century, new decorative possibilities transformed the European table. Ephemeral displays made of edible materials-- sugar, marzipan, cut fruits and meats, and all manner of foodstuffs-- were increasingly replaced by the permanent and more durable medium of ceramics. 

Despite the shift in medium, the same decorative impulse prevailed. The table was set to thrill and delight, and trompe l’oeil ceramics satisfied this baroque desire for wit and trickery. “In Summa: Everything what Nature deigns to bring forth: And when it can be Life-Sized and done well, one can often deceive with it," advised one early eighteenth-century German cookbook. Within the context of a banquet, with flickering candlelight and the distractions of wine  and charming company, the eye could easily be fooled into believing that the eggs on this plate were part of the meal. 

Dish of Eggs, c. 1770. Manufactured in Sceaux, France. Tin-glazed earthenware. Collection of the Bowes Museum, County Durham.

I actually hate deviled eggs (maybe I would like Ruth Reichl's version? It's possible. But I'm not wasting perfectly good eggs--which can be shaken with gin to make the world's best breakfast, i.e. the Ramos Gin Fizz-- to find out). But I love trompe l'oeil.

Schauessen = Aufsätze und Speisen, welche zum Anschauen und nicht zum Genuß auf einer Tafel bei feierlichen Gastmahlen aufgesetzt werden. 

"Schauessen = Displays and dishes which are displayed on table at festive meals only to be looked at and not for pleasure" (translation mine).

From Johann Hübner. Zeitungs- und Conversations-Lexikon. 31st ed. Rev. by F. A. Rüder. Vol. 4. Leipzig: Johann Fr. Gleditsch, 1828.

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Definitions matter. So do translations. My translation is perhaps a bit misleading: Genuß here means pleasure or enjoyment, but the original German perhaps has a stronger sense of the specific pleasure that comes from eating or consuming something. 

Hübner's lexicon isn't wrong that a Schauessen isn't there for gustatory satisfaction. But what, exactly, counts as pleasure? The pleasures and entertainments of the seventeenth century were not necessarily those of the nineteenth, so perhaps someone sitting in Biedermeier Germany would not have found architectural sugar sculptures or fruit carved to resemble ducks all that amusing. The thrill is mostly gone from ice swan sculptures for the twenty-first century viewer, as well, although Sandra Lee's tablescapes never cease to amaze me. (Don't worry. We're not going there. Yet.) 

The Schauessen existed solely to provide pleasure, but a visual pleasure and a delight in deception, artistry, and craftsmanship that was a source of marvel to a certain audience. So, did Hübner miss that point, or does this definition merely reflect a time when the Schauessen no longer mattered?

Image: "Sugar Cube House (Tablescape Centerpiece)" from Sandra Lee, Semi-Homemade Cooking

An important note from the recipe: "If you choose to use the hot glue, the decorations will not be edible."

Schauessen, Schaugericht, ein Essen, ein Gericht, welches nicht wirklich gegessen werden soll, sondern nur zur Schau aufgesetzt wird. Es sind bei großen Gastereien ziemlich aufgeputzte Aufsätze und Speisen, welche bloß zum Zierrath und Augenweide auf der Tafel unter andere Speisen aufgesetzt oder an deren Stelle wegen Figur des Tafelrisses eingeschoben werden, aber jedes Mal unangeschnitten stehen bleiben. Man gebraucht hierzu allerhand buntfarbige Gallerte, wilde und zahme ausgeputzte Schweinsköpfe etc.

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Schauessen, show-dish, a food, a dish which cannot actually be eaten but is only set up for show. These are, at large gatherings, rather decked out displays and foods, which are merely for decoration and there as a feast for the eyes. They are merely placed on the table in the midst of other dishes or inserted in their place because of the shape of the table, but they remain untouched every time. One uses for this all kinds of colorful jellies, the cleaned out heads of wild and domesticated pigs, etc.

From D. Johann Georg Krünitz, Oekonomische Encyklopädie oder allgemeines System der Staats- Stadt- Haus- und Landwirthschaft, 1773-1858, online and searchable here.

By the time of Krünitz, the Schauessen was mostly a relic of past practices. The Carver's art was no longer admired at grand banquets, and in the eighteenth century, permanent ceramic decorations replaced ephemeral Schauessen that had been previously crafted of food. This faience boar's is an example of how clay replaced carcasses on the table.

Das Schauessen […] ein Essen, d.i. ein Gericht welches nicht wirklich gegessen werden soll, sondern nur zur Schau aufgesetzet wird; ein Schaugericht.

The Schauessen […] is food, that is, a dish that cannot actually be eaten, but rather is set up just for show; a show-dish (Schaugericht).

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From Johann Christoph Adelung, Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der hochdeutschen Mundart, Vienna, 1811. (Translation mine).

NB, I am not, emphatically not, advocating translating Schauessen or Schaugericht as a “show-dish.” But... I've got nothing. (One could be totally anachronistic and call it a tablescape, but... um. No.) 

“Die Schauessen werden solche Gerichte genennet, welche von Menschenhänden gemacht, lieblich anzuschauen und auch können genossen werden: Sie belüstigen erstlich die Augen, nachgehends den Mund, und werdens meisten Theils auffgesetzt wann man sich bereit mit andren Speisen gesättigt hat.” 

One calls such dishes Schauessen that are made by the hand of man, are lovely to look at and can also be enjoyed: they primarily please the eye, and only after that the mouth, and are for the most part displayed after one has already been satiated from other dishes.

From Georg Philipp Harsdörffer, Vollständig, vermehrtes Trincir-Buch [...], Nuremberg: Paulus Fürsten Kunsthändlern, 1657. (As usual, translation mine.)

The previous installment on Schauessen, here.