Borza Tibor (szerk.): A Magyar Kereskedelmi és Vendéglátóipari Múzeum évkönyve 1976 (Budapest, Magyar Kereskedelmi és Vendéglátóipari Múzeum, 1976)

Gundel Imre: A Múzeum menülapgyűjteménye

IMRE GUNDEL THE COLLECTION OF MENUES IN THE CATERING TRADES MUSEUM This is really a continuation, containing addenda of an article published in an aerlier Almanac. It is based on about 3,000 menues in the Museum, but there are questions which made it necessary to make use of another 2,000 menues as well. In the introduction the author deals with classification from the points of view of places of origin and the time of writing. He goes on to describe three main types. He discusses nomenclature giving examples. He goes on to sequences and, using 120 menues analyzes sequences of 5—14-course meals from the point of view of their basic materials. He analyzes the evolution of the numbers of courses between 1870—1945. We learn here that the special and characteristic items of the Hungarian cuisine are on menues only in the 20s and 30s of our century. For several reasons coffee and beverages were not mentioned on roughly half the menues. Drinks often have general names but in other cases not only the sorts, but also their places of origine, or even the growers and the bottling firms are named. In the mentioned material we can find 90 year old wines, and 123 year old brandy as well. The article deals with the sequence and number of drinks on the menues and also with names unknown at present. The menues offer a great deal of information. The occasion for which they were written is the most important. The author offers 130 examples to prove how multifarious they were. Beside the names of the firms different kinds of advertisements, the headings and dates the menues often give prices, or serve as seating cards, sometimes containing the seating order of the whole company. Toasts, congratulations musical pieces or programmes and other information are sometimes included. Notes on them are also often important information. The last section of the chapter deals with post 1945 types of menues. Finally language, spelling and humour are discussed. Some menues of special interest are described. A section on preparing the menue cards concludes the article. 304