Riddling Menus

A History

Authors

  • Leehu Sigler Independent Scholar Author
  • Nathalie Cooke McGill University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/ppc.27825

Keywords:

riddles, Meals, dining customs, ludic, word play, chinese literature, ancient rome, menus, enigmas, bills of fare, 19th-century, conundrum suppers, United States, social history, fundraising, satire, 18th century, United Kingdom

Abstract

The article looks at the  phenomenon of the dinnertime "riddling competition" that, as attested in literature and customs have served as opportunity and script for wide participation in dinnertime con­versation. Riddles at dinner and during festive occasions are present throughout much of documented history. In China, riddling during the lantern festival goes back to at least the Six Dynasties period, spanning the third to sixth centuries. In Western culture, too, riddles appear at meals and other festive occasions since the Biblical story of Samson and the Philistines.

Author Biographies

  • Leehu Sigler, Independent Scholar

    Leehu Sigler is a researcher, writer, and editor with a graduate degree from McGill University’s English Department. His current research projects include riddling foodways, the history of menus, and nineteenth-century ciphers. Having spent the past three years reading and writing about Enigmatic Bills of Fare, he now sees them everywhere.

  • Nathalie Cooke, McGill University

    Nathalie Cooke is an English professor at McGill University in Montreal and associate dean of the University’s Library, responsible for stewarding and animating McGill’s rare and special collections. She is currently writing a book about the history of menus.

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Published

2021-08-01

Issue

PPC 120 (2021)

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Sigler, Leehu, and Nathalie Cooke. 2021. “Riddling Menus: A History”. Petits Propos Culinaires, August, 12-45. https://doi.org/10.1558/ppc.27825.