The food culture of the Prussian king

A chef for every guest

We expect kings to go all out rather than do things by halves. We imagine a carefree life of abundance, lavishly set banquet tables, and fried chicken flying into open mouths. But of course, it wasn’t quite that extravagant—at least not every day. Friedrich ’s the Great’s daily routine, for example, was very strictly scheduled: After his morning coffee, the monarch devoted himself to playing the flute; at 9 a.m., the cabinet ministers arrived; and from 10 to 11, he held audiences. At 12 o’clock sharp, guests were invited to the luncheon table, which usually lasted three hours. Frederick’s dinner parties, attended by seven to ten guests, were famous; conversation was conducted in French, while 12 chefs in the royal kitchen took care of the culinary delights. Hearty and substantial dishes were the king’s favorites—much to the chagrin of his doctors, no doubt: cabbage, ham, eel pâté, celery soup, anchovies, pickled cucumbers, pastries, and polenta. The spicier, the better.

Wine and prejudice

Until coffee time, Friedrich II once again devoted himself to music and his correspondence, after which he resumed receiving guests. At 6:00 p.m., the evening banquet began, once again with a small group of guests, as large festive banquets with up to 1,000 people were the exception even for the king. The wine served was, unsurprisingly, of French origin, usually a Bergerac or a Bordeaux. Rhine wines never found their way into the king’s glass, because he blamed them for his father’s gout: “Anyone who wants a foretaste of being hanged need do nothing more than drink Rhine wine,” he is said to have remarked once. – What irony that he himself later died a man plagued by gout.

The king's favorite service

Just as much as he brought bad publicity to wine from the Rhine region, Frederick the Great was a lover of porcelain. When he acquired the “ Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur ” in 1763, he himself became its best customer. Starting in 1774, tableware made of “white gold” replaced the silver plates that had been in common use at the palace until then. His favorite set was the NEUZIERAT, designed in 1767 by Friedrich Elias Meyer. The elegant relief of leaf tendrils, flowers, and rocaille on the rim artfully framed the delicacies on the plates. What made it special was the color scheme of gold and the matte blue hue Friedrich loved so much— Bleu mourant, which means “dying blue”—a term reminiscent of the slightly bluish complexion of people who feel dizzy, and from which the idiom “blümerant” was derived.

In its pure white version, NEUZIERAT—whose design has remained unchanged to this day—has stood the test of time across all eras. If you, too, would like to dine like Friedrich , the Great, this tableware set will lend your dining table at home an elegant splendor. Which dish from the royal menu would you be more likely to serve: cabbage soup à la Fouqué with partridge and bacon, or chicken with stuffed cucumber, English-style?