Breaking napkins

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Napkin break (swan), Sisi Museum Silberkammer , Vienna - Hofburg

The napkins breaking (also napkins refraction ) or the napkin folding part next to the coverslipping of the table to the minimum requirements of professional training in hospitality industry , catering and utility . At least three techniques of breaking napkins ( boiled beef , crown, fan) must be mastered, taking into account hygienic and ergonomic requirements , in order to be able to decorate the tables for guests. Mouth napkins are usually tastefully broken and are draped directly on the tablecloth or the table top, on festive occasions on presentation plates , then high-quality cloth napkins (from 40 cm side length) are used.

“The imaginative folding of napkins is an old art, but unfortunately it is dying out. The complicated creations in the form of fans, fish, shells, swans, ducks or flowers were used as table decorations, especially in the early baroque period. You can only achieve this if the napkin is made of the finest linen and is of a certain size. The emperor's napkin suitable for this is 1 x 1 m in size. There is still an abundance of templates from the 17th century for these artistic creations. "

- Sisi Museum Silver Collection

characters

Hairdressing and breaking napkins into figures (around 1700)

Napkins were styled and broken in the past centuries, and for this they had to be starched and ironed after washing . Different sizes of napkins were necessary for the different figures that could be styled - square or oblong. In addition, depending on the figure, the napkins had to be laid two, six, seven to eight times. Exemplary names of souped napkins from 1701 are:

  • raised star (Figure 7 of Fig.)
  • Sea mussel (Figure 8 of the fig.)
  • Pfaffenmütze (Figure 9 of the Fig.)
  • twelve mountains (Figure 10 of the fig.)
  • Roman crone (Figure 11 of the fig.).

Franz G. Zenker wrote in 1827 about breaking napkins:

“In some houses, where people are unduly concerned with breaking napkins like this, neat showpieces come to the fore, as bishop's hoods, turbans, ships, pineapples, and so on. but such things do not betray the best taste. The guests should not admire the dexterity of the table decker as much as the beauty of the linen. To achieve this, the napkins have to be broken or placed in such a way that their dazzling white, beautiful design and, in particular, their delicacy catch the guests' eye. Such a folding must still be of the kind that, as one lifts the napkin from the plate, it falls apart easily. "

- FG Zenker : Comus secrets on the arrangement of domestic and public, smaller and larger banquets, pickeniks, tea circles, etc. pp. 145–146

Napkins were specially folded into an octagonal shape for pastries and cakes, with the tips bent upwards, as Ludovica von Pröpper described in her work Häusliche Conditorei in 1895 in the section “To place a serviette on a bowl”.

A napkin press wooden used earlier to press and keep post-meal napkins used. So that the guest could recognize his serviette again, the landladies tied serviette ribbons to the ends of the serviettes so that they could be kept weekly .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Minimum requirements for professional training as a hotel manager. Retrieved March 30, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Training certificate for vocational training to become a specialist in the hospitality industry. Retrieved March 30, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Minimum requirements for professional training as a cook. Retrieved March 30, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Final examination as a specialist in housekeeping. Retrieved March 30, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Curriculum for the specialist home economics practitioner class. Retrieved March 30, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Service customer & guest care. Table linen. In: Europa-Lehrmittel. Accessed March 31, 2019 .
  7. ↑ https://www.hofburg-wien.at/fileadmin/user_upload/Schoenbrunn/Media/Audioguides_hofburg/SK-text_print_DE_130724.pdf
  8. ↑ Glorez, Andreas: Breaking of napkins and trenching. In: Complete House and Country Libraries. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Digital, pp. 253-256 , accessed on April 12, 2019 .
  9. ↑ FG Zenker: Comus secrets on the arrangement of domestic and public, smaller and larger meals, pickeniks, teasers, etc. 1827, pp. 145-146 , accessed on March 30, 2019 (German).
  10. ↑ Ludovica von Pröpper: Häusliche Conditorei: 680 tried and tested receipts for the preparation of pies, cakes and pastries. In: German Digital Library. Verlag der Königlichen Hofbuchdruckerei Trowitzsch und Sohn - Frankfurt an der Oder, 1895, p. 20 , accessed on February 24, 2019 .
  11. ↑ Woman's Lexicon . Gleditsch, 1715, p. 1841–1842 ( google.de [accessed April 12, 2019]).