The Oyster Dinner is a 1735 painting by Jean-François de Troy. It was commissioned by Louis XV to decorate a dining room in the lesser apartments of the Versailles Palace. It is the very first painting to depict a bottle of champagne. It wasn’t actually very long before The Oyster Dinner was painted that wine from Champagne began to sparkle. And it was not very long after that Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV’s illustrious mistress and champagne-lover, started to serve champagne to the foreign aristocrats visiting Versailles. Champagne flowed at her dinner parties.

So oysters and champagne were paired from the start, but did you know that back in the 18th century, champagne was very sweet (about 200g of sugar were added per liter!)? And that up until the 19th century it was served more as a desert wine, than an aperitif?

Champagne is a very food-friendly wine, but certain types of champagnes pair better with certain types of foods. Join me for my first online video chat if you would like to learn more about what type of champagne to serve:

• for an aperitif
   
• with a meal (fish, seafood, poultry, etc.)
   
• with cheese 
   
• with chocolate or cake

Since I like to keep my events cozy so that participants get to know each other and get all the attention they deserve, I will limit the number to 12 women. At the end of the session I will poll participants to ask them what topics they would like me to cover in future sessions. Whichever gets the most votes will be the next topic.

I will be using Zoom to host the online video chats. If you have never used Zoom before, don’t worry, it is simple as pie. When you register for the session you will receive a link to join online at the given time. You just need to follow the simple instructions to download and run Zoom a few minutes before the session starts. If you are nervous about it, I am happy to do a test run with you whenever suits you best.

You don’t have to pop open a bottle of champagne to benefit from the chat, but if you do decide to pour yourself a glass of bubbly during our session, you will receive a list of optional of foods you could try with your champagne upon registration.

Duration:  1.5 hours

Cost: 10€ for Delectabulles members and 15€ for non-members