Let’s do something different this week, shall we? Rather than focusing on a category of recipes suitable for the summertime, I’m going to dig around Mr. Big Food’s Big Food Manual and Survivalist Flourishing Guide with special attention to food, friends, and flourishing. Today we’ll look at “the smörgåsbord—an old Scandinavian custom—[that] has grown strong deep roots in our national affections until now we feel it belongs to us.”

[Pictured, glassware suitable for a smörgåsbord]

I haven’t looked ahead to other possible post topics, but I am certain many will be amusing to us today–can’t remember the last time I was at a gathering with circulating maids–and others may make us nostalgic. The important thing to remember throughout is that Mr. Big Food has a very particular understanding of the word flourish that’s behind his inclusion of these short non-recipe entries into Big Food. Two passages from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s entry on “Moral Character” describe it briefly (and without getting into the weeds).

[Elizabeth] Anscombe argued that Kantianism and utilitarianism, the two major traditions in western moral philosophy, mistakenly placed the foundation for morality in legalistic notions such as duty and obligation. To do ethics properly, Anscombe argued, one must start with what it is for a human being to flourish or live well. That meant returning to some questions that mattered deeply to the ancient Greek moralists.

Opening paragraph

Aristotle tries to explain what this harmony consists in by exploring the psychological foundations of moral character. He thinks that the virtuous person is characterized by a nonstereotypical self-love that he understands as a love of the exercise of fully realized rational activity. Yet this self-love is not an individual achievement. Its development and preservation require (a) friendships in which individuals desire the good of others for others’ own sakes and (b) a political community where citizens are equal and similar, and where political and economic arrangements promote the conditions under which self-love and friendship flourish.

[Sec. 2.4 Summary]

See the note following the smörgåsbord essay on the Lewis-Anscombe Debate. Yes. C.S. Lewis.

With that background…

THE SMÖRGÅSBORD

From The Encyclopedia of Cooking in 24 Volumes, 1953

Transplanted to America, the smörgåsbord—an old Scandinavian custom—has grown strong deep roots in our national affections until now we feel it belongs to us. The very sound of the word smorgasbord implies relaxation—the leisure to enjoy food, friends and conversation of our selection and in the combination and quality we like. It has become a favorite Sunday night dinner.

It is particularly useful as a means of entertaining sumptuously, larger number of guests than can be otherwise entertained in the average home. Perhaps the chief charm of the smörgåsbord is the opportunity our hostess gives us to enjoy our very own choice from the enticing selections she places before us. We help ourselves to the dishes we want, returning to the board again and again.

There are two favored arrangements for the smörgåsbord. If space is limited, it is well to push the dining table against the wall, allowing ample space on the three sides for guest to move easily. If there is plenty of space, the table may remain in the center of the room and the guests circulate freely.

The table may be covered with a cloth or mats and tray cloths. China, silver and napery are carefully arranged at the nearest end or the end of the near side.

Types of food are grouped not only for convenience, but also that the cold and jellied salads may not be warmed by hot dishes. Also if electric heat is used for chafing dishes, casseroles and coffee, the connections usually come from one source. Coffee may be made in the kitchen or brewed at the table Sweets are usually at the far end of the table and if the preferences of all the guests are known, the coffee may be there too.

The return of the chafing dish is a further indication of the popularity of informal entertaining. Time was when the chafing dish went to college with the daughter of the house and thereby began a long and picturesque social career. The hostess of today will find it a charming and useful addition to her smörgåsbord for hot entrées and hors d’oeuvres.

Maids may circulate among the guests, frequently seated at small bridge tables. They remove plates, serve desserts and beverages, and replenish plates.

All of these recipes are ready for the smörgåsbord and the clever hostess will make her choice knowing the preferences of her guests.

Elizabeth Anscombe was a British Philosopher at Oxford. The Lewis-Anscombe Debate is quite famous and according to some, the outcome was a turning point in Lewis’s life.