Traditionally, “good appetite” was the common formula to wish a “pleasant meal” or a “pleasant moment”. Around the 2010s, more and more servers began to pronounce “good tasting” in place of “good appetite”. This development affects both the subtlety of the French language as to the social codes of catering.
“Good appetite” is said, without necessarily being reflected, as a word of conviviality, usually usual at the start of the meal. It is a pragmatma, that is to say a formula stated in a particular context, the composition of which has often been forgotten by the speaker.
The word “appetite” has its origins in Latin “Appendis”“Desire”, derived from the verb “APPERTERE” which means “tender towards, desire, covet”. According to the historical dictionary treasure of the French language, if the appetite can refer to different forms of desire, it first designates a “Inclination linked to a natural function, aimed at the well-being of the organism”.
The same source tells us that “good appetite” is defined as: “Wish that we address someone who eats or will eat.” This expression can therefore prescribe the desire to wish others to sustain sufficiently, so that satiety happens and that digestion goes well. She appeared in the XVIIe century.
The good manners of the 17th century
The use of “good appetite” seems ambivalent from the start. In the course of the meal, according to the traditions that have forged the French table arts over the centuries, politeness wants that we do not look at the consumption of other guests, and therefore no judgment that would make you uncomfortable.
Antoine de Courtin, in his New Civility Treaty (1622), also explains that it is improper to talk about its disgusts: if a food that remedies us is served to us, we must discreetly leave it in a corner of the plate. XVIIe century, the body must be full of reserve. However, the link between “appetite” and body impulses is particularly narrow.
In 1690, the lexicographer Antoine Furetière indicated that the term “appetite” was first defined by “Carnal, sensual appetites (…) an ardent passion of the soul that wears it to desire something (…). In philosophy, we admit only two appetites, the concupiscible, which leads us to wish and to seek good; and the irascible, which leads us to fear and avoid evil. ” Attracting attention to the body can be problematic. The expression “good appetite” therefore seems, from the start, doomed to gemonies.
Saying “good appetite” would be badly raised
In the XIXe and xxe centuries, the expression was not available identically in all the contexts or ranks of society. In the most distinguished circles, the expression “good appetite” is simply deemed improper.
First of all, “good appetite” highlights the primary needs bringing us closer to the animal condition, rather than the potential refinement of the meal served. We wish guests to fill its stomach, where the taste should be a source of satisfaction. There should be no need for appetite to taste the host’s meal.
The use of “good tasting” can be perceived as a social marker, indicating a desire for sophistication.
Then, there are a lot of “good” formulas (good luck, good journey, good luck) acting as encouragement. “Good appetite” can give the impression that consuming the host’s food is effort, which could offend it. Thus, beyond the rituals of family tables, in the customs of current “high society”, “good appetite” can be improper, as explained by the training of the school of courtesy and protocol.
Conversely, “good tasting” would allow the verbalization of sharing with a more refined connotation. The expression evokes a more elaborate taste experience, attention paid to flavors and aromas. She insists on the pleasure of the senses, highlights the experience of the meal rather than her purpose: to arrive at satiety.
This formula highlights the sensory character of the meal, the importance of savoring each bite. It values products underlying a gourmet representation of the meal. The expression lends itself better to a gourmet cuisine or a more formal environment. The use of “good tasting” can be perceived as a social marker, indicating a desire for sophistication or belonging to a privileged environment.
Today, “good tasting” is widely used by the hotel owners of restaurants, just like “I wish you to have a good time”, or “good continuation” (which, paradoxically, is also synonymous with “goodbye”). In the private setting, saying “good appetite” remains frequent. Rather used as a benevolent automatic formula before a meal, it is especially pronounced with the intention of wishing to those around him to have fun. When stated at the start of the meal, he also implies authorization to start eating.
Do not say anything at the start of the meal?
If we release these expressions in bulk, if we stop saying “good appetite” or “good tasting” the meal, by its content or its atmosphere, more or less degraded? Free from all these obligations, attached to a form of decisions, would it be shaded to the nature of the meal? The answer can only be that that everyone will personally formulate by their own paradigm of the right meal.
If the table follows a label, rites and rules of courtesy according to conformism, as the semiologist Jean-Jacques Boutaud points out, meals remain “Forms of social organization which prefigure the staging of oneself and its imaginary deployment, according to what one could name the dramaturgy of taste”. Eating is a moment of sharing, an altruistic link in a circle of guests. To really taste a dish is to observe the moment, the context, the social positioning and the dialectic attached to it. Our vision of the meal contributes to our social and identity construction.
Thus, the choice between “good appetite” and “good tasting” depends largely on the context and the social objective of it. “Good appetite” remains a warm and friendly formula, adapted to a meal with friends or family. “Good tasting” corresponds to a more formal framework, to enhance the quality of the food and the culinary experience. The choice between these expressions depends on the effect you want to produce, to make “an excellent meal” live.
