A ''traiteur'' (; ) is a French food-seller, whose places of business were arguably the precursors of the modern
restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...
.
[Jim Chevallier, ''A History of the Food of Paris: From Roast Mammoth to Steak Frites'', 2018, , pp. 75–80] Prior to the late 18th century, diners who wished to "dine out" could dine at a ''traiteur''
's, or order meals to go. The cooks and caterers guild – informally known as the ''traiteurs'' – progressively claimed the right to make any sophisticated meals, leaving inns and taverns to mainly make roast or grilled meat. As of the late seventeenth century, many offered a ''
table d'hôte'', a meal offered at a set price with no choice of dishes. However both
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
s and ''traiteurs'' could also offer individual choice of dishes, despite claims to the contrary.
In modern France, the word often refers to a
caterer.
''Traiteur'' is an
agent noun
In linguistics, an agent noun (in Latin, ) is a word that is derived from another word denoting an action, and that identifies an entity that does that action. For example, ''driver'' is an agent noun formed from the verb ''drive''.
Usually, '' ...
formed from the verb ''traiter'' ('treat'), which literally refers to the action of "treating" someone to something (for instance, a meal). The root of the verb is
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
('manage, handle'), a
frequentative of ('pull, draw'): in ancient times, for example,
Latins used the expression ''littera tractoria'' (roughly rendered as 'treatment letter') to indicate a document the envoys of a prince would be given to receive food, accommodation and means of transport in the lands they would pass by, so to get a full treatment along their way. This Latin root originated both French and
Italian .
Present-day ''traiteurs''
Today in France, a ''traiteur'' is a
catering business devoted to
take-out food and service of banquets. Many ''traiteurs'' also undertake home delivery. Generally there is no seating on the business premises; a few ''traiteurs'' may have very limited seating. Especially in market towns, where there is competition, ''traiteurs'' take great pride in the beauty of their window displays. ''Traiteur'' 'departments' are now common in ''supermarchés'', the equivalent of the US/UK
delicatessen
A delicatessen or deli is a grocery that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessens originated in Germany (contemporary spelling: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the mid-19th centur ...
. The staple of this type of business is an array of
salad
A salad is a dish consisting of mixed ingredients, frequently vegetables. They are typically served chilled or at room temperature, though some can be served warm. Condiments called '' salad dressings'', which exist in a variety of flavors, a ...
s, cold
meat
Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...
and
seafood dishes. In 2018, 10,090 ''traiteurs'' operated in France.
See also
*
Ghost kitchen
* ''
Salumeria''
Citations
General references
*
*
*
Chefs
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