This is an article from a considerably longer text on ancient cuisine.
Flower boat cuisine is a specific type of food preparation and presentation that belongs to the flower boat style of Atlantean cooking. Flower boats were usually moored in a harbor, a river, or a lake, and were places where one could eat, socialize, and entertain and be entertained. Flower boats ranged from the most elegant establishments, which had very elaborate cuisine, a tradition of brilliant conversation, and first-tier entertainment such as excellent musicians, singers, and actors, to sailor's dives with absolutely street-level cooking, drunken shouting and more or less brilliant repartee, and entertainment which usually consisted of simple music and 'entertainers' taking some or all of their clothes off and dancing, sometimes joined by the diners.
Flower Boat cuisine was typified by a three-part preparation for the main course, consisting of:
The vehicle, usually a starch such as rice, noodles, any type of bread, or even such things as lettuce leaves and other vegetable holders for
The message, or meaning; conveyed on or with the vehicle, this was a preparation of meat, vegetables or protein of any kind that was carried by the vehicle,
and finally the sauce, which was the accent that was put on top of the message to season it.
This combination formed a three part dish or morsel that was assembled at the table. Diners would take some vehicle, such as a tortilla or some rice, put a preparation of some kind of protein such as meat, fish, or one of the many vegetarian proteins on top of that, and top it with the sauce. This could be made one by one, a mouthful at a time, or a small dish could be made up. The plates were traditionally small, because they were supposed to hold only as much food as could be held in one hand. Because this tradition was one of individual "Bouchèes" or mouthfuls, one did not make up a large plate, which would be more in the tradition of land-based food establishments. In later times this particular tradition of cuisine morphed into Tapas in Spain, Sushi in Japan, Dim sum in China, and small-food and hand-food traditions in various other countries.
The sauce itself was, under the most formal circumstances, one of the famous "seven sauces" which was served at the most prestigious banquets. Normally, at home, several sauces were served, but usually they were simpler.
The seven sauces were divided in seven specific flavors; sweet, salty, caprotic or musky, sour, bland or creamy, herby such as with mint or cilantro, spicy or hot, and all of these were ruled by the most formal sauce, which was of course Ketchup or Catsup, and which absolutely no banquet could be without. The old proverb "the house without Catsup is a house divided" was taken very seriously in Atlantis. Households would make up their own ketchup, restaurants made their own house brands, and there were very famous makers who made nothing but the incredibly precious sauce that was the centerpiece of the formal sauce tray. The sauces themselves could range from very simple to the very elaborate; for the sour, it could be as simple as slices of lemon, or as complicated as modern Ponzu or Sorrel Hollandaise.
Soups and salads could be served in individual portions, and accompanied the main part of the meal. Although there were establishments specialized in meals that consisted of only salad, usually at least a dozen types, and various soups and breads, or establishments that specialized in sweets, those were a completely different type of establishment, which will be discussed later.
The meal always started with the "welcome drink", a confection that changed from day to day and even hour to hour with the whims of the chef. It was traditional to have a drink that reflected the time of year, the season, and the occasion. Invented by the chef in the moment, the "welcome drink" could be hot, cold, lukewarm, alcoholic or non-, and was a sign of the chef's good taste, understanding of the seasons and their symbology, and transcendent insight. The chef would come out of the kitchen to meet the diners in the reception lounge, so as to understand the current mood, which dictated the makeup of this drink and of the subsequent meal. The "welcome drink" was served as soon as people sat down at the table.
The -Ingestion Counselor-, formally addressed as "uncle" or "aunt", brought the tray of drinks to the table in person. This is the only thing that the ingestion counselors were permitted to carry with their own hands. Everything else was brought by young "bearers", who in better establishments were chosen for their attractiveness, and who were generally no more than 16 years old. Although the bearers did not generally enter into a conversation, a certain measure of wit was appreciated.
The ingestion counselors were chosen for their attractiveness, their charm, their understanding of clients' tastes, their telepathic abilities, and their skill at conversation. They were expected to know without any words being exchanged exactly what would be suitable in the way of food and drink for each guest. The more talented among them would have a gift for diagnosis, and thus be able to order exactly what would make any client feel best. They also had to be skilled in conversation including the latest gossip and current events, in composing poetry appropriate to the time and the place, and in making every client feel stimulated and relaxed. When a party ( usually never less than nine people) sat down at a table the ingestion counselor sat with them for the duration of the meal, overseeing their every need, keeping conversation flowing, and in general maintaining a good mood. There was no age limit for ingestion counselors, and the spry 100-year-old with a quick wit and encyclopedic knowledge of poetry was appreciated as much as the 30-year-old with perfect features. Certain ingestion counselors became very famous, and were asked for by name. The training of an ingestion counselor took several years, and only people with native talent could hope to get into the academies in which this training took place.