De Boisse says the current practice is not a novelty but a revival of a long-standing French tradition of eating together in large groups and enjoying local food, a custom whose roots extend deep into medieval history. According to this view, communal dining has long been part of French social life, shaped by centuries of local custom, public celebration, and collective identity.
The tradition is presented as having evolved through major moments in French history. After the French Revolution, which brought an end to the monarchy, new forms of public celebration appeared in the form of banquets républicains. These republican banquets were meant to symbolize and celebrate the arrival of the new political order. They reflected the broader social changes of the period, as public gatherings and shared meals became expressions of civic life rather than royal or aristocratic privilege.
The passage also points to a more recent continuation of this culture in the form of the banquet populaire, or people’s feast. Until recently, each village would hold its own annual banquet populaire, reinforcing the idea that communal meals were not limited to special political moments or elite occasions, but were embedded in everyday rural and local life. These village feasts served as regular opportunities for residents to gather, eat together, and strengthen community ties.
Taken together, the account suggests that the modern revival described by De Boisse is less about inventing something new than about reconnecting with a French social habit that has repeatedly surfaced across different eras. From medieval communal dining to post-revolutionary republican banquets and village feasts, the underlying theme is the same: food as a shared social event, and the meal as a way to bring people together.
This perspective frames dining en masse as part of France’s cultural memory. It links cuisine not only to taste and local produce, but also to history, politics, and community life. The emphasis on good local fare further underlines the connection between regional food traditions and communal identity, suggesting that the value of these gatherings lies as much in the act of eating together as in the food itself.
In this interpretation, the revival of large communal meals is presented as a continuation of a deeply rooted custom rather than a modern trend. It draws from a historical lineage that includes medieval feasts, revolutionary banquets, and village celebrations, all of which show how shared dining has remained a durable feature of French culture.
