Stuff of legend: The history of the buffet, via Rachel Lopez

Large spreads have a history going back 2,000 years. The Roman empire, the Sikh langar, Vegas — see how the all-you-can-eat format came about.

Don’t worry; the human stomach can only hold between two and four litres of fluid. So if you typically eat in moderation, the occasional trip to the buffet won’t hurt. You’ll actually be honouring a modern eating tradition – a celebration of plenty that our hunter-gatherer and farmer ancestors could only have dreamed of.

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Given that a buffet should typically be an indulgence not associated with a celebration or festival, the earliest examples would have been the feasts organised in the Roman empire (1st century BCE to 5th century CE). Emperors served platters of fried dormice, peacock tongue, wild sow’s udders and stuffed snails; camel heels, parrot, venison, pheasant, thrush, rabbit, goose liver, brain-stuffed sausages, flamingo, ostrich, snails and sea urchins. And to drink, wine served by naked waiters.

On a more sober note, the Sikhs introduced the communal langar in the early 1500s, as a way to encourage people from different castes, as well as the rich and poor, to eat together.

Those long restaurant tables groaning with ready-to-eat food are another matter altogether. They originated in (no surprise) Las Vegas.

Canadian publicist Herb McDonald was working at the El Rancho Vegas, one of the first hotels on the Strip, in the mid-1940s, and looking for a way to feed casino punters late at night after the kitchens were closed. His solution: A selection of breads, cheeses and cold meats that guests could help themselves to, for a flat fee of $1.

The idea was a hit. Guests stuck around just for the grub. And McDonald added more and more items to the table, rebranding it the Buckaroo Buffet. It wasn’t profitable, but the hotel recovered its costs from the money its new patrons spent gambling. This remains the Vegas model.

The Swedes put out large spreads too, a practice that began as a way to feed unannounced out-of-town visitors. The French set out their buffets (the term comes from the Old French bufet, for stool or sideboard) when entertaining so that no one was stuck in the kitchen.

Today, Indian hotels offer elaborate spreads numerous times a day, open to resident and non-resident guests. But in the mid-1990s, they too set up Vegas-style late-night buffets, for clubbers not gamblers. These started out inexpensive. The one at The Orchid in Mumbai served fruit, cold cuts, soups, salads, mains, sherbets and desserts for a little over ₹300 in 2002. By 2008, a similar one at Delhi’s ITC Maurya cost ₹1,200 (before taxes).

Today, an upscale hotel buffet can have as many as 100 items (including chaat, roasts and live booths) and cost as much as ₹3,000 per head, more with unlimited alcohol.

You can’t hack a buffet. There’s only so much salmon, paneer and steak a stomach can accommodate in one sitting. The house wins, no matter what you eat. So tank up. Just this once.