... on the end meal

“Man seeks to change the foods available in nature to suit his tastes, thereby putting an end to the very essence of life contained in them.” Sai Baba

End

·         The extreme or last point or part of any material thing considered lengthwise – opposed to beginning, when used of anything having a first part.

·         Termination of being; death; destruction; extermination; also, cause of death or destruction.

·         To come to the ultimate point; to be finished; to come to a close; to cease; to terminate; as, a voyage ends; life ends; winter ends

If you’ve got an unwanted date with the Reaper, there’s really only one thing left to look forward to: the last meal.

In pre-modern Europe, the last meal was a highly symbolic social act. In accepting the food, the condemned tacitly took an oath of truce and disavowed all vengeance. In other words, give me some good eats, and I won’t haunt you when I become a spooky ghost. And by that logic, the better the food, the safer you’ll all be.

So, last meals have always been extravagant. These days, it’s less about superstition and more about keeping the convict placid until he’s a harmless pile of crispy remains. But there’s something about the whole concept that remains morbidly fascinating. If you knew you could experience the sense of taste one last time, what would you choose?

Killing people is a morally messy business. Whether we allow a man carte blanche with junk food menus and then have a medic administer a lethal injection, or we simply serve him that day's fried chicken and then shoot him in the head, the act is, in essence, the same. The difference, in the end, may have less to do with the condemned man's perception than it does with the way his executioners — and the society that orders them to kill its capital convicts — experience his death.

After all, in some countries, a condemned man's last meal is whatever the prison kitchen happens to be serving that day, and death is by firing squad rather than the lethal injection ritual that gives the impression of a medical procedure rather than the more visible violence of shooting a man to death.

The” Last Meal Requests Page” records numerous instances of requests for a final cigarette. And these are denied in accordance with department policy. Could it be that the policy is designed to protect the condemned men's health? It could simply be based on the judgment that a cigarette is a pleasure that should be denied a man who has committed crimes ugly enough to warrant execution. But then why allow the same man the pleasure of choosing his last meal, as opposed to simply giving him whatever the prison kitchen was serving that day?

Here is the menu of the last meal that was served on the Titanic.

The First-Class Menu

As served in the first-class dining saloon of the R.M.S. Titanic on April 14, 1912

1^st Course

Hors D'Oeuvre

Oysters

2^nd Course

Consommé Olga

Cream of Barley

3^rd Course

Poached Salmon with Mousseline Sauce

Cucumbers

4^th Course

Filet Mignons Lili

Sauté of Chicken Lyonnaise

Vegetable Marrow Farci

5^th Course

Lamb and Mint Sauce

Roast Duckling and Apple Sauce

Sirloin of Beef and Chateau Potatoes

Green Peas

Creamed Carrots

Boiled Rice

Parmentier & Boiled New Potatoes

6^th Course

Punch Romaine

7^th Course

Roast Squab & Cress

8^th Course

Cold Asparagus Vinaigrette

9^th Course

Pate de Foie Gras

Celery

10^th Course

Waldorf Pudding

Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly

Chocolate & Vanilla Éclairs

French Ice Cream

So in light of all this, don’t you think you should approach each bite as if it was the last thing that would ever cross your lips?

I hold the knife that cuts the end…