“Nef” is an unusual enough word that it isn’t in my spell-checker’s dictionary. Yet the on-line Merriam-Webster defines it as “an ornamental table utensil (as for holding a napkin, knife, and spoon) shaped like a ship.” The back of this menu admits that it “has no real bearing on the history of sailing ships. It is above all an example of the silversmith’s art.” But it is likely that people with nautical experience are most likely to encounter silver (and other) nefs.

Click image to download a 527-KB PDF of this menu.

The Silver Nef menu is a part of a series that also included a man-of-war ship viewed from the rear and early steam locomotives. This particular menu was used on July 31, 1961 on the Empress of Canada, which had departed Montreal on July 27 and was scheduled to arrive in Liverpool on August 3.

The menu is even more extensive than the 1957 menus shown in the previous few days. For example, it offered 13 different hors d’oeuvres, including smoked salmon, smoked sturgeon, and lobster & prawn cocktail. There were three different soups, six entrées, and four flavors of sorbet to cleanse the palate before the main course. There were also four salads, three flavors of ice cream, six or seven other desserts, and several post-dessert savouries.

At first glance, the only hot choice for the main course was roast turkey with chestnut stuffing and cranberry compote. However, there was a cold buffet of duckling, ham, ox tongue, and spiced beef for those who didn’t want turkey. In addition, the center of the menu mentions a blue plate special consisting of a salmon steak, peas, and potatoes. The menu also offered aa 1955 red bordeaux and a vintage 1928 cognac (a bottle of which sells for $2,149 today). A 1989 bottle of the same cognac (which would be as old today as a 1928 bottle was in 1961) sells for $326.