The initial menu is a list of dishes with a price list. But the function of the original menu is not to explain the content and price of the dishes to the guests, but to remind the chefs not to forget the dishes.

It is said that in the early16th century, French court dishes were very common. 1533, Princess Cardinal of King Henry II of France brought a chef from Florence as a dowry, and French court dishes gradually improved. In order to remember the cooking methods and raw materials of these Italian dishes, French chefs recorded them, which is the prototype of the menu.