A Dish Fit for the Gods Meaning
Definition: A meal of the highest, most perfect quality.
Origin of A Dish Fit for the Gods
This expression is similar to its literal meaning: food that is good enough even for gods to eat. Since gods are of a higher quality than humans, food for gods must also be a higher quality.
A similar expression is a meal fit for a king. The idea is the same. A king is better than a normal person and deserves food that is better than normal.
This expression appears in the play Julius Caesar, written by the famous English playwright William Shakespeare.
In it, one of the characters, Brutus, is describing how he plans to kill another character, Marc Antony. He says that he will kill Marc Antony and serve him to the gods. This is far from the meaning we use today, meaning extremely delicious. It is possible that Shakespeare wished to show that Brutus saw Marc Antony as a sacrifice, rather than actual food for the gods.
Examples of A Dish Fit for the Gods
In the example below, two friends are discussing an upcoming interview that one of them has.
Ted: I think I’m finally ready for my interview tomorrow.
Rufio: Do you mean your interview to be a chef at that new restaurant?
Ted: Yeah. They want to ask me questions, like a normal interview, but they also want me to prepare a dish in their kitchen.
Rufio: What are you planning on cooking?
Ted: I’m going to make ratatouille. My recipe will create a dish fit for the gods!
This dialogue shows two friends talking together about the new restaurant one of them just tried.
Zayna: I just got back from trying that new vegetarian restaurant that opened on Frick Street!
Ben: How was it?
Zayna: It was amazing! I got a vegetarian Reuben sandwich, made from seitan. I think it was the best meal I ever had.
Ben: Really?
Zayna: Yes! Seriously, it was a meal fit for the gods. You’ve got to try it.
More Examples
The excerpt is from a movie review. The critic did not like the movie very much.
- It is, of course, too much to ask that every warm-weather costume-hero saga be as good as “Iron Man,” a guy Thor will meet in 2012. But aside from a few grace notes, this one is not a dish fit for the gods. –New York Daily News
This excerpt is about food prepared to honor Shakespeare.
- William Shakespeare died 400 years ago Saturday, but you can remember him with “a dish fit for the gods” — to borrow from his play “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” — 38 dishes actually and only in Chicago. –Chicago Tribune
Summary
The phrase a dish fit for the gods refers to food that is particularly scrumptious.
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