Perhaps nothing was more decadent about aristocrats before the French Revolution than their over-the-top meals; the things French aristocrats ate even make modern Americans looks like humble cuisine ascetics. Foods before the French Revolution were a dizzying array of savories and sweets. Aristocrats of the ancien regime - or "old order," the elite French world before the revolution - tended to have elaborate meals, thanks to the fact that they could afford it; they could buy expensive ingredients and hire master chefs to create mouth-watering dishes.