Answer:
   
   Rabbi Moshe Isserles, also known as the Rama, lived in Cracow from
   1525 to 1572. He noted that the Shulkhan Arukh was based almost
   entirely on Sephardic tradition, and thus set out to create a series
   of glosses to be appended to the text of the Shulkhan Arukh for all
   instances where Sephardi and Ashkenazi customs differed.
   
   The short comments of the Rama are incorporated into the body of the
   Shulkhan Arukh and are printed in Rashi script. He referred to his
   comments as a 'mappah', which means tablecloth [for the set table].

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