The Physiology of Taste

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1603862242 ISBN 13: 9781603862240

Publisher: Merchant Books, 2009

An unabridged, digitally enhanced printing with updated layout and typeface. Chapters include, but are not limited to: THE SENSES - Number of the Senses - Action of the Senses - Perfectness of the Senses - Powers of the Taste - Object of the Action of the Senses - TASTE - Definition of Taste - Sensation of Taste - Flavors - Influence of Smelling on the Taste - Analyses of the Sensation of Taste - Order of the Impressions of Taste - Enjoyments due to the Taste - Supremacy of Man - Method of the Author - GASTRONOMY - Origin of Sciences - Origin of Gastronomy - Definition of Gastronomy - Different objects of Gastronomy - Utility of Gastronomical Knowledge - Influence of Gastronomy on Business - Gastronomical Academy - Definition of Appetite - Anecdote - Great Appetites - Definitions - Analyses - Osmazome - Principle of Aliments - Vegetable Kingdom - Difference between Fat and Lean - Individual Instance - FOOD IN GERMS - Specialties - Pot-au-feu, Potage, etc. - Bouilli - Fowls - The Turkey - Dindoniphiles - Financial Influence of the Turkey - Exploit of the Professor - Game - Fish - Truffles - Sugar - Origin of Coffee - Different Modes of preparing Coffee - Chocolate - True Method of preparing Chocolate - THEORY OF FRYING - ON THIRST - ON DRINKS - ON GOURMANDISE - Are Women Gourmands - GASTRONOMICAL TESTS - ON THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE - HALTES DE CHASSE - ON DIGESTION - REPOSE - INFLUENCE OF DIET ON REST, SLEEP AND DREAMS - OBESITY - THINNESS - FASTING - EXHAUSTION - PHILOSOPHICAL HISTORY OF THE KITCHEN - RESTAURATEURS - TRANSITION - VARIETIES - L'omelette du Cure - Omelette au Thon - The Turbot - Pheasants - Asparagus - Fondue - Wonderful Effects of a Classical Dinner - Miscellany-Wine

Review:

You can't properly call yourself a gourmand (or even a minor foodie) until you've digested Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin's delectable 1825 treatise, The Physiology of Taste: Or Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy. Brilliantly and lovingly translated in 1949 by M. F. K. Fisher (herself the doyenne of 20th-century food writing), the book offers the Professor's meditations not just on matters of cooking and eating, but extends to sleep, dreams, exhaustion and even death (which he defines as the "complete interruption of sensual relations"). But as he proclaims in the initial Aphorisms: "The discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a star," and Brillat-Savarin's genius is in the examination and discussion of food, cooking and eating. Chocoholics will be satisfied to know that "carefully prepared chocolate is as healthful a food as it is pleasant ... that it is, above all, helpful to people who must do a great deal of mental work ..." He examines the erotic properties of the truffle ("the truffle is not a positive aphrodisiac; but it can, in certain situations, make women tenderer and men more agreeable"), the financial influence of the turkey (apparently quite a prize in 19th- century Paris) and the level of gourmandise among the various professions (bankers, doctors, writers and men of faith are all predestined to love food). Just as engrossing as the text itself are M. F. K. Fisher's lively, personal glosses at the end of every chapter, which make up almost a quarter of the book. They are soulmates separated by centuries and Fisher's fondness for the Professor comes through on every page. As she notes at the end: "I have yet to be bored or offended, which is more than most women can say of any relationship, either ghostly or corporeal." --Rebecca A. Staffel, Amazon.com

Review:

Still the most civilized cookbook ever written.
"The New Yorker""

"Still the most civilized cookbook ever written."
--The New Yorker