The Physiology of Taste; Or, Transcendental GastronomyBrillat-Savarin
Philosophy
The Physiology of Taste; Or, Transcendental Gastronomy
Brillat-Savarin
Gastronomy
"What is that?" said I, putting on my stern look which I call up
but once a year. "Well, eat and grow fat, become ugly, asthmatic
and die of melted fat. I will make a note of your case and you
shall figure in my second edition. Ah! I see, one phrase has
overcome you, and you beg me to suspend the thunderbolt. Be easy,
I will prescribe your diet and prove how much pleasure is in the
grasp of one who lives to eat."
"You like bread? well, eat barley-bread. The admirable Cadet de
Vaux long ago extolled its virtues. It is not so nourishing and
not so agreeable. The precept will then be more easily complied
with. To be sure one should resist temptation. Remember this,
which is a principle of sound morality.
"You like soup? Eat julienne then, with green vegetables, with
cabbage and roots. I prohibit soup au pain, pates and purees.
"Eat what you please at the first course except rice aux volailles
and the crust of pates. Eat well, but circumspectly.
"The second course will call for all your philosophy. Avoid
everything farinacious, under whatever form it appears. You have
yet the roasts, salads, and herbacious vegetables.
"Now for the dessert. This is a new danger, but if you have acted
prudently so far, you may survive it. Avoid the head of the table,
where things that are dangerous to you are most apt to appear. Do
not look at either biscuits or macaronies; you have fruits of all
kinds, confitures and much else that you may safely indulge in,
according to my principles.
"After dinner I prescribe coffee, permit you liqueurs, and advise
you to take tea and punch.
"At breakfast barly-bread is a necessity, and take chocolate
rather than coffee. I, however, permit strong cafe au lait. One
cannot breakfast too soon. When we breakfast late, dinner time
comes before your digestion is complete. You eat though, and
eating without appetite is often a great cause of obesity, when we
do so too often."
SEQUEL OF THE REGIMEN.
So far I have, like a tender father, marked out a regimen which
will prevent obesity. Let us add a few remarks about its cure.
Drink every summer thirty bottles of Seltzer water, a large glass
in the morning, two before breakfast and another at bed-time.
Drink light white acid wines like those of Anjon. Avoid beer as
you would the plague. Eat radishes, artichokes, asparagus, etc.
Eat lamb and chicken in preference to other animal food; eat only
the crust of bread, and employ a doctor who follows my principles,
and as soon as you begin you will find yourself fresher, prettier,
and better in every respect.
Having thus placed you ashore, I must point out the shoals, lest
in excess or zeal, you overleap the mark.
The shoal I wish to point out is the habitual use made by some
stupid people of acids, the bad effects of which experience has
demonstrated.
DANGERS OF ACIDS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account