The Pleasures of the Table: An Account of Gastronomy from Ancient Days to Present Times. With a History of Its Literature, Schools, and Most Distinguished Artists; Together With Some Special Recipes, and Views Concerning the Aesthetics of Dinners and Dinner-givingEllwanger, George H. (George Herman)
History
The Pleasures of the Table: An Account of Gastronomy from Ancient Days to Present Times. With a History of Its Literature, Schools, and Most Distinguished Artists; Together With Some Special Recipes, and Views Concerning the Aesthetics of Dinners and Dinner-giving
Ellwanger, George H. (George Herman)
Gastronomy
It must not be forgotten that in the course of time the cookery of
every nation gradually becomes complementary to the national beverages.
Conversant with the popular drinks of a people, one may promptly form
an opinion of their alimentation and characteristics. The cookery of
Germany has become subservient to, and, as it were, revolves around
Münchner and Pilsener, Hochheimer and Deidesheimer. If, therefore,
one cannot appreciate its innumerable brews and the juices of the
Riesling and the Traminer, its forms of nutrition will naturally
prove distasteful, in the same manner that the virtues of French
entrées would be found wanting if deprived of the ruby pressings
of the Sauvignon and Pinot. The rosy Schweinerippchen, after its
bath in saltpetre, and also Sauerkraut would be impossible without
their syncretic accompaniment, beer or a German white wine; and it
is only since the general use of beer in the United States that the
last-named dish, from being considered a vulgar one has become so
popular, notwithstanding it is usually but a shade of its original as
one knows it in its own home. The same may be said of sausages, in
the compounding of which the Teuton is master of the world. Different
nations, like different individuals, enjoy things in their own way, and
who shall determine whether the Gaul or the Teuton makes the most of
the fleeting hour, which necessarily includes the pleasures attendant
upon the daily nourishment of man?
Who that has visited the land of the three fluvial graces--the Rhein,
the Neckar, and the Donau--does not retain pleasant memories of some
native dish partaken of amid picturesque surroundings?--a Hasenbraten,
a Pfannkuchen, a duck, a Bockwurst, Knackwurst, or a Wienerwürstle that
fairly melts in one's mouth. How lovely those trout which were served
at the Wolfsbrunnen at Heidelberg, which you savoured in the cool of
the evening after seeing them caught fresh from the spring itself!
The Spätzle and Nudeln and sour sauce, too, which rival the national
dish of Italy; the veal cutlets and sautéd potatoes, which one never
meets as perfect as in southern Germany, and that attain their supreme
excellence in a summer Gasthof garden, must likewise ever be held in
grateful remembrance. How golden the landscape looked through your
Rhein wine Römer, how drowsily the clouds floated over the Odenwald,
and how delightfully the evening breeze awoke the responsive chords
of the beeches! In whatever direction one may turn, there is always a
haven for the hungry and the thirsty. No hill is too high, no valley
too remote for its font of refreshment, where the tap is invariably
fresh and the shrine of more substantial "restoration" is seldom to be
despised. On every hand one may find the welcome of an inn, as hearty
as Shenstone's, and, where the nature of the surroundings will allow,
one may readily verify the lines of the old poet:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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