The Physiology of Taste - …

1 The Physiology of TasteBrillat SavarinTable of ContentsThe Physiology of OF THE between the author and his friend. (after the usual salutations.).. OF FIRST. THE II. III. IV. V. FOOD IN VI. FOOD IN VII. THEORY OF VIII. ON IX. ON X. AN EPISODE ON THE END OF THE XI. ON XII. XIII. GASTRONOMICAL XIV. ON THE PLEASURES OF THE XV. HALTES DE XVI. ON XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. INFLUENCE OF DIET ON REST, SLEEP AND XXI. XXII. PRESERVATIVE TREATMENT AND CURE OF XXIII. XXIV. XXV. XXVI. XXVII. PHILOSOPHICAL HISTORY OF THE XXVIII. The Physiology of TasteiThe Physiology of TasteBrillat SavarinThis page copyright 2002 Blackmask BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. APHORISMS OF THE PROFESSOR.

2 DIALOGUE between the author and his friend. (after the usual salutations.) BIOGRAPHY PREFACE. Physiology OF Taste . MEDITATION FIRST. THE SENSES. MEDITATION II. Taste . MEDITATION III. GASTRONOMY. MEDITATION IV. APPETITE. MEDITATION V. FOOD IN GERMS. MEDITATION VI. FOOD IN GERMS. MEDITATION VII. THEORY OF FRYING. MEDITATION VIII. ON THIRST. MEDITATION IX. ON DRINKS. MEDITATION X. AN EPISODE ON THE END OF THE WORLD. MEDITATION XI. ON GOURMANDISE. MEDITATION XII. GOURMANDS. MEDITATION XIII. GASTRONOMICAL TESTS. MEDITATION XIV. ON THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE. MEDITATION XV. HALTES DE CHASSE. MEDITATION XVI. ON DIGESTION. MEDITATION XVII. REPOSE. MEDITATION XVIII. SLEEP. MEDITATION XIX. DREAMS. MEDITATION XX.

3 INFLUENCE OF DIET ON REST, SLEEP AND DREAMS. MEDITATION XXI. OBESITY. MEDITATION XXII. PRESERVATIVE TREATMENT AND CURE OF OBESITY. MEDITATION XXIII. THINNESS. MEDITATION XXIV. FASTING. MEDITATION XXV. EXHAUSTION. MEDITATION XXVI. DEATH. MEDITATION XXVII. PHILOSOPHICAL HISTORY OF THE KITCHEN. MEDITATION XXVIII. RESTAURATEURS. Harris, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Physiology OF Taste ;OR,TRANSCENDENTAL BY ANECDOTES OF DISTINGUISHED ARTISTS AND STATESMEN OFBOTH CONTINENTS. The Physiology of Taste1 TRANSLATED FROM THE LAST PARIS EDITION BY FAYETTE excellent man to whom we are indebted for this book has described himself, with so much charm, natureand truth; the principal events of his life have been recorded in such an agreeable and faithful manner thatvery few words will suffice to finish the Savarin (Anthelme) Counsel of the Court of Cassation, member of the Legion of Honor, member ofthe Society for the Encouragement of National Industry, of the Antiquarian Society of France, of thePhiloselic Society of Bourg, was born, 1st of April, 1755, at Belley, a little Alpine city, not far from the banksof the Rhine, which at this place separates France from Savoy.

4 Like his forefathers, who had been for severalgenerations devoted to the bar, the profession which pleased him, in consequence of his possession of greateloquence, he practised with great , 1789, the unanimous vote of his fellow citizens deputed him to the Constituent assembly, composed of allthat was most brilliant in the youth of France at that day. Less attached in practice to the philosophy of Zenothan that of Epicurus, his name does not figure very conspicuously, but always appears at epochs, whichshow that he acted with the good and legislative functions being determined by the expiration of the Constituent Assembly, he was firstappointed President of the Superior Civil court of the Department of Ain, and subsequently a Justice of theCourt of Cassation, newly instituted; a man of talent, perfectly incorruptible and unhesitating in the dischargeof his duty, he would have been precisely calculated for the place to which he had been appointed, had thewarmth of political discussion made practicable the advice either of moderation or of prudence.

5 In 1793, hewas Mayor of Belley, and passed in anxiety there, the season of the reign of Terror; whence he was forced tofly to Switzerland for an asylum against the revolutionary movement. Nothing can better man, without apersonal enemy, should be forced to pass in a foreign land the days he purposed to devote to the improvementof his is the point when the character of Brillat Savarin assumes its grandest proportions; proscribed, afugitive, and often without pecuniary resources, frequently unable to provide for his personal safety, he wasalways able to console his companions in exile and set them an example of honest industry. As time rolledon, and his situation became more painful, he sought to find in the new world a repose which Europe deniedhim; he came from Europe, and in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Hartford passed two years teachingthe French language, and for a time playing the first violin in the orchestra of the Park Theatre.

6 Like manyother emigres, Brillat Savarin ever sought to make the pleasant and the useful coincide. He always preservedvery pleasant recollection of this period of his life, in which he enjoyed, with moderate labor, all that isnecessary for happiness, liberty sweetened by honest toil. He might say all is well, and to be able to enjoy thebreath of my native land would alone increase my happiness; he fancied that he saw brighter days with thecommencement of Vendemiaire year 5, corresponding to September, of 1796. Appointed by the Directory, asSecretary of the General in Chief of the Republican armies in Germany, then Commisary of the governmentin the department of the Seine and Oise, (this appointment he held at the epoch of the 18th Brumaire, inwhich France fancied she exchanged liberty for repose,) sustained by the Senate and the Court, BrillatSavarin passed the remaining twenty five years of his life respected by his inferiors, loved by his equals, andhonored by all.

7 A man of mind, a pleasant guest, with a deep fund of humor, he delighted every body. Hisjudicial labors did not at all interfere with the composition of this book, which he esteemed the great one ofhis the very facility of its composition, the " Physiology of the Taste ," owes its success; one would form avery erroneous opinion of it, were he to estimate it at all as we do Montaigue's writings on the Gueule. The Physiology of TasteBrillat Savarin2 Savarin was naturally a thoughtful man, the simplest meal satisfied him, all he required was that it should beprepared artistically; and he maintained that the art of cookery consisted in exciting the Taste . He used to say,"to excite a stomach of Papier Mache, and enliven vital powers almost ready to depart, a cook needs moretalent than he who has solved the INFINTESIMAL CALCULUS.

8 "The world was much surprised by finding in a book by Brillat Savarin, a man it had always looked upon assimply a very pleasant person, such a vast collection of general information; after his laborious profession hehad always seemed to expend the rest of his time with the muses and graces, and none could divine where heobtained so much information, as almost to recall the story of some gray haired sage of Greece. He hadhowever already composed more than one work unrecognised, if we except the two opuscula "Critical andHistorical Essay on Duel, with Relation to our Legislation and Morals," and a work on judicial practice. Theywere successful, but he was just then attacked by a violent cold, contracted by being present at the annualceremony, [Footnote: Not only Brillat Savarin, but Robert De St.]

9 Vincent, and Attorney General Marchangy,contracted their death in consequence of the same ceremonial.] the 21st of January at the Church of In spite of every care and attention, on the 2d of February, 1826, he died. For many years gifted withrobust health and athletic constitution, made the more remarkable by his tall stature, Brillat Savarin had apresentiment of the approach of death; this feeling, however, did not influence the tenor of his life, for hishabitual gaity was maintained unimpaired. When the fatal point was reached, he died tanquam convivia satur,not without regret, certainly, for he left many kind friends to whom his memory could not but be OF THE SERVE AS PROLEGOMENA TO HIS WORK AND ETERNAL BASIS TO THE The universe would be nothing were it not for life and all that lives must be Animals fill themselves; man eats.

10 The man of mind alone knows how to The destiny of nations depends on the manner in which they are Tell me what kind of food you eat, and I will tell you what kind of man you The Creator, when he obliges man to eat, invites him to do so by appetite, and rewards him by Gourmandise is an act of our judgment, in obedience to which, we grant a preference to things which areagreeable, over those which nave not that The pleasure of the table belongs to all ages, to all conditions, to all countries, and to all aeras; it mingleswith all other pleasures, and remains at last to console us for their The table is the only place where one does not suffer, from ennui during the first The discovery of a new dish confers more happiness on humanity, than the discovery of a new Those persons who suffer from indigestion, or who become drunk, are utterly ignorant of the trueprinciples of eating and The order of food is from the most substantial to the The order of drinking is from the mildest to the most foamy and perfumed.