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| The Physiology of Taste (Penguin Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Jean Antheleme Brillat-savarin
Creator: Anne Drayton
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Category: Book
List Price: £12.99
Buy Used: £3.75
You Save: £9.24 (71%)
New (25) from £3.95
Sales Rank: 78420
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1
ISBN: 0140446141
Dewey Decimal Number: 641
EAN: 9780140446142
ASIN: 0140446141
Publication Date: January 27, 1994
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: POSTED SAME DAY FROM THE UK. Spine slightly creased.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk 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
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