The Physiology of Taste by Brillat Savarin (bearly read books txt) đź“–
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I have also inserted personal biography, but when I read them
over, I feel to a degree uneasy.
This anxiety originated in my last lectures and glossaries, which
are in the hands of every body. I think, however, that I may be
tranquil, having sheltered myself under the mantle of philosophy,
I insist that my enemies have uneasy consciences and sleep badly.
VARIETIES.
I.
L’OMELETTE DU CURE.
All know that twenty years ago, Madame R–- was the most
beautiful woman in Paris. All know that she was very charitable
and took an interest in the various enterprises, the object of
which was the alleviation of misery, perhaps greater in the
capital than elsewhere.
Having business with the cure of–-, she went thither about five
P. M., and was surprised to find him at dinner.
She believed that every body dined at six P. M., and was not aware
that ecclesiastics dined earlier, from the fact that they were
used to take light collations.
Madame R–- wished to retire, but the cure would not permit her
to do so, either because the matter under discussion would not
interrupt conversation, or that a pretty woman never disturbs any
entertainment.
The table was very well arranged; old wine sparkled in a chrystal
flagon, and the porcelain was faultless. The plates were kept hot
by boiling water, and an old housekeeper was in attendance.
The meal was half way between luxury and abstinence. A soup of
ecrevisses was removed and a salmon trout, an omelette, and a
salad were placed on the table.
“My dinner tells you,” said the priest “what you do not know, that
to day is a fast day.” My friend assented with a blush.
They began with the trout, the shoulders of which were soon eaten.
The sauce was made by a competent person and the pastor’s brow was
irradiated with joy.
Then the omelette, which was round and done to a point, was
attached.
As soon as the spoon touched it, the odor and perfume it contained
escaped, and my friend owns that it made her mouth water.
The curel had a sympathetic movement for he was used to watch my
passions. In reply to a question he saw Madame R–- was about to
ask, he said, “It is an omelette au thon. My cook understands them
simply, and few people ever taste them without complimenting her.”
“I am not amazed,” said his lady guest, “for I never ate anything
so delightful.”
Then came the salad. (I recommend it to those who have confidence
in me. It refreshes without exciting. I think it makes people
younger.)
Dinner did not interrupt conversation. They talked of the affair
which had occasioned the visit, of the war, of business, of other
things which made a bad dinner passably good.
The dessert came. It consisted of septmoncel cheese, of apples and
preserves.
At last the housekeeper brought forward a little round table,
such as once was called a gueridon, on which was a cup of strong
mocha, the perfume of which filled the room.
Having sipped it, the cure said grace, and arose, adding “I never
take spirits, though I offer them to my guests. I reserve them as
a succor for extreme old age.”
While all this was progressing, time had passed, and as it was six
o’clock, Madame R–- was anxious to get into her carriage, for
she had several friends to dine with her. She came late, and told
her guests, of whom I was one, what she had seen.
The conversation passed from subject to subject, but I, as a
philosopher, thought the secret of the preparation of such a dish
must be valuable. I ordered my cook to obtain the recipe in its
most minute details. I publish it the more willingly now, because
I never saw it in any book.
OMELETTE AU THON.
Take for six persons the roe of four cash [Footnote: the
translator has followed this recipe with shad, pike, pickerel,
etc., and can recommend it with a quiet conscience. Any fish is a
substitute for tunny] and steep them for a few minutes in salt
water just below boiling point.
Put in also a fresh tunny about as large as an egg, to which you
must add a charlotte minced.
Mix the tunny and the roes together, and put the whole in a kettle
with a portion of good butter, and keep it on the fire until the
butter has melted. This is the peculiarity of the omelette.
Take then another piece of butter and mix it with parsely and
sage. Put it in the dish intended to receive the omelette, cover
it with lemon juice and put it on hot coals.
Then beat twelve eggs, (fresh as possible), pour in the fish and
roe so that all may be perfectly mixed.
Then cook the omelette as usual, making it thin and firm. Serve it
up hot.
This dish should be reserved for breakfasts, where all the guests
are connoisseurs. It is caviare to the vulgar.
OBSERVATIONS.
1. The roes and fish should be warmed, not boiled. They will thus
mingle more easily with the eggs.
2. The plate should be deep.
3. It should be warm, for a cold porcelain plate would extract the
caloric of the omelette and make it insipid.
II. A NATIONAL VICTORY.
When I lived in New York I used every once in a while to pass the
evening in a kind of tavern kept by a man named Little, (the old
lank coffee house) where one could always get turtle soup and all
the dishes common in the United States.
I often went thither with the Vicomte de la Massue and M. Fehr, an
old broker of Marsailles; all three of us were emigrants, and we
used to drink ale and cider, and pass the evening very pleasantly
together.
There I became acquainted with a Mr. Wilkinson, who was a native
of Jamaica, and a person he was very intimate with, for he never
left him. The latter, the name of whom I do not remember was one
of the most extraordinary men I ever met. He had a square face,
keen eyes, and appeared to look attentively at everything, though
his features were motionless as those of a blind man. When he
laughed it was with what the English call a horse-laugh, and
immediately resumed his habitual taciturnity. Mr. Wilkinson seemed
about forty, and, in manner and appearance, seemed to be a
gentleman.
The Englishman seemed to like our company, and more than once
shared the frugal entertainment I offered my friends, when Mr.
Wilkinson took me one evening aside and said he intended to ask us
all to dine with him.
I accepted the invitation for three o’clock on the third day
after.
The evening passed quietly enough, but when I was about to leave,
a waiter came to me and said that the West Indian had ordered a
magnificent dinner, thinking their invitation a challenge. The man
with the horse-laugh had undertaken to drink us Frenchmen drunk.
This intelligence would have induced me, if possible, to decline
the banquet. It was, however, impossible, and following the advice
of the Marshal de Saxe, we determined, as the wine was uncorked,
to drink it.
I had some anxiety, but being satisfied that my constitution was
young, healthy and sound, I could easily get the better of the
West Indian, who probably was unused to liquors.
I however, went to see Messrs. Fehr and Massue, and in an occular
allocution, told them of my plans. I advised them to drink as
little as possible, and to avoid too many glasses, while I talked
to our antagonists. Above all things, I advised them to keep up
some appetite, telling them that food had the effect of moderating
the fumes of wine.
Thus physically and morally armed, we went to the old bank coffee
house, where we found our friends; dinner was soon ready. It
consisted of a huge piece of beef, a roasted turkey, (plain)
boiled vegetables, a salad and pastry.
Wine was put on the table. It was claret, very good, and cheaper
than it then was in France.
Mr. Wilkinson did the honors perfectly, asking us to eat, and
setting us an example, while his friend, who seemed busy with his
plate, did nothing but laugh at the corners of his mouth.
My countrymen delighted me by their discretion.
After the claret came the port and Madeira. To the latter we paid
great attention.
Then came the dessert composed of butter, cheese and hickory nuts.
Then came the time for toasts, and we drank to our kings, to human
liberty, and to Wilkinson’s daughter Maria, who was, as he said,
the prettiest woman in Jamaica.
Then came spirits, viz., rum, brandy, etc. Then came songs, and I
saw things were getting warm. I was afraid of brandy and asked for
punch. Little brought a bowl, which, doubtless, he had prepared
before. It held enough for forty people, and was larger than any
we have in France.
This gave me courage; I ate five or six well buttered rolls, and I
felt my strength revive. I looked around the table and saw my
compatriots apparently fresh enough, while the Jamaican began to
grow red in the face, and seemed uneasy. His friend said nothing,
but seemed so overcome that I saw the catastrophe would soon
happen.
I cannot well express the amazement caused by this denouement, and
from the burden of which I felt myself relieved. I rang the bell;
Little came up; I said, “see these gentlemen well taken care of.”
We drank a glass to their health. At last the waiter came and bore
off the defeated party feet foremost. Wilkinson’s friend was
motionless, and our host would insist on singing, “Rule
Britannia.” [Footnote: The translator is sorry to say, that at the
time Savarin speaks of, “Rule Britannia” was not written.]
The New York papers told the story the next day, and added that
the Englishman had died. This was not so, for Mr. Wilkinson had
only a slight attack of the gout.
III.
MYSTIFICATION OF THE PROFESSOR AND DEFEAT OF A GENERAL.
Several years ago the newspapers told us of the discovery of a new
perfume called the emerocallis, a bulbous plant, which has an odor
not unlike the jasmin.
I am very curious, and was, therefore, induced in all probability
to go to, the Foubourg St. Germain, where I could find the
perfume.
I was suitably received, and a little flask, very well wrapped up,
was handed me, which seemed to contain about two ounces. In
exchange for it I left three francs.
An etourdi would at once have opened, smelled and tasted it. A
professor, however, acts differently, and I thought modesty would
become me. I took the flagon then and went quietly home, sat on my
sofa and prepared to experience a new sensation.
I took the package from my pocket and untied the wrappings which
surrounded it. They were three different descriptions of the
emerocallis, and referred to its natural history, its flower, and
its exquisite perfume, either in the shape of pastilles, in the
kitchen, or in ices. I read each of the wrappings. 1. To indemnify
myself as well as I could for the price I have spoken of above. 2.
To prepare myself for an appreciation of the new and valuable
extract I have spoken of.
I then opened, with reverence, the box I supposed full of
pastilles. To my surprise, however, I
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