Blue Trout And Black Truffles: THE PERIGRINATIONS OF AN EPICURE [Paperback]

Joseph Wechsberg WECHSBERG (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2005

There were, and still are, great restaurants all over Europe, but the greater part of Blue Trout and Black Truffles is devoted to the eating-places and vineyards of France. It is a vicarious experience less enjoyable only than the real thing to read in the pages of this book of the culinary wonders of the notable establishments that have become the last epicurean haven in this materialistic, mechanized world of fast-food chains and frozen-food dinners.

Mr. Wechsberg practiced the art of dining and wining in the greatest of Europe's gastronomic sancta sanctora and proved himself a master. He reaches back to the twilight days of the Habsburg monarchy, when those splendid monuments to the haute cuisine in central Europe, Meissl and Schadn of Vienna and Gundel's of Budapest, were in their prime. At Meissl and Schadn twenty-four varieties of boiled beef could be ordered, and in Vienna a person who couldn't talk learnedly about at least a dozen different cuts of boiled beef was "beyond the pale"-no matter what titles had been conferred on him by the Kaiser.

Almost every chapter in this heart-and-stomach-warming book takes the reader to a place that is worth a special journey-a place where he can savor the great art of graceful living.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Mr. Wechsberg is, happily, the possessor of a pervading and delightful humor. Nothing is less suited to the joys of eating and drinking than a solemnity of approach and 'Blue Trout' is characterized by a sly and latent hooray that goes well with its content of truffled foie gras and lobster aspic. -- LUCIUS BEEBE, SATURDAY REVIEW

What should a book on la grand cuisine do? Certainly not try to tell the reader how to produce masterpieces on his gas stove. . . . No; such a book is for delight, not instruction-the delight of meeting the greatest practition-ers of the oldest art in the world, of seeing them at work, appreciating their creations, and sharing in their triumphs. That is what this book does. -- REX STOUT, NEW YORK TIMES

About the Author

Joseph Wechsberg worked as a lawyer, concert violinist, cameraman, malt salesman and newspaper reporter, but always he was an epicure. He loved to eat-and write about it. His stories ran in the New Yorker from 1949 to 1975. He died in Vienna in 1983.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers (August 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897331346
• ISBN-13: 978-0897331340
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic enjoyable gastronomic essays and interviews, December 15, 1998

By 

Max W. Hauser (Silicon Valley, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blue Trout And Black Truffles: THE PERIGRINATIONS OF AN EPICURE (Paperback)

Wechsberg's book is an established classic on a par with those of A. J. Liebling and Waverly Root. Like those other authors, Wechsberg was a journalist who wrote about food, restaurants, and food cultures in the mid-20th century, and his insights and great storytelling give the writing a permanent appeal. This can be seen from the reaction after this essay collection (whose chapters were originally written as magazine articles) appeared in this reprint edition in the mid-1980s. I was at a Christmas party with some accomplished food folks, including Paul Bertolli of the Chez Panisse in Berkeley, and was recounting to someone one of the stories ("Tafelspitz for the Hofrat") from this book. When I finished I found that most of the room was listening, and that many of them, independently, had recently read the book too. That particular essay, by the way, has lately been re-discovered in Vienna, where it was set, and has been proudly adopted by some restaurants there. In this book Wechsberg interviewed, and popularized to US readers, the legendary Fernand Point, chef and owner of the 20th-century's most famous and influential restaurant in France (and for whom the _Guide Michelin_ reportedly debated adding a fourth star to their rating system for premium restaruants). Some of the chapters are interviews, some experiences and some celebrations of food. This book is well known and indispensable to food fanatics and those seeking more of the background and context from which contemporary western culinary culture -- high cuisine as well as comfort food -- emerged.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Facinating History, November 6, 2006

By 

Eric Boysen (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blue Trout And Black Truffles: THE PERIGRINATIONS OF AN EPICURE (Paperback)

Though Blue Trout and Black Truffles is billed as Culinary journey, and it is at that, it is also something completely unexpected, an introduction to European life in the 1920s through 1940s. The exploration of food and wine is coupled with vibrant characters and unforgettable settings.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Evocative and beautifully written, November 13, 2003

By 

E. H. Perry (CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Blue Trout And Black Truffles: THE PERIGRINATIONS OF AN EPICURE (Paperback)

Wechsberg's name ought to be mentioned alongside M.F.K. Fischer's. His writing is evocative, precise, and vivid. Reading this book makes me wish I could board a time machine and eat in the restaurants he described in the 1950s. Like many Viennese, Wechsberg loves the old city, the city that vanished after the wars, and resurrects it in memory.