Customer Reviews

The Physiology of Taste: Or Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I noticed that the exact same 2 reviews are listed for both MFK Fisher's translation and the Penguin Classics edition. Let me say that I own both, and MFK Fisher's is by FAR the better one. It expresses Savarin's personality so well in English. Even though I am not a fan of her writing in general she is a first-rate translator of French! She captures the humor and poetry and makes it much more the book so many have read and loved. I've tried but I just don't enjoy the colder, more academic Penguin version. I am grateful to MFK Fisher for bringing this document to new life.

Funny, informative, charming: this is one of the best books I've ever read.

Brillat-Savarin was a French judge who barely escaped with his life during the Reign of Terror; to be able to write such a light-hearted, witty, fun book after such an ordeal is in itself a miracle. But The Physiology of Taste is more than a romp; it's a trip into the past. From a detailed inventory of the senses (including the 'generative sense' -- there's no mistaking the author's nationality!) to a description of a turkey hunt in New England while in exile, Brillat-Savarin's love of food, good company and beautiful women is a reminder to us that life can be good.

I highly recommend this book.

Full disclosure: I admit I read this book based on juicy rumors from gastronomy sources that it was considered an "underground classic" and summarily treasured by modern (and well-placed) gourmet cooks. And to complete that thought, I'll spare you, dear review-reader, some suspense: this book disappointed me. I even found the notes (glibly called "translator's glosses") by the esteemed M.F.K. Fisher a bit dry. Maybe the late Ms. Fisher got caught in the same trap; her notes refer almost constantly to the author's fame and wit in *other* contexts but they're uneven in the current text.

Still, I stand behind the three stars. Brillat-Savarin is not a brilliant author, but his insights into at least a few well-chosen subjects shine across the nearly two centuries since these "meditations" were penned. Long before the Atkins craze gripped American nutrition, for example, one can find here (in Meditation #21: "On Obesity"): "... the principal cause of any fatty corpulence is always a diet overloaded with starchy and farinaceous elements ..." One wonders how our 20th century nutritional experts missed this--especially since the good author's book has been out nearly two hundred years and very popular across Europe for much of this time.

Other nuggets of wisdom are equally remarkable. His analysis of taste manages to turn the standard teeth-chew-the-food, stomach-takes-the-food scientific tract into a celebration of good flavors. A long meditation "on food in general" gives any reader new perspectives on coffee, chocolate, and especially truffles. But physiology is never far behind; the aforementioned tasting discussion includes a prophetic note about the contributions of smell. Fisher's contributions to--and obvious loving translation of--these bits bring the gastronomical poetry up to date.

Unfortunately, I've given you all the highlights. The remainder of this book is stuffed with essays either having little to do with gastronomy ("On Exhaustion?" Death? Hunting Luncheons?) or rambling on with little factual basis. Brillat-Savarin wrote this as a journal and it shows far too often; it's disorganized, didactic to the point of annoyance, and only occasionally stays true to the scientific promise of its title. And poor Ms. Fisher usually ends up as a bystander.

With these critiques in mind, I'd recommend 'The Physiology of Taste" as selective reading. A few of the essays are timeless and beautifully written. Most are turgid and make little sense to a 21st century food lover. Given Ms. Fisher's pedigree I'd hesitate to blame the translation; the author gets full credit and blame.

Physiology Of Taste is an unabridged photomechnical reproduction of a classic 1925 edition and should be on the shelves of any serious and dedicated gourmet cook. Physiology Of Taste provides a timeless discussion of French food and cooking written in 1825 by a master at both culinary insight and writing. Whimsical reflection mixes with serious food insights in a most satisfying manner.

Brillat-Savarin makes you feel good about feeling good about food! Especially entertaining are the chapters entitled "On Obesity" and "On Thinness." Interesting to note that the chapter "On the Treatment of Obesity" in this 1825 treatise entails a low-carbohydrate diet. Maybe it's true that there really is nothing new under the sun!

The standard edition of this work in the US, and a lively one. Jean-Anthelme de Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826) is known for this book and for pithy maxims like "Adam and Eve sold themselves for an apple. What would they have done for a truffled fowl?" (That of course in the days when the truffles that most people heard of were real ones, not chocolate candies that look like them; and also when the real ones were much more plentiful and less expensive.) Memorable are the wonderful anecdotes of the kindly old priest and his "austere" meatless menu ("The Curé's Omelet," with "theoretical notes" afterwards) and of Brillat's scheme at a country inn to enhance a humble dish. This wide-ranging book established its author as an original and knowledgeable voice in French food writing, to be compared with Carême and Grimod de la Reynière.

Brillat-Savarin, among other roles, was the basis of Marcell Rouff's _The Passionate Epicure,_ a fictional book gently combining food and sex (naturally, as a friend of mine remarked, since it's French), which was widely read in English when the translation appeared in 1962. Marcella Hazan and (I believe) Julia Child cited it in their cookbooks. In his preface to the 1962 Rouff, Lawrence Durrell (himself a fashionable author at that time) explained that many in the Brillat-Savarin family "died at the dinner table, fork in hand" and that Brillat's sister Pierrette, two months before her hundredth birthday, spoke at table what are to food fanatics easily the most famous last words ever: "Vite! Apportez-moi le dessert -- je sens que je vais passer!"

Fisher's translation and notes are a lively part of this edition of Brillat-Savarin (happily reprinted recently). Some booksellers offer newer editions by different English translators; I don't know why. This semi-scholarly translation and editing, executed in France during the post-war period described in her autobiographical _Two Towns in Provence,_ was the work that established Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher among US gastronomic writers. Her later status as Official Food Celebrity encouraged journalists to cite her automatically (whether they had read her work or not), but at least this time, publicity and merit coincide.

NOTE: This review refers to ISBN 1-58243-103-5. This is a reprint edition of the original Heritage Press publication, in 1949, of M.F.K. Fisher's translation of Brillat-Savarin. As issued, the book is simply titled "The Physiology of Taste, or, Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy."

Now, with those details out of the way, let me make bold to say that this is one of the world's great books!

When I first began reading it, I became annoyed: "Who is this Frenchman, who thinks he can write about, and tell me about, everything under the sun?" For the book contains many, many digressions. I have seen it referred to as a "cookbook," which is wildly wrong -- it is MEANT to be a book about food and the art of cooking food. And no less about the art of eating food.

But the many digressions are the key to this wonderful book.

A brief biography: born in 1755, trained as a lawyer, Brillat-Savarin became the mayor of his home town, Belley. But he fled France at the time of the Revolution, and went to America. After his brief exile, he returned to Paris and served as a judge in the court of appeals. He spent the last twenty-five years of his life living peacefully, and writing this book.

Did he know that he was creating a masterpiece? Interesting question!

As his intrepid translator, M.F.K. Fisher comments, this seems to be a book which will last more than a century or two. It may well live for thousands of years.

WHY?

Because of the personality and intelligence of the author! Just like Fisher, I wish that I had been one of his friends! And, when push comes to shove, one purpose of a library is to provide an army of friends, hopefully intelligent, gentle, serene, and perceptive. Brillat-Savarin is all of these.

One sample discussion that I can recall from memory is about the ability of various men to enjoy tasty food. And Brillat-Savarin puts his point simply and unforgettably: there are men born blind, and men born lame, and men born deaf. On the other hand, there are men born with sight, men born with normal mobility, and men who can hear. In the same way, some men are born with an inability to appreciate delicious food, due to a lack of taste-buds on the tongue or whatever, BUT there are men who are born loving tasty food -- and I am writing my book about and for these people! :-)

Be careful about buying this book! It may wind up on your nightstand for a long, long, time. Fine wine indeed, from a truly vintage mind -- and a truly fine translator.

Also beware: it may make you hungry! :-)

Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin born in 1755 in Belley, France, an area renowned for its foodstuffs and wine. Encouraged by the gourmet interests of his family, he quickly developed a taste for good food and wines. After graduating in law, Brillat-Savarin became magistrate of Belley and was later elected mayor of the town. With the outbreak of the French revolution his life was increasingly endangered and he fled to other parts of Europe and then on to America where he earned his living as a violinist in a theatre orchestra. He returned to France in 1796 and became a judge of the supreme courts of appeal. Apart from his judicial functions, he spent much time entertaining his friends, and his dinners were famous for their culinary excellence and witty conversation. His attitude to food was reflected by his famous comment "tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.' He began compiling a book of meditations on gastronomy and in 1825, a few months before his death, published la Physiologie du gout, a brilliant treatise on the pleasures of eating and the culmination of his long and loving association with food. French literary heavyweight Honore de Balzac was a friend of his and even titled one of his books 'the physiology of marriage' in honour of Savarin.

The previous reviewer has it exactly right. This is a book of meditations on the pleasures of food. It is written by a man in whose company it would have been a great pleasure to eat and drink. It is written for people who have the capacity to taste and rejoice in tasting. It is translated by the most original food writer of the 20th Century, and illustrated (in my edition) by the estimable Wayne Thiebaud.
What's the point of a book of meditations? In this case, it's to provoke your appetite and deepen your pleasures in satisfying that appetite. I recommend a page or two after dinner, at least three nights a week and washed down with good red wine.

Lynn Hoffman author ofThe New Short Course in Wine

After reading some of the reviews concerning this book, I can certainly agree with much of the praise as well as the criticism. Filled with pithy euphimisms, chunks of this wonderful adventure in gastronomy are a revealing look at the life of the well-to-do author; other morsels seem be out of place, dry of wit, and ill-seasoned. Nonetheless, this is still a good read--there are some fascinating ancedotes as to life in the "new" United States which Savarin reports on after an adventure in the newly independent colonies. Worthy of any well-stocked bookshelf.