The Physiology of Taste: Or Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy (Paperback)

~ M. F. K. Fisher (Author) "The senses are the organs by which man communicates with the world outside himself..." (more)
Key Phrases: gastronomical tests, bodily losses, The Translator's Glosses, The Physiology of Taste, Curative Treatment of Obesity (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com 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"). Brillat-Savarin, whose genius is in the examination and discussion of food, cooking, and eating, proclaims that "the discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a star."

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. These two 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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From The New Yorker

"Still the most civilized cookbook ever written."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Counterpoint (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582431035
• ISBN-13: 978-1582431031
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #442,621 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MFK's is the better translation, June 27, 2001

By	jumpy1 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant book, a classic, buy it, January 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Physiology of Taste (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

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.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The standard English edition of a landmark eccentric classic, November 20, 2002

By	Max W. Hauser (Silicon Valley, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.