A Flummery of Food: Feasts for Epicures (Hardcover)

by Andre Simon (Introduction)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A sumptuous anthology of the literature and art of gastronomy. With an Introduction by Andre Simon.

Here is the perfect bedside companion for epicures. Ranging widely across time and countries, its contents offer an enlightening, richly entertaining portrait of mankind at table. Never-to-be-forgotten meals and appalling ones; palatial banquets and desert-island deprivation; strange food in outlandish places; the proper and improper behavior of hosts and guests... these, and others, are the themes of this splendid collection. Among the contributors are Evelyn Waugh, S.J. Perelman, Mark Twain, Colette, and Proust, and there are pieces by Brillat-Savarin and other epicures on specific aspects of gastronomy. Peppering the writings are cartoons by James Thurber and Ronald Searle, as well as drawings by Toulouse-Lautrec and Aubrey Beardsley and paintings by Caravaggio and Picasso.

From the Publisher
Each small but perfectly formed book in this series is unique. Designed and produced to please the eye, Little Books are perfect for giving—yet they are far more than gift books. Each compact volume offers expert information, sound advice, thought-provoking ideas, and inspiration— always from a respected and trusted source. Happy reading from Little Books.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Little Books (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1904435440
• ISBN-13: 978-1904435440
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,657,799 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A delightful buffet of words about food, June 22, 2008

By	Robert C. Ross (New Jersey) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

André Simon (28 February 1877-1970) was a prolific writer about wine and food. Hugh Johnson describes him as "the charismatic leader of the English wine trade for almost all of the first half of the 20th century, and the grand old man of literate connoisseurship for a further 20 years." Simon believed that "a man dies too young if he leaves any wine in his cellar"; he left two magnums of claret in his cellar at his death. 400 guests drank the two magnums of Chateau Latour 1945 at a dinner honoring what would have been his 100th birthday.

The word "flummery" has a variety of meanings according to the OED; in the food context it originally meant `A kind of food made by coagulation of wheat flour or oatmeal', but later described a variety of sweet dishes made with milk, flour, sugar and other delicacies. Simon was certainly an epicure of food and wine and, as this lovely little book proves, words about food as well.

Simon chose his entries from the literature of different periods and countries. There are extracts from Charles Dickens, Edward Lear, Evelyn Waugh, George Sainsbury, Sir Harold Nicolson, Thomas Hood, Mark Twain and Brillan-Savarin. The selections are complemented by cartoons of James Thurber, Ronald Searle, and past and present Punch artists, and drawings by Toulouse-Lautrec, Cruickshank and Aubrey Beardsley. The printing and the binding are excellent.

A few samples of the treasures here include:

Robert Boyle on curing hangovers: "Take green hemlock that is tender, and put it in your Socks, so that it may lie thinly between them and the Soles of your feet; shift the Herbs once a Day."

Guy de Maupassant: "I became aware that I was eating something particularly delicious, soft-boiled eggs embedded in a layer of meat jelly, seasoned with herbs, and discreetly iced."

Simon himself describing a wine as "a girl of fifteen, who is already a great artist, coming on tip-toe and curtseying herself out with childish grace and laughing blue eyes." [Robert Parker developed his 100 point scale in part, he writes, because of his distaste for this poetic style.]

Simon made his fortune by writing "Laurie's Elementary Russian Grammar", and thereafter devoted himself to writing about food and wine, well over 100 titles including the best selling A Concise Encyclopedia of Gastronomy.

This pleasant little book is perfect for dipping into from time to time, and sharing the culinary pleasures of the world Simon inhabited.


Robert C. Ross 2008