The handbook of dining; or, How to dine, theoretically, philosophically and historically considered : Based chiefly upon the Physiologie du goût of Brillat-Savarin / By Leonard Francis Simpson.

  • Brillat-Savarin, Jean-Anthelme.
Date:
1859
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The handbook of dining; or, How to dine, theoretically, philosophically and historically considered : Based chiefly upon the Physiologie du goût of Brillat-Savarin / By Leonard Francis Simpson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    CHAPTER XIV. ÉPROUVETTES GASTRONOMIQUES. Under the head of e Éprouvettes Gastronomiques/ Savarin gives the menu for a dinner suited to various degrees of fortune. By éprouvettes gastronomiques we mean (says Savarin) dishes of such recognised flavour and of such indisputable excellence, that their apparition alone ought, in a well-organised man, to move all his fa- culties of taste ; so that those who, on such an occa- sion, evince no spark of desire, no radiance of ecstasy, ought to be justly noted as unworthy of the honours of the sitting and of the pleasures attached thereto. The system of éprouvettes, duly examined and de- liberated in full council, has been inscribed in the 4 golden book ’ in a tongue that changes not :— .4 Utcumque ferculum, eximii et bene noti sapo- ris,' appositum fuerit, fiat autopsia convivœ, et nisi factes' ejus ac oculi vertantur ad extasim, notetur ut indignus.’ In other words :—‘ Whenever a dish of distin- guished flavour or renown is served up, scan atten- tively the countenance of every guest, and note down as unworthy all those whose countenances do not beam with delight.’ The power of éprouvettes is relative, and must be suited to the habits and capacities of every class of