The Pleasures of the Table

by JenniferTaylor (Editor)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1993

  $3.25

  Since food is a constant preoccupation of mankind, it is little wonder if the pleasures of the table have been celebrated by poets, novelists, diarists and wits down the centuries. This anthology of over 500 quotations ranges from Horace and Pliny to witticisms from some of today's celebrities. Along the way gourmets and gourmands such as Brillat-Savarin, Thackeray and Washington Irving reveal their predilections. There are descriptions of scrumptious meals in France, iridescent Italian markets, the delights of festive tables at Christmas, and the pleasures as well as the tribulations of eating out. Dickens records an atrocious meal at a dirty inn on one of his journeys, and among other horrors reported are adulterated milk in the 18th century and plastic airline food. Covering the trials of dieting as well as the dire effects of overindulgence, with advice on healthy eating from several centuries ago, and including a string of hearty breakfasts, idyllic summer lunches, elegant dinners, and a celebration of the freshest ingredients, this book is designed to amuse and inform.