GUSTO ESSENTIAL WRITINGS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY GASTRONOMY Edited and with an introduction by Denise Gigante With a Foreword by Harold Bloom RT4470 sell sheet 8/4/05 2:04 PM Page 1 “The wonderful gastronomical texts assembled here delight and surprise in equal measure. Selections from Brillat-Savarin, Alexandre Dumas (père) and an especially welcome translation from the pioneering journalism of Grimod de la Reynière represent the French. But the big surprise lies across the Channel. Denise Gigante makes a truly original contribution with her promotion of English gastronomers such as Launcelot Sturgeon, Dick Humelbergius Secundus, and The Alderman (all pseudonyms), Charles Lamb and Thackeray. Successors to the French, the English gastronomers come into their own as descendants of the Enlightenment writers on taste. The perceptive introduction to the anthology with its connections to literary and philosophical concerns, the useful presentation and thorough notes to each selection, the contemporary illustrations—and of the course the delicious texts themselves—make Gusto a succulent feast for twenty-first century diners and readers alike.” —Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson, author of Accounting for Taste “Informative and witty, these essays demonstrate the application of science, philosophy, and medicine to the developing culture of gastronomy. Denise Gigante has assembled the writings of the founders of modern ideas about eating, taste, and manners, framing robust selections with illuminating and authoritative scholarship.” —Carolyn Korsmeyer, author of Making Sense of Taste Gigante-RT4470-C00.indd ii 8/9/2005 3:42:03 PM Gigante title page 8/1/05 4:23 PM Page 1 GUSTO ESSENTIAL WRITINGS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY GASTRONOMY Edited and with an introduction by Denise Gigante With a Foreword by Harold Bloom New York London RT4470_RT4469_Discl.fm Page 1 Friday, August 5, 2005 9:22 AM Published in 2005 by Published in Great Britain by Routledge Routledge Taylor & Francis Group Taylor & Francis Group 711 Third Avenue 2 Park Square New York, NY 10017 Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon OX14 4RN © 2005 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group International Standard Book Number-10: 0-415-97092-X (Hardcover) 0-415-97093-8 (Softcover) International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-415-97092-1 (Hardcover) 978-0-415-97093-8 (Softcover) Library of Congress Card Number 2005006001 No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gusto : essential writings in nineteenth-century gastronomy / edited with an introduction by Denise Gigante ; with translations of Grimod de la Reynière's Almanach des Gourmands and Manuel des Amphitryons by Michael Garval. p. cm. ISBN 0-415-97092-X (hardback : alk. paper) --- ISBN 0-415-97093-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Gastronomy-History--19th century. 2. Cookery, French-History--19th century. 3. Cookery, English-History--19th century. I. Gigante, Denise, 1965- II. Garval, Michael D., 1963- Manuel des Amphitryons. TX637.G85 2005 641'.01'3--dc22 2005006001 Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com Taylor & Francis Group and the Routledge Web site at is the Academic Division of T&F Informa plc. http://www.routledge-ny.com For my parents Gigante-RT4470-C00.indd v 8/9/2005 3:42:03 PM Gigante-RT4470-C00.indd vi 8/9/2005 3:42:03 PM Contents Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Foreword xiii HAROLD BLOOM Introduction xvii DENISE GIGANTE 1 Alexandre Balthazar Laurent Grimod 1 de la Reynière (–) IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY MICHAEL GARVAL From Th e Gourmand’s Almanac (1803–12) / 4 From Th e Host’s Manual (1808) / 40 2 William Kitchiner (1775[?]–1827) 57 From Th e Cook’s Oracle (1817) / 59 From Peptic Precepts (1821) / 70 3 Launcelot Sturgeon (Pseudonym) 79 From Essays, Moral, Philosophical, and Stomachical (1822) / 83 4 Charles Lamb (1775–1834) 127 A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig (1823) / 129 Grace Before Meat (1823) / 134 5 Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755–1826) 141 From Physiologie du Goût (1826) / 144 vii Gigante-RT4470-C00.indd vii 8/9/2005 3:42:03 PM viii • Contents 6 Dick Humelbergius Secundus (Pseudonym) 175 From Apician Morsels (1829) / 179 7 Th omas Walker (1784–1836) 205 From Aristology, or the Art of Dining (1835) / 207 8 William Makepeace Th ackeray (1811–68) 223 From Th e Book of Snobs (1847) / 224 9 Th e Alderman (Pseudonym) 233 From Th e Knife and Fork (1849) / 235 10 Dining, Considered as a Fine Art (Anonymous) 243 From Harper’s New Monthly Magazine (December 1858) / 243 11 William Blanchard Jerrold (1826–84) 255 From Th e Epicure’s Year Book and Table Companion () / 12 Alexandre Dumas (–) From Dictionary of Cuisine () / Appendix A Joseph Berchoux (1760–1839) 275 From Gastronomy, or the Bon-Vivant’s Guide (1801) / 276 B Subjects of the Frontispieces 283 From Th e Gourmand’s Almanac (1803–12) / 283 Index 289 Gigante-RT4470-C00.indd viii 8/9/2005 3:42:03 PM Illustrations Cover Detail from Th e Gourmand (oil on canvas). Boilly, Louis Léopold (1761–1845). Private Collection, Giraudon. Reproduced with permis- sion from the Bridgeman Art Library. Figure 1 A Jury of Gourmand Tasters in Session (Séance d’un jury de gour- mands dégustateurs), from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Gourmand’s Almanac (Vol. 3, 1806). Figure 2 Th e Library of a Nineteenth-Century Gourmand (Bibliothèque d’un gourmand du 19e Siècle) from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Gourmand’s Almanac (Vol. 1, 1803). Figure 3 A Gourmand’s Audiences (Les audiences d’un gourmand) from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Gourmand’s Almanac (Vol. 2, 1805). Figure 4 A Gourmand’s Meditations (Les méditations d’un gourmand) from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Gourmand’s Almanac (Vol. 4, 1807). Figure 5 A Host’s First Duty (Le premier devoir d’un Amphitryon) from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Gourmand’s Almanac (Vol. 5, 1807). Figure 6 A Gourmand’s Dreams (Les rêves d’un gourmand) from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Gourmand’s Almanac (Vol. 6, 1808). Figure 7 A Gourmand Rising (Le lever d’un gourmand) from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Gourmand’s Almanac (Vol. 7, 1810). Figure 8 Dinner’s Most Mortal Enemy (Le plus mortel ennemi du dîner) from Grimod de la Reynière, Gourmand’s Almanac (Vol. 8, 1812). Figure 9 Boiled Piece of Meat; Boiled Hen (La pièce de bouillie; La poule bouillie) from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Host’s Manual (1808). Figure 10 Calf’s Head; Lamb (La tête de Veau; L’Agneau ou le chevreau) from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Host’s Manual (1808). Figure 11 Leg of Mutton; Shoulder of Mutton (L’éclanche plus communément appelée le gigot de mouton et l’epaule de mouton) from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Host’s Manual (1808). ix Gigante-RT4470-C00.indd ix 8/9/2005 3:42:03 PM x • Illustrations Figure 12 Ham; Mutton Loin (Jambon; Carré de mouton) from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Host’s Manual (1808). Figure 13 Suckling Pig; Boar’s Head (Le cochon de lait; La hure de sanglier) from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Host’s Manual (1808). Figure 14 Chicken; Pigeon; Young Partridge; Woodcock (Le poulet, le pigeon; Le perdreau ou la perdrix, la bécasse) from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Host’s Manual (1808). Figure 15 Turbot; Barbel; Carp (Turbot; barbeau; carpe) from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Host’s Manual (1808). Figure 16 Th e Meditations of an Epicure (cf. fi g. 5) from Launcelot Sturgeon, Essays, Moral, Philosophical and Stomachical (1823). Figure 17 Les boissons [Beverages], by Bertall [Albert Arnoux], from Jean- Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Physiologie du Goût (1868). Figure 18 Untitled, by Bertall, from Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Physi- ologie du Goût (1868). Figure 19 Untitled, by Bertall, from Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Physi- ologie du Goût (1868). Figure 20 Untitled, by Bertall, from Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Physi- ologie du Goût (1868). Figure 21 Les Aliments [Food] by Bertall from Jean Anthelme Brillat-Sa- varin, Physiologie du Goût (1868). Figure 22 Untitled, by Van Muyden, from Brillat-Savarin, Physiologie du Goût, in Four Private Libraries of New York, by Henri Pène du Bois (1892). Figure 23 Mr. Eatington in the Act of Receiving an Invitation for 5’O’clock Very Precisely, by Robert Cruikshank, from Dick Humelbergius Se- cundus, Apician Morsels (1834). Figure 24 Th e Roman Senate Debating on the Turbot, by Robert Cruikshank, from Dick Humelbergius Secundus, Apician Morsels (1834). Figure 25 Untitled [Title Page], by Bertall, from Eugène Briff ault, Paris à Table (1846). Figure 26 Untitled, by George Cruikshank, from William Clarke, Th ree Courses and a Dessert (1830). Figure 27 Untitled, by George Cruikshank, from William Clarke, Th ree Courses and a Dessert (1830). Figure 28 Untitled, by George Cruikshank, from William Clarke, Th ree Courses and a Dessert (1830). Figure 29 Frontispiece, Th e Knife and Fork for 1849, by Kenny Meadows, from Th e Knife and Fork for 1849. Figure 30 “Position de la main, du couteau et de la fourchette à découper” (Position of the hand, knife, and carving fork); from Grimod de la Reynière, Th e Host’s Manual (1808). Gigante-RT4470-C00.indd x 8/9/2005 3:42:04 PM Acknowledgments Many thanks to Mike Garval, whose work on Alexandre Grimod de la Reynière originally inspired this anthology and whose translations included here will provide many hours of delectation.