Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “The Physiology of Taste” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

The Physiology of Taste

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin,

Anne Drayton (Translator, Introduction)

4.07 · Rating details · 1,490 ratings · 127 reviews

First published in 1825, this book is a brilliant treatise on the pleasures of eating and the rich arts of food, wine, and philosophy, written by a famed French gastronome. Recipes are included.

Get A Copy

Paperback, 384 pages

Published November 1st 1994 by Penguin Classics (first published 1825)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about The Physiology of Taste, please sign up.

Be the first to ask a question about The Physiology of Taste

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 4.07 ·

Rating details

· 1,490 ratings · 127 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of The Physiology of Taste

May 23, 2017 Lobstergirl rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, cookbooks-and-food

I began the book wary of Fisher's very heavy hand - she is an obtrusive editor, needing to insert herself and her personal recollections often. (Nearly every brief section of the book ends with her footnotes, which are called "The Translator's Glosses.") So when Brillat-Savarin mentions black pudding, she adds in an early gloss: "In Paris spicy boudin used to be served on Christmas Eve...in the larger cafes of Burgundy...the prostitutes would snatch at it, daintily of course but with avidity, as
I began the book wary of Fisher's very heavy hand - she is an obtrusive editor, needing to insert herself and her personal recollections often. (Nearly every brief section of the book ends with her footnotes, which are called "The Translator's Glosses.") So when Brillat-Savarin mentions black pudding, she adds in an early gloss: "In Paris spicy boudin used to be served on Christmas Eve...in the larger cafes of Burgundy...the prostitutes would snatch at it, daintily of course but with avidity, as if it could give them some magic strength." Now that is someone who would rather be writing her own book than adding footnotes to someone else's. And after Brillat-Savarin describes a turkey hunt in Connecticut she needs to tell her own turkey story, not leaving out details not only sartorial and osteological but also Sinological: "The only living human being I have known who could speak casually of hunting, cleaning, and then roasting a wild turkey, and all that in the state of Arkansas, told me that in general the birds are stuffed lightly with cold cornbread and plenty of butter. In general, this woman said to me, histing [sic] blue denim pants over her flat hip-bones and looking Chinese-like over her straight lower lids, in general wild turkeys isn't thought highly of and people who cook them at all slice off the two breast-meat pieces and fry them in good hog fat...and they sure enough taste damn near as good as steak, she said."

In a gloss on digestion: "An endocrinologist once told me that the best procedure when business must be combined with eating is to watch your victim's ear lobes and feed him rare beef. When his lobes turn ruddy, make your proposition ....and quickly!" C'mon. Even she doesn't believe that.

Brillat-Savarin was a lawyer, politician, and judge. But Fisher feels that "If he were alive today, he might well be an anesthesiologist."

But ironically enough, Brillat-Savarin's own writing got so tedious at times that I began not to mind Fisher's glosses, the same way that audience coughing ceases to bother you after seven minutes of Bolero. ...more

flag 29 likes · Like · see review

Jun 16, 2013 Sketchbook rated it liked it · review of another edition

Cooking, the French believe, can lead to diplomatic success. The gourmet, it is said, merges the aesthetic w the pragmatic, and is usually a humanist. To the French, the sequence of dishes (w wines) is as important as the notes that follow on a music sheet. Only in recent years have some Americans & Brits felt the same (Puritanism). And only in France would a chef kill himself over a culinary failure : Vatel in 1671 and the #1 at Relais de Porquerolles, in 1967, after losing stars in the Micheli ...more

flag 18 likes · Like · see review

Mar 14, 2012 Mitch rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Food Lovers

A classic treatment of gastronomic pleasure in an elevated, yet fluid style that delights and demonstrates with equal power. The Everyman's edition is well-bound, elegantly typeset and a joy to read. I recommend this book to anyone who believes that eating is more than just a source of sustenance and enjoys plumbing the depths of philosophy to redeem even what might otherwise seem mundane and plumbless. ...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Apr 09, 2013 Kim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book changed my relationship to food and pleasure and sensual pleasure. Each chapter was a joyful new world of unheard-of creativity and adventure. I grew up in a home with good food, but standard American dishes were the staple. I love ribs and grilled cheese, but this is another world entirely.

I will never forget the night when I read the chapter on chocolate ... it was wonderful. Brillat-Savarin can, with just his words, evoke the pleasure of tasting a nicely roast bird, or the complex ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Jun 27, 2011 Hesper rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, history, food, 19th-century

I'm either too hungry or not hungry enough to write a proper review. For now, two things are certain: 1) this is THE gourmand's bible; and 2), it is impossible not to fall a little in love with both the author and his translator. ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Mar 10, 2007 clara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: cooks

Shelves: getsyouthinking, food

lots of interesting shit...

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Dec 31, 2013 Barry King rated it really liked it · review of another edition

There really is no way someone in this day and age can review this book. It's a classic, and so ingrained in our culture that it would be silly to do so, almost like critiquing "Hamlet" by Billy S.

In brief, it's the collected writings of the man who came to define gourmandism, and did so while weathering the excesses and disappointments of the French Revolution as an exile. The first seven-eighths are interesting more as a history study, and with the little gems hidden throughout that bring a pe There really is no way someone in this day and age can review this book. It's a classic, and so ingrained in our culture that it would be silly to do so, almost like critiquing "Hamlet" by Billy S.

In brief, it's the collected writings of the man who came to define gourmandism, and did so while weathering the excesses and disappointments of the French Revolution as an exile. The first seven-eighths are interesting more as a history study, and with the little gems hidden throughout that bring a period to life. The last eighth is, I feel, the real core of the book, where Brillat-Savarin assembles a series of little stories from his life that act almost like parables of gourmandism.

This edition, though, is wonderful. M. F. K. fisher did the translation in 1949, and every twist of the translation is glossed with her personal discussion of the matter, and perhaps a personal anecdote, and eventually, the glosses really become more about her relationship with this man who had been dead two hundred years.

I found myself reading the glosses with greater interest than the body of the work, which, whatever you might think of its author, is a product of its age and subject matter. It's a rambling piecing-together of ideas, and essays, 19th-century science and pseudoscience, and anecdotes, and moral lessons in the guise of conversation. All through it, Fisher helps to translate into mid-twentieth-century terms the material within, and draws on her own experiences, sometimes in pursuit of her understanding of Brillat-Savarin, to give us a more full picture of the man.

It's more like Abelard and Heloise at this point, or a romance written in epistolary form. I feel like I'm rummaging through a private trove of letters between Brillat-Savarin and Fisher, and learning to see a complete man through the love of this woman for him. And in the end, I think I do. As she ends her final gloss:

"That is perhaps the greatest difference between him and us: by the time we have slugged our way as courageously as possible past the onslaughts of modern engines and bacteria and ideals, we are drained and exhausted, and any one of us who reaches the age of seventy-one with serenity and a clear conscience is felt to be an unfair freak. Something must be wrong, we say resentfully; he must have cheated somewhere, taken some secret elixir.

Perhaps we can sip that potion, even vicariously, in the slow reading of a few books like this one, and can feel ourselves encouraged and renewed by the knowledge that if Brillat-Savarin could outride the wild storms of revolution and intrigue and not let them trouble his digestion, as Balzac wrote of him, so in our way can we." ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Mar 07, 2020 Beth Cato rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: france, 2020, nonfiction, classic, ebook

It's impossible to read any book about French food culture without encountering the name Brillat-Savarin along with a myriad of quotes. ("A dessert without cheese is like a beautiful woman who has lost an eye" is oft repeated.) He published what could be the first foodie treatise in the early 19th century, praising the joys of fine food in orgasmic terms while also espousing on how food impacts sleep (as understood by his own observations) and overall day-to-day existence.

This book must obvious ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Aug 21, 2015 Andrew added it · review of another edition

Shelves: essays

Here, you might think, is a book about food, but to say that is to miss the point entirely. While it's mostly about food-- and how nice it is to drink a cup of coffee as Brillat-Savarin pontificates about coffee, or to enjoy a plate of pasta with truffles as he extols their virtues-- it's really something much deeper.

Brillat-Savarin, as a man of the Enlightenment, was interested in formulating a theory of gastronomy that also allowed for ramblings and musings about sleep, dreams, death, medicine ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Aug 11, 2015 Tim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Belongs on every cooks bookshelf.
Probably on every chefs bookshelf as far as I understand.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 10, 2020 BobFish rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Delightful !

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 03, 2017 Timothy Ball rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: tim-s-shelf

Let a man rest or sleep or dream:he still remains subject to the laws of nourishment, and does not leave the empire of gastronomy.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 13, 2013 J.P. Bary rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Foodies, Philosophers and historians

Recommended to J.P. by: Victoria deBary

this review covers the 2009 edition published by the Everyman's Library division of Knopf. I ordered a copy of it only because the one I had used previously was somehow mislaid or lent to someone who failed to return it. I can't remember exactly when I last referred to the book (it can't have been that long ago), but rather than wait for the old worn paperback to turn up, I thought it might be nice to see what an updated hardcover could provide. I wasn't disappointed. This edition was published this review covers the 2009 edition published by the Everyman's Library division of Knopf. I ordered a copy of it only because the one I had used previously was somehow mislaid or lent to someone who failed to return it. I can't remember exactly when I last referred to the book (it can't have been that long ago), but rather than wait for the old worn paperback to turn up, I thought it might be nice to see what an updated hardcover could provide. I wasn't disappointed. This edition was published in 2009 and the main thing that sold me on it was that they had the sense to use the familiar front cover that has become an integral part of my associations with the book. When it arrived, i had more to enjoy. There is a new introduction by Bill Buford, which brilliantly prepares readers for both the penetrating analysis and quirky diversions that make the book such a delicious feast each time it is read (and you are sure to read it more than once).

I always feel certain that I'm being deprived of the full value of the original when I read classics in translation, but Buford confirms the comfort I gained in the superiority of M.F.K. Fisher's translation after a frustrating attempt to read the book in the original French (which was rather futile for me due to both the extraordinary range of subjects and the stylistic conventions of the day). Buford's comments on Fisher's footnotes gave me a new perspective on the book. Indeed, I began my re-reading with some footnotes, then went back to the text and once again fell under the spell, this time with a better appreciation of my debt to Fisher for her commentaries. Brillat-Savarin simply defies our expectations with his all encompassing examination of taste. He the archetypal French philosophe: detailed in his minute empirical observations, yet sweeping in the logical connections and underpinnings he finds behind what he observes. His meditations encompass everything from how best to restore the appetite after it passes during an abnormally long wait for dinner to how the Romans could possibly have drunk wine from the large cups they used while lying on their sides.

Brillat-Savarin is famous for his aphorism: "Show me what you eat, and I shall tell you what you are." In this book, he shows that his notions of taste extended far beyond food and drink and extended to anything that interfered with his appealing vision of how a good life ought to be lived. It is a vision many have found inspiring. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 14, 2013 julie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: blog-camp-goes-to-mit

i've been reading jean-anthelme brillat-savarin's physiology of taste (or transcendental gastronomy). just his name should give you a bit of a taste of what a stuck-up, pretentious prat he is. and tho' i am largely skimming (what else can one do via an eReader? i can't take reading seriously unless i can scribble in the margins), i went back and forth between eye-rolling and being provoked to ponderous deep thoughts to the occasional actual (and thus no kittens killed) laugh out loud. because th i've been reading jean-anthelme brillat-savarin's physiology of taste (or transcendental gastronomy). just his name should give you a bit of a taste of what a stuck-up, pretentious prat he is. and tho' i am largely skimming (what else can one do via an eReader? i can't take reading seriously unless i can scribble in the margins), i went back and forth between eye-rolling and being provoked to ponderous deep thoughts to the occasional actual (and thus no kittens killed) laugh out loud. because tho' he's full of himself, he is witty in a kind of 18th century aristocratic, truffle-scoffing sort of way.

just his quasi-scientific method alone is worth the read...listing and categorizing and hierarchizing what is essentially an exploration of the pleasures of eating and drinking. and oddly, much of it still rings true today.

he opens with a self-congratulatory mini biography, extolling his own virtues as a truly excellent man of taste and cultivation. i somehow picture him as a cross between ben franklin and george washington in appearance, which is odd, since he's french, but there you have it. he says that he was satisfied with the simplest meal one could set before him, if it was just prepared artistically (emphasis mine). that's actually quite pretentious, but i like it. and i subscribe to the notion that care should be taken with the food we eat on a daily basis (tho' it may not always resemble art (see recent attempt to make homemade pita bread)). and frankly, often the simplest food is the most artistic (think japanese). tho' i imagine that he would think the simplest meal should contain truffles (he waxes lyrical about them for nearly 7 pages). and really, truffles are delicious.

but my favorite bit is the section about thirst. because inevitably, he gets around to talking about alcohol. and as you know, i am practically a daily inventor of new cocktails (what? you didn't know? you should really come around more often.). so, without reading the whole thing, i hereby declare my favorite passage to be:

"alcohol is the monarch of liquids, and takes possession of the extreme tastes of the palate. its various preparations offer us countless new flavors, and to certain medicinal remedies, it gives an energy they could not do well without."

alcohol as royalty with medicinal properties? let's drink to that.
...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

May 08, 2012 Sam rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: gastronomy, culture, food

So far it's brilliant. Not only Brillat-Savarin's antic prose style, but also the occasional interventions from the translator. The relationship between the two recalls the relationship between the narrator and the protagonist in Don Quijote Part II. Sample quote:

"Among small birds, beyond all doubt the best is "beccafico".

it becomes at least as fat as the red-throat or the ortolan, and nature has besides given it a slight bitterness, and a peculiar and exquisite perfume, which enables it to fil ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 21, 2020 DeAnna Knippling rated it liked it · review of another edition

A wandering series of essays/meditations on food and related topics.

I thought this was a bit too meandering and disjointed, with essays going off the rails suddenly, wandering into tangents and never coming back, and no real organization. It would have been charming if there had been, say, more anecdotes that sounded even remotely believable, but not only were the anecdotes not fully developed, but people kept swooning and dying of non-fatal causes, like drinking too much vinegar. (Seriously.)

T ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 22, 2008 Jason rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Jason by: MFK Fisher

So far, this book has been witty in that way that words themselves used to have wit. translated by MFK Fisher, it also avoids any overly ornate grammar that usually plagues European stuff prior to (and including) the 20th century.

In short, this book is an early look at western cookery and ingredients that were relatively new to the scene - coffee, chocolate, sugar, New World birds, etc. It's very timely in its publishing as to run parallel to the founding of the USA. Feels simulataneously like a ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 15, 2008 Amy M rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is an incredibly engaging and humorous book that introduced the concept of the gourmand to the world. There were many times that I laughed out loud at some of Brillat-Savarin's characterizations, but there are also some cautionary tales (like the young girl on the vinegar diet)that are disturbing and educational. This book is fascinating in that it gives quite a bit of insight into socializing and eating in 18th century France. I highly recommend if you are a gourmand yourself, and even if ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Aug 03, 2009 Erica Wissick rated it liked it · review of another edition

There should be a tried-to-read option. Promptly placed a permanent book mark after succession of yawns and finishing the section on "Hunting Luncheons".

Trudging through the chapters was similar to a tortuous dinner date. What sparked off as a promising evening with a piquant companion and much lauded fare-for-thought, turns out to be bland and inducing mild indigestion.

Brillat-Savarin would have probably made a better dinner companion than author. Maundering while masticating obstructs the ph ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 13, 2008 Leila rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is a very entertaining book. Important things I've learnt so far: Be a punctual cook. Never let your guests become hungry. Also, be a punctual guest! Use the best ingredients you can always, and especially when you have guests over. Also, love Brillat-Savarin's quote: Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you what you are. Beware that this book contains many unsubstantiated assumptions about people. Otherwise, his perfectionism when it comes to food is very inspiring. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 09, 2013 Nicole rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: foodies

An enjoyable book full of timeless ideas and bonmots to which one can relate even in the 21st century, e.g. the chapter about the end of the world. Not being a believer in "Armageddon according to Mayans" I found great joy in his witty remarks on this phenomenon, especially because three days before the 21.12.2012 I had just about enough of it.
All the talk about food made me constantly hungry but since I have started this book I somewhat enjoy and appreciate more what I eat. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 14, 2013 Petter Olsson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I read this book because of two simple chapters about Obesity and Thinness. It is amazing that this long time ago they already knew that carbohydrates were bad for you. Many time people will refer to "The Letter of Corpulence" as the first low-carb diet but that would be a mistake in my mind as that is exactly what is advocated in this book. The way this book is written gave me many chuckles and to see how ideals of bodies have changed over time. Strongly recommend this book. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 03, 2009 Steve rated it liked it · review of another edition

Just started, got through the 25 or so pp of prelim material - plan on hitting a chapter or so a night. they're short enough, and already I see how charming and entertaining this book (and Fisher's notes) is.

Worth reading just for the MFK Fisher notes. Some long, boring stretches - but some great pieces on dinners as well. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 13, 2012 Mark Palmieri rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: cooking, get-that-knowledge

A bit long-winded at times, but overall, a fantastic book. I really enjoyed all the actual life stories Savarin told. He's quite a writer and has plenty of interesting phrases. Or maybe that's more to do with MK Fisher, the famous translator.
Savarin inspired me as I'm sure he's inspired 1,000's of cooks over the last 100+ years.

What a player. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 28, 2014 Charlotte rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The perfect bus book as it is in small sections. I read a translation with excellent and amusing notes by MFK Fisher, and like me she was sort of in love with the charming man who wrote this. His sojourn in the United States during the French Revolution resulted in a funny and informative treatise on the turkey (worth a re-read). A remarkable character, Monsieur Brillat-Savarin.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 30, 2009 Robert Esquivel Jr rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book was given to me by one of my best good friends & it is just a to die for read. It seems as if he speaks from deep inside the mind of a chef.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 28, 2016 Murf Reeves rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14266141 ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 21, 2020 Umi rated it liked it · review of another edition

‘Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you what you are’ - Brilliant Savant. So opens every episode of Iron Chef, if you are an eight year old who has been allowed to stay up late to watch it with her parents. A few years later, I would accompany my grandmother on a trip to BevMo! to get a bottle of single malt as a thank you for a surgeon family friend and there the quotation would be again on the wall above the checkout counter. Do the BevMo! people also watch Iron Chef, I wondered, quickly foll ‘Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you what you are’ - Brilliant Savant. So opens every episode of Iron Chef, if you are an eight year old who has been allowed to stay up late to watch it with her parents. A few years later, I would accompany my grandmother on a trip to BevMo! to get a bottle of single malt as a thank you for a surgeon family friend and there the quotation would be again on the wall above the checkout counter. Do the BevMo! people also watch Iron Chef, I wondered, quickly followed by the realisation that the quotee was not Brilliant Savant but Brillat-Savarin.
This book doesn’t cover the best way to bite into a yellow pepper while wearing flamboyant quasi-Western attire, nor does it extol the virtues of the sodas of the world aisle, but when it has its moments, it really has its moments. The chapter on truffles is a delight, some of the descriptions of meals are real treatlets, and the professor’s life is pretty interesting. A lot of it is um... interpretive, and after the last chapter of The Gastronomical Me I’ve kind of soured on MFK Fisher (ok, actually, after most of The Gastronomical Me...) and a lot of her notes are like ?? ok ?? I don’t think I asked for your anecdote (I did this above! Did any of you enjoy it? OF COURSE NOT, people are tired of my precociousness, propensity for giving people I will never meet funny nicknames (even if unintentionally), and perverse need to namecheck pop culture relics!!) but then sometimes she talks about something she ate like 100 years ago in Los Angeles and I’m like 😒 fine.
I guess if I were the ingenue tasting on Iron Chef I would be dubbed saying, ‘The professor has a... pleasant sense of humour that really comes through!’ but I feel way more like the fortune teller, who would definitely be like, ‘There were too many unnecessary chapters and the translator’s notes are... a little unpleasant. Overall, it’s... not a dish for me.’ I’ve got to give battle: fun vacation read to the challenger this time. (THEME FROM BACKDRAFT PLAYS AS CREDITS ROLL) ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jun 26, 2021 Monty Milne rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I was amused and entertained by this, but I can’t take it seriously. The author is so ludicrously full of self importance that at first I thought he must be poking fun at himself. Take this typical sentence:

“When I write of me, I gossip with my reader, he may examine, discuss, doubt, or laugh; but when I saw WE I am a professor, and all must bow to me.”

He isn’t joking – he is so puffed up with conceit that he becomes risible, especially when so many of his solemnly pompous pronouncements about n I was amused and entertained by this, but I can’t take it seriously. The author is so ludicrously full of self importance that at first I thought he must be poking fun at himself. Take this typical sentence:

“When I write of me, I gossip with my reader, he may examine, discuss, doubt, or laugh; but when I saw WE I am a professor, and all must bow to me.”

He isn’t joking – he is so puffed up with conceit that he becomes risible, especially when so many of his solemnly pompous pronouncements about nutrition and digestion are, we now know, completely and utterly wrong (e.g he calls sugar “a substance which can do no possible harm”).

He is so full of himself that he makes President Macron look like a model of modesty and self effacement:

“…though my stomach is rather prominent, I have a round and well tuned leg, and my sinews are like those of an Arab horse.”

I’m afraid my response to this is laughter at the silly old fool. Many of his recipes sound utterly disgusting (grey squirrel stewed in madeira?!). And his fondness for eating the tuneful and inoffensive Garden Warbler (he calls it a “beccafico”) enrages me. The worst thing about the French (apart from their overproduction of pointless and pompous intellectuals) is their fondness for murdering and swallowing tiny and beautiful song birds. Shame on them!

The translation seems a very bad one, full of interpolations and omissions, and lots of annoying typos (“Pro Sesto” for “Pope Pius VI”, for example). There are some good anecdotes (D’Albignac’s salad story is very pleasing – if true – which I doubt). Some of the author’s famous sayings are certainly memorable (“A dessert without cheese is like a beautiful woman with only one eye.”) But so much of what he says is wrong, foolish, and of doubtful veracity that I feel his posthumous reputation is entirely undeserved. And who cares if the new bishop ate his fondue with a spoon instead of a fork? I don’t. This old windbag is as empty and overblown as a collapsed soufflé.
...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jan 05, 2020 Andrew Yen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book is best summarized by the translator, whose affection for Brillat-Savarin is evident and abundant, in the Postscript:

"In the Professor's time it was considered the unquestioned right of any man of common sense, which he so eminently was, to choose how best he might spend his hours of creation. When young he studied war and love and politics with an ardor and directness and unclouded simplicity impossible to our own murky days. When he grew older, and withdrew perforce from actual comba ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend It | Stats | Recent Status Updates

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Food and Drink > Food

169 users

Nonfiction

55 users

Food and Drink > Cooking

31 users

Philosophy

21 users

Writing > Essays

17 users

Food and Drink > Food Writing

17 users

Classics

14 users

History

14 users

Food and Drink > Gastronomy

12 users

Cultural > France

12 users

See top shelves…

About Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

37 followers

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, a French lawyer and politician, and gained fame as an epicure and gastronome. He was born in the town of Belley, Ain, where the Rhone River then separated France from Savoy, to a family of lawyers. He studied law, chemistry and medicine in Dijon in his early years and thereafter practiced law in his hometown. In 1789, at the opening of the French Revolution, he was s ...more