La Physiologie Du Goût
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Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (; 2 April 1755 – 2 February 1826) was a French lawyer and politician, who, as the author of ''Physiologie du goût'' (''The Physiology of Taste''), became celebrated for his culinary reminiscences and reflections on the craft and science of cookery and the art of eating. Rising to modest eminence in the last years of France's
Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...
, Brillat-Savarin had to escape into exile when the
Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...
began in 1793. He spent nearly three years in the United States, teaching French and playing the violin to support himself, before returning to France when it became safe to do so, resuming his career as a lawyer, and rising to the top of the French judiciary. ''The Physiology of Taste'' was the product of many years' writing in the author's spare time. Published weeks before his death in 1826, the work established him alongside
Grimod de La Reynière Alexandre-Balthazar-Laurent Grimod de La Reynière (20 November r September?1758 in Paris – 25 December 1837) was a lawyer by qualification who acquired fame during the reign of Napoleon for his sensual and public gastronomic lifestyle. Son ...
as one of the founders of the genre of the gastronomic essay.


Life and career


Early years

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin was born on 2 April 1755 in the small cathedral city of
Belley Belley (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Bèlê'') is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Ain Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region, France. It is the capital of the historical regi ...
,
Ain Ain (, ; ) is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...
, 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
and a similar distance south of
Bourg-en-Bresse Bourg-en-Bresse (; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Located northeast of Lyon, it is the capital of the ancient Provinces of France, province of Bresse (). I ...
. Belley was the principal city of the region of
Bugey The Bugey (, ; Arpitan: ''Bugê'') is a historical region in the department of Ain, eastern France, located between Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saôn ...
, which had been absorbed into France under the 1601 Treaty of Lyon. Brillat-Savarin was descended on both sides from families of lawyers; his father, Marc-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, was a leading lawyer in the city and his mother, Claudine-Aurore ''née'' Récamier, was the daughter of Belley's Notary Royal. Jean Anthelme was the eldest of the couple's eight children; of his two brothers, Xavier followed into the legal profession and Frédéric became an army officer. In the household and region in which Brillat-Savarin grew up, good food was taken seriously; his relation and fellow lawyer wrote: Brillat-Savarin learned from friends and acquaintances of his parents many unusual things about food, including a three-day method of cooking spinach, how to eat small game birds like ortolans, and how to prepare chocolate for drinking. His formal education proceeded along more conventional lines: he entered the Collège de Belley in 1764 or 1765. Although founded as a religious institution and with many of its staff in holy orders, the college was secular in outlook; theology was not in the curriculum and the library contained works on agriculture and science as well as books by La Rochefoucauld,
Montesquieu Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (18 January 168910 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher. He is the principal so ...
, Rabelais,
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
and
Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...
. As a schoolboy Brillat-Savarin took up the violin; he loved playing it, and although destined for the law he hankered for a while after a career as a violinist. In the spring of 1774 Brillat-Savarin enrolled at the
University of Dijon A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
. His main study was law, but he undertook some extracurricular studies in medicine and attended lectures in chemistry by
Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau Louis-Bernard Guyton, Baron de Morveau (also Louis-Bernard Guyton-Morveau after the French Revolution; 4 January 1737 – 2 January 1816) was a French chemist, politician, and aeronaut. He is credited with producing the first systematic method ...
, who became a friend and helpful counsellor.


Ancien Régime and revolution

After graduating in 1778 Brillat-Savarin returned to Belley and practised law, making his first court appearance in September. He made good progress in his profession, and in 1781 he was appointed as a magistrate in the local civil court – ''lieutenant civil du bailliage''. As he became more eminent locally he became involved with seeking action to alleviate the deprivations of the poor caused by years of financial crisis and poor harvests. In 1787 he first visited the royal residence, the
Château de Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines Department of Île-de-France region in France. The palace is owned by the government of F ...
; his purpose may have been to seek help for the poor of his region, but he left no details of his mission. Riots broke out in
Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
in June 1788 in protest against the abolition of traditional and supposedly guaranteed local freedoms, and it became clear that effective government had so seriously collapsed that
Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...
would have to summon a meeting of the Estates General, the closest approximation in Ancien Régime France to a national parliament; it had not met since 1614, and in the words of the historian Karen Diane Haywood it "generally met only in dire situations when the king and his ministers had no other choice". When the King summoned the Estates General in 1789 Brillat-Savarin was elected to represent the
Third Estate The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed and ...
of Belley.Drayton, p. 9 In a biographical sketch Anne Drayton observes "there was nothing of the revolutionary in his make-up", and when the Estates General reformed as the National Constituent Assembly he made speeches opposing the division of France into eighty-three administrative
departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
, the introduction of
trial by jury A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial, in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are increasingly used ...
and the abolition of capital punishment. At the end of his term of office in September 1791 Brillat-Savarin returned home as president of the civil tribunal of the new department of
Ain Ain (, ; ) is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...
, but as politics in Paris became increasingly radical, with the abolition of the monarchy, he was ''
persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...
'' with the new regime, and was dismissed from his post for royalist sympathies. Such was his popularity among his fellow citizens that in December 1792 he was elected mayor of Belley. For nearly a year he strove to protect his city from the excesses of the revolution, but when the
Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...
began in September 1793 he felt increasingly at risk of arrest and execution. On 10 or 11 December he fled from France to Switzerland, where he took up residence in
Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
. He later stayed with relations in
Moudon Moudon (; ; ) is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It was the seat of Moudon District and is now in the Broye-Vully District, Broye-Vully district. History Montmagny was k ...
, from whom he learnt his celebrated and later controversial recipe for
fondue Fondue ( , , , ; ) is a Swiss dish of melted cheese and wine served in a communal pot ( or fondue pot) over a portable stove () heated with a candle or spirit lamp, and eaten by dipping bread and sometimes vegetables or other foods into the c ...
. He was joined by a fellow exile, Jean-Antoine de Rostaing, whose father, the Marquis Just-Antoine de Rostaing, had fought with the French forces in the
American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
. Rostaing suggested sailing to the United States; Brillat-Savarin agreed. They made their way to
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
, where they took ship for an eighty-day voyage to
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, disembarking on 30 September 1794.


American exile

Brillat-Savarin remained in the US for nearly two years, supporting himself by giving French and violin lessons. His biographer Giles MacDonogh observes, "He awarded himself the title of ''Professeur'', by which he jocularly referred to himself to the end of his days".MacDonogh, p. 3 He also played first violin in America's only professional orchestra, at the
John Street Theatre John Street Theatre, situated at 15–21 John Street, sometimes called "The Birthplace of American Theatre", was the first permanent theatre in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York.''The Oxford Companion to the Theatre'' (Fourth Editio ...
, New York. He later had fond memories of his time in America: While staying with a friend in
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
he shot a wild turkey and brought it back to the kitchen: he wrote of the roast bird that it was, "charming to behold, pleasing to smell, and delicious to taste". One of his favourite memories of his American stay was an evening at Little's Tavern in New York when he and two other French '' émigrés'' beat two Englishmen in a competitive drinking bout, in which they all consumed large quantities of
claret Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gir ...
,
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...
,
Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...
and punch.


Return to France

Rostaing grew tired of life in the US and returned to France in May 1795. Without him Brillat-Savarin was deprived of the closest friend of his years of exile. He continued to amuse himself with, among other diversions, what a biographer calls "undoubtedly numerous" encounters with the opposite sex; Brillat-Savarin commented, "being able to speak the language and flirt with women, I was able to reap the richest rewards". He hoped, nonetheless, to return to France, not least because he was running short of funds, and he sailed for home, arriving at the end of August 1796.MacDonogh, pp. 126–127 By this time the political scene in France was no longer dominated by extremists:
Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 â€“ 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre fer ...
and his allies from the Reign of Terror had fallen and France was ruled by the more moderate Directory. Brillat-Savarin persuaded the authorities that the legal penalties imposed on ''émigrés'' should be rescinded in his case. Through the influence of Rostaing, Brillat-Savarin was appointed as secretary to the staff of General
Charles-Pierre Augereau Charles Pierre François Augereau, duc de Castiglione (; 21 October 1757 – 12 June 1816) was a French military commander and a Marshal of the Empire who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. After serving in the ...
, who led the French army fighting on the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
. Drayton comments that by this time Brillat-Savarin had obviously acquired a certain reputation as a gourmet, "for he was promptly put in charge of catering for the general staff, a task which he performed to the delighted satisfaction of his fellow officers".Drayton, p. 10 After the end of the Rhine campaign the Directory appointed him as President of the Criminal Court of the Ain Department, based in Bourg-en-Bresse, in 1798, and then State Prosecutor for the Department of
Seine-et-Oise Seine-et-Oise () is a former department of France, which encompassed the western, northern and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its prefecture was Versailles and its administrative number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was disbanded in ...
, based in Versailles. After
Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
engineered the fall of the Directory and establishment of the
Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...
in 1799, Brillat-Savarin was appointed as a judge in the '' Tribunal de cassation'', the supreme court of appeal, which sat in Paris. He was awarded the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
in 1804, and in 1808 Napoleon made him a ''
Chevalier de l'Empire As Emperor of the French, Napoleon I created titles in a newly established ' (imperial nobility) to institute a stable elite in the First French Empire, after the instability resulting from the French Revolution. Like many others, both befo ...
''.


Later years

For the rest of his life Brillat-Savarin led a contented existence, carrying out his judicial functions conscientiously, entertaining his friends, and writing. He remained a lifelong bachelor. Playing the violin continued to be a favourite pastime – by this time he could afford a
Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...
– and although he never played professionally again he performed for his friends. In a study of Brillat-Savarin published in 1892, Lucien Tendret, one of his successors as mayor of Belley and one of the founders of ''L'Académie des Gastronomes'', related a story of Brillat-Savarin's playing: The dinners given by Brillat-Savarin at his house in the
rue de Richelieu The Rue de Richelieu () is a long street of Paris, starting in the south of the 1st arrondissement at the Comédie-Française and ending in the north of the 2nd arrondissement. For the first half of the 19th century, before Georges-Eugène Hau ...
in Paris became famous for their excellence. Drayton comments that some of them were graced by the presence of his beautiful cousin,
Juliette Récamier Jeanne Françoise Julie Adélaïde Récamier (; 3 December 1777 – 11 May 1849), known as Juliette (), was a French socialite whose salon drew people from the leading literary and political circles of early 19th-century Paris. An icon of neoc ...
, who is mentioned in several places in ''Physiologie du goût''. She looked to him for his wise advice, and Drayton surmises that he was in love with her: "So at least we may assume from the references to her in his great work, and from the dedication he wrote in the copy he sent her just before he died": For years Brillat-Savarin worked intermittently on his ''Physiologie du goût'', adding, revising and polishing. Its contents were well known to his friends, and he finally yielded to their calls for him to publish it. He did so anonymously, although the author's name was soon widely known. It was published in December 1825, two months before his death.Drayton, p. 11 On 2 February 1826, at the age of seventy, Brillat-Savarin died in Paris having attended a service in the
Basilica of Saint-Denis The Basilica of Saint-Denis (, now formally known as the ) is a large former medieval abbey church and present cathedral in the commune of Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of singular importance historically and archite ...
while already having a cold, which turned to
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
. He was buried at the
Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...
.


Works


''Physiologie du goût''

The full title of the work for which Brillat-Savarin is known is ''Physiologie du goût, ou méditations de gastronomie transcendante; ouvrage théorique, historique et à l'ordre du jour, dédié aux gastronomes parisiens, par un professeur, membre de plusieurs sociétés littéraires et savantes''. The book has been in print in France continuously since it first appeared in 1825. Translations into foreign languages followed. The first English version, by Fayette Robinson, was published in the US in 1854 under the title ''The Physiology of Taste: Or, Transcendental Gastronomy''. Two translations were published in Britain during the 19th century: the first, which set a pattern for giving the book a new title, was ''The Handbook of Dining; Or, How to Dine, Theoretically, Philosophically and Historically Considered'', translated by Leonard Francis Simpson (1859). It was followed by ''Gastronomy as a Fine Art: or, The Science of Good Living'' (1879), in a translation by R. E. Anderson. These three versions contained most, but not all, of Brillat-Savarin's text; the first complete translation into English was issued in 1884 by the London publishers Nimmo and Bain. In ''
The Oxford Companion to Food ''The Oxford Companion to Food'' is an encyclopedia about food. It was edited by Alan Davidson and published by Oxford University Press in 1999. It was also issued in softcover under the name ''The Penguin Companion to Food''. The second and t ...
'', Alan Davidson praises M. F. K. Fisher's American translation (''The Physiology of Taste'', 1949) as outstanding.Davidson, pp. 106–107 A new English translation by Anne Drayton was published in 1970 under the title ''The Philosopher in the Kitchen''; this version was reissued with a new title, ''The Pleasures of the Table'', in 2011. C. Vogt's German translation was published in 1865 as ''Physiologie des Geschmacks oder physiologische Anleitung zum Studium der Tafelgenüsse'' (Physiology of taste or physiological guidance for the study of pleasures of the table). It was followed by versions in Russian (''Fiziologija vkusa'', 1867), Spanish (''Fisiología del gusto'', 1869), Swedish (''Smakens fysiologi'', 1883), and Italian (''La Fisiologia del Gusto'', 1914). The book is in two main sections. They are preceded by an opening section headed "Aphorisms", consisting of twenty short assertions about
gastronomic Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...
topics, such as "Animals feed: man eats: only the man of intellect knows how to eat" and "The pleasures of the table belong to all times and all ages, to every country and every day; they go hand in hand with all our other pleasures, outlast them, and remain to console us for their loss". The longest section of the book is headed "Gastronomical Meditations", in which the author devotes short chapters to thirty topics, ranging from taste, appetite, thirst, digestion and rest to gourmands, obesity, exhaustion and restaurateurs. The second and smaller part of the main text consists of "Miscellanea", including many anecdotes on a gastronomic theme such as the bishop who mischievously presented his eager guests with fake asparagus made of wood, and memories of the author's exile.


Other works

In addition to his
magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...
, Brillat-Savarin wrote works about law and political economy: ''Vues et Projets d'Economie Politique'' (Political Economy: Plans and Prospects) (1802), ''Fragments d'un Ouvrage Manuscrit Intitulé Théorie Judiciare'' (Fragments of a work in manuscript entitled "Legal Theory") (1818), and a study of the archaeology of the Ain department (1820).Uncredited author of introduction
"The World of the Senses and the Nature of Taste"
New England Review Vol. 30, No. 4 (2009–10), pp. 181–194
He also wrote a history of
duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...
ling, and what Drayton calls "a number of rather racy short stories, most of which are lost", although one, ''Voyage à Arras'', remains extant.


Commemorations

The soft
Brillat-Savarin cheese Brillat-Savarin () is a soft-ripened triple cream cow's milk cheese with at least 72% fat in dry matter (roughly 40% overall). It has a natural, bloomy rind. It was created 1890 as "Excelsior" or "Délice des gourmets" ("Gourmets' delight") ...
, made in
Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
, was named in the writer's honour by the cheese-maker Henri Androuët in the 1930s. It is an '' industriel'' cheese with an ''
affinage Cheese ripening, alternatively cheese maturation or affinage, is a process in cheesemaking. It is responsible for the distinct flavour of cheese, and through the modification of "''ripening agents''", determines the features that define many diff ...
'' of one to two weeks. The writer is also commemorated in the dish ''Bordure de pommes Brillat-Savarin'' (Apple ring Brillat-Savarin), in which a cake steeped in syrup and flavoured with rum is surrounded with stewed apples bound with rum-flavoured
crème pâtissière Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in consistency from ...
. The cake, known as a ''savarin'', was invented by a Parisian maitre pâtissier, Julien, as a variant of a
rum baba A rum baba or ''baba au rhum'' is a small yeast cake saturated in syrup made with hard liquor, usually rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream or pastry cream. It is most typically made in individual servings (about a 5 cm tall, sl ...
; it was originally called a Brillat-Savarin, later shortened to savarin. To mark the centenary of Brillat-Savarin's death, commemorative banquets were given in 1926 at the
Hôtel de Crillon Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel () is a historic luxury hotel in Paris which opened in 1909 in a building dating to 1758. Located at the foot of the Champs-Élysées, the Crillon, along with the Hôtel de la Marine, is one of two identical s ...
in Paris and the
Savoy Hotel The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 1 ...
in London. The dishes at the latter included two marking his name and birthplace: ''Les delices de Belley'' (a blend of
foie gras ; (, ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a Domestic duck, duck or Domestic goose, goose. According to French law, ''foie gras'' is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by ''gavage'' (force feeding). ''Foie gras'' i ...
and
crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...
) and ''Les œufs brouilles Brillat-Savarin'' (scrambled eggs with truffles). Brillat-Savarin's name is commemorated in streets in France and Belgium: avenues Brillat-Savarin in Brussels, Belley and
Saint-Denis-en-Bugey Saint-Denis-en-Bugey () is a commune in the eastern French department of Ain. Geography The town lies on the left bank of the river Albarine, which forms all of the commune's northern border. Population See also *Communes of the Ain depar ...
and rues Brillat-Savarin in Paris, Bourg-en-Bresse,
Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...
and
Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...
.


Reputation and influence

Along with
Grimod de La Reynière Alexandre-Balthazar-Laurent Grimod de La Reynière (20 November r September?1758 in Paris – 25 December 1837) was a lawyer by qualification who acquired fame during the reign of Napoleon for his sensual and public gastronomic lifestyle. Son ...
, Brillat-Savarin is credited with founding the genre of the gastronomic essay.
Anthony Lane Anthony Lane is a British journalist who was a film critic for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1993 to 2024. Career Education and early career Lane attended Sherborne School, graduating with a degree in English from Trinity College, Cambrid ...
writes of him, "To say that ''The Physiology of Taste'' is a cookbook is like saying that
Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...
's ''Sportsman's Sketches'' is a guide to hunting." By his choice of title Brillat-Savarin seems to have been responsible for a temporary change in French writers' use of the word ''physiologie'', although he himself used it literally, in the sense of "a scientific analysis of the workings of living beings". Davidson points out that a third of the book is devoted to the chemistry and physiology of food and eating. Nonetheless: Brillat-Savarin was an early proponent of a
low-carbohydrate diet Low-carbohydrate diets restrict carbohydrate consumption relative to the average diet (nutrition), diet. Foods high in carbohydrates (e.g., sugar, bread, pasta) are limited, and replaced with foods containing a higher percentage of fat and pro ...
. He considered sugar and white flour to be the cause of obesity and he suggested, instead,
protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...
-rich ingredients: He promoted a diet that avoided
starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diet ...
, grains, sugar and flour. He recommended meats, root vegetables, cabbage and fruit. Brillat-Savarin was concerned to reduce the use of fattening foods, but apparently did not consider cheese one of these. He was criticised in the 20th century by
Elizabeth David Elizabeth David ( Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and books about Europea ...
for his remark that "dessert without cheese is like a pretty woman with only one eye", David asked: "How much harm has that tyrannical maxim of Brillat-Savarin's done to all our waistlines and our digestions?" The philosopher William Charlton writes that Brillat-Savarin "upstaged the aestheticians by treating taste simply as the sense by which we discern flavours". Charlton adds that Brillat-Savarin transmutes cooking, "which Plato had despised as a mere 'routine'", into philosophy, shaming Descartes and
Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 â€“ 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, et ...
in his meditations on, respectively, "Dreams" and "The End of the World". Charlton concludes that we can all profit from the Aphorisms with which Brillat-Savarin begins his book, for instance "The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a star".Charlton, William
"Brillat-Savarin, Jean Anthelme"
''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 2005


Notes, references and sources


Notes


References


Sources

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External links

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La Physiologie du goût
' Original French text of the 1848 illustrated edition of ''The Physiology of Taste''; a freely licensed copy hosted on the Bibliothèque nationale de France's digital library, Gallica.
''The Physiology of Taste''
In an English translation by Fayette Robinson, available under a free licence from the University of Adelaide Library.
Works by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
at
Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brillat-Savarin, Jean Anthelme 1755 births 1826 deaths 19th-century French judges 19th-century French writers 18th-century French male musicians Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Court of Cassation (France) judges French food writers French gastronomes French male non-fiction writers Low-carbohydrate diet advocates Members of the National Constituent Assembly (France) People from Belley Politicians from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 18th-century French violinists French male violinists