There are cynical persons who profess to despise— or, at
all events, rate lowly — the liking for good food which the
French call friandise. The refinement of food. is not only
the efflux of culture, but also has an important influence
upon the mind, and consequently upon the abilities and
manners of man. ‘Tell me what you cat, and I will tell
you w'hat you are,’ is a paraphrase of a saying concerning
the influence of company, aud is equally true. Many
persons mistake a natural, desirable daintiness for gluttony,
or (jloutonnerie—^s Montaigne once termed it, ‘ La science
de la gueule,’ or ‘ The science of the gullet.’ We hold
absolutely with the ‘ gourmandise des esprits delicats ’ ; if
it cannot be satisfied, vitality is diminished, aud life is
636
THE SP/fHT OF COOKERY
shortened. We recognise frianclise in its twofold significance
— firstly, as the mode or condition of mind of persons who
like delicate, maybe select or rare, things ; and, secondly,
as these things themselves. Such a person who desires
quality for his food is termed a friand ; he is far superior
to the' gourmand, who sets up for quantity and multiplicity.
This significant French expression is now almost as obsolete
as the old cognate verb friander ; but society will practise
what it signifies more than ever.
The wit of the Parisians has, however, embalmed
in an imperishable form. ‘Avoir le nez tourne a la friandise
comme Saint Jaques de I’Hopital,’ is an expression derived
from an image of St. Jaques de I’Hopital over the building
of that name near the Eue aux Oies at Paris, a street since
become by corruption Eue aux Ours ; in this street were
the shops of the principal meat-roasters of Paris. As the
saint looked in the direction of the frying shops, he was
said to have ‘ le nez tourne a la friandise.’
The period of transition in cookery to modern times
coincides with the great French social scrimmage. The
Eepublicans and the Directorate accepted and used all the
culinary traditions of royalty and aristocracy — we have the
accounts and the menus of their dinners and feasts ; but
refinement gradually yielded to coarse extravagance. After
Napoleon came the Eestoration, and with Louis XVIII. a
system of gluttony and waste. This is sufficiently charac-
terized by the bill of-fare of a ro3fal dinner on a maigre
day. The king began persecuting the new men who had
served Napoleon ; amongst the victims of this policy was
the Marquis de Gussy, who is described by Dumas as ‘ the
last gastronomist of the epoch.’ He had been cast out of
office, and the King refused to listen to his petition for a
place ; but hearing from a courtier that M. de Gussy was
the inventor of a mixture of strawberries, cream, and
champagne, the King at once wrote under the application
DETERIORATION OF CULINARY ART
637
Page 401
Presented as published in 1895. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
There are cynical persons who profess to despise— or, at all events, rate lowly — the liking for good food which the French call friandise. The refinement of food. is not only the efflux of culture, but also has an important influence upon the mind, and consequently upon the abilities and manners of man. 'Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are,' is a paraphrase of a saying concerning the influence of company, aud is equally true. Many persons mistake a natural, desirable daintiness for gluttony, or gloutonnerie—as Montaigne once termed it, ‘ La science de la gueule,’ or ‘ The science of the gullet.’ We hold absolutely with the ‘ gourmandise des esprits delicats ’ ; if it cannot be satisfied, vitality is diminished, and life is
shortened. We recognise friandise in its twofold significance — firstly, as the mode or condition of mind of persons who like delicate, maybe select or rare, things ; and, secondly, as these things themselves. Such a person who desires quality for his food is termed a friand ; he is far superior to the gourmand, who sets up for quantity and multiplicity. This significant French expression is now almost as obsolete as the old cognate verb friander ; but society will practise what it signifies more than ever.
The wit of the Parisians has, however, embalmed in an imperishable form. ‘Avoir le nez tourne a la friandise comme Saint Jaques de I’Hopital,’ is an expression derived from an image of St. Jaques de I’Hopital over the building of that name near the Eue aux Oies at Paris, a street since become by corruption Eue aux Ours ; in this street were the shops of the principal meat-roasters of Paris. As the saint looked in the direction of the frying shops, he was said to have ‘ le nez tourne a la friandise.’
The period of transition in cookery to modern times coincides with the great French social scrimmage. The Republicans and the Directorate accepted and used all the culinary traditions of royalty and aristocracy — we have the accounts and the menus of their dinners and feasts ; but refinement gradually yielded to coarse extravagance. After Napoleon came the Eestoration, and with Louis XVIII. a system of gluttony and waste. This is sufficiently characterized by the bill of-fare of a royal dinner on a maigre day. The king began persecuting the new men who had served Napoleon ; amongst the victims of this policy was the Marquis de Gussy, who is described by Dumas as ‘ the last gastronomist of the epoch.’ He had been cast out of office, and the King refused to listen to his petition for a place ; but hearing from a courtier that M. de Gussy was the inventor of a mixture of strawberries, cream, and champagne, the King at once wrote under the application
DETERIORATION OF CULINARY ART