Paris à table

by Eugène Briffault

Au XIXᵉ siècle, l'élévation de la cuisine française au rang d'art est due à la rencontre de plusieurs discours : technique (les livres des grands chefs tel Carême) ; journalistique et publicitaire (Grimod de La Reynière) ; théorique (Brillat-Savarin et son incontournable Physiologie du goût) ; littéraire (surtout l'oeuvre de Balzac et de Dumas). Mais on oublie souvent le rôle que tinrent les chroniqueurs de la vie gastronomique, dont le plus remarquable, par son style et la richesse de ses anecdotes, est Eugène Briffault. Son Paris à table nous permet d'entrer dans la complexité de la vie culturelle et culinaire du milieu du XIXᵉ siècle, quand la table parisienne est incontestablement devenue la meilleure du monde, et que la vie littéraire et les affaires se tiennent de plus en plus souvent autour d'une table de haut luxe.

128 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published April 3, 2003

About the author

Eugène Briffault was an editor, journalist, theater critic, and man of letters. As a chronicler of contemporary Paris, he contributed to many anthologies and periodicals of his day and was an acquaintance of many of the important literary figures of the time. His book 'Paris à Table: 1846' has become a classic work of gastronomy.

Reviews

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a charming book with, what I believe is the first English translation of Briffault's 1846 book about culinary culture in France.

The writing is fluid, humorous and filled with historical antidotes. One will learn the eating customs of the Kings of France as well as the aristocracy, the common man and so on and all in a delightfully descriptive way.

Also included is a biography of the author by J. Weintraub, along with his analysis of the book as well as copious annotations.

An interesting historical document, all the more so because it was written almost two centuries ago.