An Alphabet for Gourmets

by M.F.K. Fisher

In Alphabet for Gourmets , M.F.K. Fisher arranges a selection of her essays in a whimsical way that reveals the breadth and depth of her passion. From A for (dining) alone to Z for Zakuski, "a Russian hors d'oeuvre," Fisher alights on both longtime obsessions and idiosyncratic digressions. As usual, she liberates her readers from caution and slavish adherence to culinary tradition-- and salts her writings with a healthy dose of humor.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Essays, Cooking, Food Writing, Memoir, Cookbooks

213 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was a prolific and well-respected writer, writing more than 20 books during her lifetime and also publishing two volumes of journals and correspondence shortly before her death in 1992. Her first book, Serve it Forth, was published in 1937. Her books deal primarily with food, considering it from many aspects: preparation, natural history, culture, and philosophy. Fisher believed that eating well was just one of the "arts of life" and explored the art of living as a secondary theme in her writing. Her style and pacing are noted elements of her short stories and essays.

Reviews

[Lorna · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Alphabet for Gourmets was a anthology of essays on food first published in 1949 by M.F.K. Fisher starting with the letter A - A is for Dining Alone and ending with the letter Z - Z is for Zakuski. And the rest of the alphabet had wonderful essays about some aspect of food and the pleasures of dining whether it be alone or with others throughout the book. There are wonderful recipes throughout the book as well. One of my favorite essays was the first essay about the art of dining alone in nice restaurants as M.F.K. Fisher frequently enjoyed. This theme is prevalent in many of her an previous books as well. I think that I gravitated to those occasions as I too had learned that art, whether it be in a restaurant or at home, during the times that my husband was working out of state. And another favorite was E is for Exquisite an its gastronomical connotations for the author where she brings into focus some of the great historical and literary gourmets then bringing it back to her life in northern California regarding the controversey as to the proper times to eat a salad with these words:

"There they are not afraid to lead up to lead up to the triumph of a heady entree and its accompanying bottle by such sturdily subtle flavors as a fresh tomato can give, or garden lettuce touched with a garlic bud, or a morsel of anchovy. In Napa or Livermore or Sonoma a roadside boarding-house will serve such antipasto as would please any finicky gourmet strong enough to meet the wine he wanted.

There is an approximation of the classical tossed green salad may be well part of any laborer's daily fare, as a prelude to the meat and the wine that must mainly nourish him, and not as a routine sourish aftermath, tackled without appetite or interest simply because it has become traditional elsewhere to serve the salad after the roast."

Another delightful essay was P is for Peas,. and relates a few of the reasons why the best peas M.F.K. Fisher ever ate in her life were the very best she had eaten. She described how her peas reached an unbelievable perfection and would probably not happen again as there are three things that all gourmands agree on about peas, "these delicate messenger to our palates from the kind earth-mother": they must be very green, they must be freshly gathered, and they must be shelled at the very last second of the very last minute. These were the peas that the author planted in a steeped terraced garden among the vineyards between Montreux and Lausanne at her house at Le Paquis, on Lake Geneva. With her parents and friends, she prepared the fresh peas that were served with cornish hens, a salad of mountain lettuces, bread and wine followed by a Roblichon cheese.

". . . And later still we walked dreamily away, along the Upper Corniche to a cafe terrace, where we sat watching he fireworks far across the lake at Evian, and drinking cafe noir and a very fine 'fine'.

But what really mattered, what piped the high unforgettable tune of perfection, were the peas, which came from their hot pot onto our thick china plates in a cloud, a kind of miasma, of everything that anyone could ever want from them, even in a dream."

And I will finish with another favorite essay, "R is for Romantic. . . And for a few of the reasons that gastronomy is and always has been connected with its sister art of love." And no more need be said.

[Emanuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My highest form of praise for a book is when I want to have my favourite quotes from them around me all the time; when I want to print them on posters and have them on my walls, or put them on hoodies and wear them like statements of a true gourmand. I'm not going to bore you with a review, I will simply say that if you're moved by food, the act of cooking, providing and sharing a meal with a loved one, you should read this book.

This was my first Mary Fisher book and it will certainly not be my last. Here are some of my favourite parts:

In general, I think, human beings are happiest at table when they are very young, very much in love, or very lone.

[...] what is much better in life that be hospitable and to know by your guests' faces that you have proved a noble host indeed?

In either case my gastronomical suspicions, dormant somewhere between my heart and my stomach [...]

[...] two people who know enough, subconsciously or not, to woo with food as well as flattery.

[...] [he] taught me to realise the almost vascular connection between love and lobster pâté, between eating and romance.

[...] and always I have reached a peak of contentment, satisfaction, fulfilment, which is a special virtue of sharing food in a public place with one other human being [...]

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started reading this once, and only made it to about D or E before becoming distracted by The Gastronomical Me, which is contained in the same volume. I'll give it another try, and see if I can get all the way to Z for Zakuski this time.

[Madhulika Liddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays, each named for a letter of the alphabet, going all the way from A (for dining Alone) to Z (for Zakuski; substantial Russian hors d’ouevres), doesn’t take the predictable route. While there are a handful of ingredients or dishes here (P for Peas, T for Turbot), all the other chapters are named not for a food but for what food evokes, what situations and what emotions food is linked with. Monastic food; juvenile food; dining out. Dining alone, how food bisects with sexual desire or sorrow or ostentation. Caution in making food, and how quantities of ingredients can affect food. And much more.

Fisher’s writing is very readable, and has many interesting insights to offer. These essays made me think of all the ways we approach food, and the many varied ways it affects us, both personally and as members of communities, of society.

Originally published in 1949, this book does seem a little dated in places. The way cream and alcohol seem to be used in just about every recipe is definitely old school; so is the relative lack of spices. Fisher has occasionally odd views which I couldn’t agree with (pressure-cooked zucchini or fish, for instance).

But, despite all of that, an enjoyable, thought-provoking book. And the recipes at the end of each chapter, while not always ones I’d want to try, are interesting.

(More detailed review at my blog: https://madhulikareads.wordpress.com/...)

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some absolute moments of lyrical writing followed by didactic pretentiousness prevented me from giving the book the strongest rating. The book is organized literally in alphabetical order with an "A is for..." chapter title structure. Honestly A-F left me wanting, but as soon as I hit "G is for Gluttony", she lured me back in. (She queries that there is not a single person who hasn't stuffed themselves silly at one point just for the simple purpose of satisfying the "beastlike belly.") There is something genius about her writing (i.e., instead of calling a young boy a bully, she uses the phrase "knee-britched sycophant".) I respect the fact that she can devote an entire chapter to the enjoyment of freshly shelled peas. Or the fact that she pokes fun at affluent people who dress down their cooking in the name of "gourmet peasant food" calling it "rich-bitch deviation from a basically 'poor' recipe." Some of her aphorisms: every cook should cook saltless for a week to get back to the roots of food flavors, a grieving person will find respite by satisfying their bellies, that women deliberately use gastronimical pleasure to breed other forms of more wanton pleasure, kosher food laws were pragmatically rather than religiously developed, and that men's dislikes of food are usually because of other cognitive associations rather than the flavor of the food itself. Really worth a read if you're OK with the occasional letdowns in some of the individual essays.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than a memoir with recipies, which genre I love to read, M.F.K. Fisher comments on her life with and without food. In alphabetical order Fisher offers opinions on topics such as the art of dining alone, the relationship of food and love, the uselessness of salt, and the proper place of hors d'oeuvres. The writing is especially interesting to me, a generation removed from Fisher's writing, as the book records Fisher's reponses to the food culture of her time and recalls my mother's kitchen and with its red-checkered Better Homes and Garden Cookbook. As I read some of Fisher's comments on jello, salt, or milk toast and soft eggs, I can see and smell my mother's kitchen. Fisher and my mother don't always agree on the goodness of such items but the fun of reading is in thinking about the difference.

Fisher writes personally, decidedly, with wit and detail. I feel as though we've had a great discussion about food after reading this book, and I'm also a little hungry. I think I'll go make an egg...

[Jake Leech · Rating 5 out of 5]

M.F.K. Fisher is one of my favorite writers, albeit very unctuous. I read her in very small bits, partly because of that richness, but also because I know that there is only a finite amount of her writing in the world.

I love her writing, but I also love the glimpses we get into her wild, dauntless, and completely baffling life in the lost and long-ago mid twentieth century. Here, we see growing up in the Midwest--or California? Aunts from Britain, or Japan, or both? Daughter of a small-town newspaper editor, who liked to take his family galivanting around Europe? And of course, a quintessential lover of food who eats convenience store crackers alone at home for most meals. We also see glances of an even earlier time, now lost to Fisher, as when she off-handedly and poignantly mentions a restaurant she used to know in Amsterdam, "before the bombs fell."

I think it is that combination of beautiful, decadent writing, but also that alienness, that makes me love her writing, and here is no exception.

[Elena Chyzhova · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is written in 1949 and seem outdated at the first sight. I even wanted to give it 4 stars, but on the second thought the time difference is what makes it so interesting.
I’d you want to know about progress and how far we come check how people perceived food and what rituals they had.
what people ate 75 years before (why did they had to boil fruits and greens?), what ingredient was deemed “bad” (not sugar or fat, but surprisingly salt), what was the delicacy (narwhal or whale meat - sorry Mary, we killed them all, they are almost extinct).

Additional bonus - a lot of elaborate vocabulary 😅

So my verdict would be 5⭐️

[mfmo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to be her friend, she is everything!

[Kylie]

I much preferred The Gastronomical Me.

[Vera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, I love spending time with M.F.K. Fisher – from the first pages she is unashamedly her; an almost forceful grab of my hand, and we're off. By the time we reach 'C' for Caution in this alphabet, we're already exploring Calf's Head à la Tortue, which is by and by the most complicated and terrifying dish I've ever heard of. There are oysters, of course, 'en caisses', though neither her nor me know what that means. Oysters, nevertheless, and buttered paper in pots to keep the steam in, and 'whole peas fragrant as flowers'. And sauces! So many sauces in one dinner, and wines paired with each dish. That, as I say, before we've even passed 'C'.

Full review: https://bookerthanyou.blogspot.com/20...

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a person who reads 200+ children's picture books a year, I can firmly vow to you that this is an alphabet book like no other. Yes, it's organized alphabetically, with one essay for each letter of the alphabet, but, trust me on this, even if you read through the chapter titles, you will have no idea where Ms. Fisher is going to take you.

X is for Xanthippe, for example, uses Xanthippe, the wife of Socrates, and her (presumed) behavior at meals (she is believed to be the epitome of a harpy) to share with her readers what not to do when dining together with others.

And Z is for Zakuski, the last chapter, is about hors d'oeuvres, which a logical thinker might wish to find in the A chapter. But Fisher has her reasons. And they are good ones.

N is for Nautical? M is for Monastic? And how do these fit into a book about food? Perhaps these are unexpected, but that is part of the delight of this book.

Even P is for Peas is not a straightforward treatise on the green vegetable, and that, too, is Fisher's charm.

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Alphabet for Gourmets is an interesting -- though I felt sometimes contrived -- collection of Fisher's essays on the topic of food and when and with whom it is eaten. While looking at how food is prepared, Fisher also contemplates the appropriate mind-set and manners of the people who would consume it. Can't give it five stars because I think the book hasn't held up well for today's readers. It was originally published in 1949 (ish) and so many of the terms and food items are not relevant today. For the most part, I felt I was slogging through the book.

[Sherilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

According to some Goodreads reviews, this is the weakest of the books that MFK Fisher has written, but she showed some real ingenuity in the premise of An Alphabet for Gourmets. Her first chapter is delightful, "A is for dining Alone," perhaps my favorite chapter. She writes some of the funniest, off-the-wall things, ending this chapter with an ambrosia recipe, stating, "To be at its worst, ambrosia should be pink." Later, in "N is for Nautical" she launches into her ocean liner eating escapades, as she calls them. Her moments of pretentiousness are many, and yet, in H is for Happy, she reminisces on long walks taken as a child with her Aunt Gwen and the fried egg sandwiches they would eat, sharing the very simple recipe. I look forward to reading her other works.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

My girl back at it again. I adore How to Cook a Wolf, and it remains a very dear book to me, so I don’t think this one quite measures up but only in that some of the surprise delight I had at reading Fisher’s writing on food and good living and good company (and good drinks!) was a bit muted when I knew what to expect. But nonetheless I really enjoyed meandering through this book over the past 4 months and picking it up when I only had a short bit of time to read or wanted just some clear, witty, warm writing about food and recipes and attentive living.

Would and will continue to read more by this charming woman, surely.

[Jimmy Pressly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe this is a bit above my level. I admire the author and I can see how she is well respected for her way of writing about food and experience. She seems like someone who, ahead of her time, did not stand back for anyone but carved her own route. But for some reason I did not find this as enjoyable but can see why people might like it. My only critique is that in some cases the writing is a bit classists or maybe it needs to be respected for the time it was written in. However that might just be my misinterpreted take. There are also some good essays in here that I did enjoy.

[Laura Watt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly, as you can see below, I have been on a bit of an M.F.K. kick of late - this book follows the alphabet in her usual discussions of food, from "A is for dining Alone," through "O is for Ostentation," to "Z is for Zakuski." Some very good recipes included. It is one of five in her "Art of Eating" series, including Consider the Oyster, Serve It Forth, How To Cook A Wolf, and The Gastronomical Me (far and away my favorite). (5/98)

[Reyna Eisenstark · Rating 5 out of 5]

And of course I loved this as I love every single thing written by Fisher. I love that she narrowed her focus by having A through Z chapters, but then totally expanded on the word she chose for that letter, which was always just a jumping-off place. She makes the act of eating alone seem luxurious and treasured, which means I have been doing it wrong my whole life. But now I am inspired.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

MFK is a lovely writer and in this collection of bits and pieces she is her typical charming self. Scattered throughout are recipes. One of them, for me, was worth the price of the book. Surprisingly, neither the comments nor the recipes were dated!

[Shaynipper]

Delicious essays on dining (recipes included). I want to gobble down more of M.F. K. Fisher. Many of her writings are listed as out-of-print but I will persevere. Actually this read was savored over time like a fine meal.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The level of detail given to whole culinary experiences totally outside of my own made this feel more like reading a series of scifi short stories than stories about eating. It was immersive, but not remotely in a way the author would have intended from when and where she was writing.

[Stephen Rötzsch Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dispatches from another age in terms of cuisine, culture, and taste of every kind. Fisher was an incredible wit, and a writer with convictions (read: opinionated as fuck). Occasionally she hits on an idea that rings true even today, and that is when the book shines brightest.

[G-phy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is fine, but it was in a volume of 4 MFK Fisher books and it was the weakest. Only read if you haven't read her other books.

[Clivemichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great summing up.

[Chelsea K · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Rebecca Russavage · Rating 5 out of 5]

She is at her best with this one.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4. A mostly enjoyable read with some less enjoyable moments throughout. A great book about food with a lovely foreword by Ella Risbridger.

[Marti · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute DELIGHT

[CM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious, sensual, with some amazingly simple but astoundingly delicious-sounding recipes. Brilliant

[Aradhana · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favourite commute reads so far! It's a little dated but so full of wit and (weird) gastronomical advice