Product Description

To the true gourmet, art means Watteau's Embarquement pour Cythere, which portrays 18th century courtiers picnicking, and Manet's Dejeuner sur l'Herbe, in which one nude and another flimsily dressed woman picnic with two fully-clothed men. Literature means James Joyce's short story, "The Dead", the entire tale taking place around a sumptuously set table, and Ernest Hemingway's lunch at Brasserie Lipp in A Moveable Feast. Gourmets have a special place in their hearts for Chateaubriand, not so much for his poetry and diaries, but because when he visited Dante's grave in Florence he plucked several laurel leaves which he carefully put into his pocket, for "there is nothing better with macaroni."

Food has been a favorite literary topic since the time of Epicurus. If Homer is to be believed, Odysseus spent as much time in feasting as he did in warfare; the characters in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales devoted as much time to dining as they did to fornicating; and Rabelais' Gargantua would have been little more than an oversized oaf had it not been for his magnificent dining habits.

Throughout history, numerous famous and infamous men and women have contributed in their sometimes perverted but almost always intriguing ways to the world of gastronomy. The stories of those people, their culinary habits and the dishes either created by them, named after them or cherished by them, are the subject of this book. Kings and queens, dukes and duchesses, chefs and restaurateurs, novelists and composers, generals and courtesans--all have had dishes named after them. Follow the fortunes and discover the recipes of over sixty rogues, writers and whores, from Apicius to Zola. Written by Daniel Rogov, one of the most charming and knowledgeable food and wine writers today, the book is lavishly illustrated by Yael Hershberg.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #757125 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 335 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The title is not the only thing saucy in this rich collection that matches 69 brief, punchy biographies of historical foodies with the recipes for which they are associated. Several of the subjects are, themselves, the essence of sauce. There's Louis de Bachameil, for whom the famous French concoction was named; the mysterious Suzette, she of the flaming crepe; and tart-baker Franz Sacher, "a fun-loving man who consumed enormous amounts of his own pastries." Among the rogues' gallery, Lucrezia Borgia had a leek tart named for her on her wedding day (though the food taster probably had the first bite) and the Marquis de Sade enjoyed not whipped cream but rather, Partridge à la Burgundy, brutally stuffed with grapes, chorizo and prosciutto. Though some concoctions prove complex, the writing throughout is refreshingly free of pretense. Rogov, the wine and restaurant critic for the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, includes only three Americans—Hemingway, Alice B. Toklas and A.J. Liebling—who are best known for their overseas exploits. Papa is paired with sautéed goose liver, a favorite Parisian dish. It's duckling for Toklas, and Liebling evidently once gorged on Lobster Quenelles in Shrimp Sauce. Bonus points for the many amusing illustrations by Yael Hershberg, which include Louis XIV confronting a pineapple. (May)
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Review
"Daniel Rogov is Israel's most influential and pre-eminent wine critic. He writes weekly wine and restaurant columns in the respected newspaper Haaretz and contributes regularly to two prestigious international wine books - Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book and Tom Stevenson's Wine Report."

About the Author
Daniel Rogov is Israel's most influential and pre-eminent wine critic. He writes weekly wine and restaurant colums in the respected newspaper Haaretz and contributes regularly to two prestigious international wine books - Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book and Tom Stevenson's Wine Report.

Customer Reviews

Awesome Illustrations
This book was fun. The illustrations are absolutely perfect and the vignettes are fun. This book would be worth purchasing just for the illustrations.

Delightful essays about food, wine and literature
Daniel Rogov presents mini-biographies of 69 famous people; the essays are devoted to some of their culinary interests: Louis de Bacameil, Esscoffier, Hemingway, Proust, Franz Sacher, Marquis de Sade, Suzette, and Zola, among others. Each entry is accompanied by a recipe either created by or named for the subject, and the illustrations by Yael Hershberg greatly enhance the prose.

Rogov writes: "It is true that without great chefs there would be no great dishes, but one has to bear in mind that such dedication to the preparation of fine food demands to be matched by equal dedication to its consumption and appreciation."

Many of the recipes are easy enough for this intermediate cook to handle, but the cost of the ingredients in some are too much to hazard. Nonetheless, "a gourmet knows one can extract as much pleasure from the reading of such a recipe as one could in dining upon the dish."

Rogov has been an Internet institution for several years; recently he moved his site to Robin Garr's WineLovers Page, with this introduction:

"Let us start of by saying that even though I taste more than 1,00 wines monthly and dine in restaurants anywhere from 6 - 10 times weekly, I am neither wealthy nor fat. Nor do I have a red, bulbous nose.

"The truth of the matter is that I enjoy wine and food so much that I consider it foolish to abuse either of them. Let us continue by admitting that for more years than I care to admit in public, my joint passions for wine and gastronomy (can they be separated?) have provided me with a very comfortable and pleasant way of making a living.

"Currently, for example, I am the wine and restaurant critic for the Israeli daily newspaper "HaAretz" and for the Israeli version of the "International Herald Tribune." I ... am the author of the annual Rogov's Guide to Israeli Wines, 2009 which is now going into its fifth edition. I also contribute annually to Tom Stevenson's Wine Report and am a consultant to Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book.

"As a young colleague once put it, I always travel first class, have no choice but to taste the world's best wines, dine in the world's best restaurants and stay in the world's best hotels. To add insult to injury, I am even paid for my efforts. I have other passions as well. Those, however, are best not discussed in public."

I've included one of Rogov's recent online essays on Giuseppe Tortoni in the first Comment; his publishers provide another from the book at the link in the Comment. If you enjoy food, wine and literature, you will find many delights in these pages.

Robert C. Ross 2008