Image: Égoïté · CC BY-SA 3.0
Almanach des Gourmands
- Year
- 1803
- Era
- 19th century
- Origin
- France · Europe
- Language
- French
- Category
- French foundational
Almanach des Gourmands, issued in eight volumes between 1803 and 1812, established gastronomic journalism as a literary genre in post-Revolutionary Paris. Grimod de la Reynière surveyed the city's restaurants, traiteurs, and purveyors, codified the notion of the discerning consumer, and introduced systematic critical tasting through his Jury Dégustateur. Complete runs are notably scarce, the later volumes having appeared in diminishing numbers as the series wound down.
Cooking from this book
Dinde truffée
Signature dishThe truffled turkey stands as the emblematic dish of Grimod de la Reyniere's Almanach. Lavishly perfumed with black Perigord truffles tucked beneath the skin and resting inside the bird for days before roasting, it embodied the post-Revolutionary Parisian appetite for spectacle and luxury that Grimod chronicled and judged. He elevated it to near mythic status in his pages, making it the centerpiece of bourgeois winter tables and a fixture of his celebrated tasting juries.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
