Image: AnonymousUnknown author · Public domain
Physiologie du Gout
- Year
- 1825
- Era
- 19th century
- Origin
- France · Europe
- Language
- French
- Category
- French foundational
Physiologie du Goût, ou Méditations de Gastronomie Transcendante, first published anonymously in Paris in late 1825, stands as the founding philosophical work of modern gastronomy. Blending aphorism, memoir, and reflection on taste, digestion, and the pleasures of the table, the text elevated cookery to a subject of serious intellectual inquiry. Reprinted in countless editions and translations across two centuries, the original 1825 issue remains notably scarce.
Cooking from this book
Fondue (Brillat-Savarin's cheese and egg fondue)
Signature dishThough more philosophical treatise than cookbook, the Physiologie du Gout is forever linked with the author's personal version of fondue, a warm marriage of beaten eggs and grated Gruyere enriched with butter. Brillat-Savarin recounted serving it to friends and presented it as proof that gastronomy belonged to civilised conversation. The dish embodies his belief that pleasure at the table was a meditation, and it remains the most quoted morsel from his celebrated volume.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
