A taste of Paris: a history of the Parisian love affair with food

✍ Scribed by David Downie

• Book ID: 100089844
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Year: 2017
• Tongue: en-US
• Weight: 2 MB
• Edition: First edition
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN: 1250082951

✦ Synopsis

In his trademark witty and informative style, David Downie embarks on a quest to discover "What is it about the history of Paris that has made it a food lover's paradise?" Long before Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake!" (actually, it was brioche), the Romans of Paris devoured foie gras, and live oysters rushed in from the Atlantic; one Medieval cookbook describes a thirty-two part meal featuring hare stew, eel soup, and honeyed wine; during the last great banquet at Versailles a year before the Revolution the gourmand Louis XVI savored thirty-two main dishes and sixteen desserts; yet, in 1812, Grimod de la Reynière, the father of French gastronomy, regaled guests with fifty-two courses, fifteen wines, three types of coffee, and seventeen liqueurs.

Following the contours of history and the geography of the city, Downie sweeps readers on an insider's gourmet walking tour of Paris and its environs, revealing the locations of Roman butcher shops, classic Belle Epoque...