1
/
of
0
SAP
The Feasts of Autolycus
The Feasts of Autolycus
Regular price
$0.99 USD
Regular price
Sale price
$0.99 USD
Shipping calculated at checkout.
Quantity
Couldn't load pickup availability
CONTENTS.
PAGE
THE VIRTUE OF GLUTTONY, 9
A PERFECT BREAKFAST, 17
TWO BREAKFASTS, 25
THE SUBTLE SANDWICH, 33
A PERFECT DINNER, 43
AN AUTUMN DINNER, 51
A MIDSUMMER DINNER, 59
TWO SUPPERS, 67
ON SOUP, 75
THE SIMPLE SOLE, 89
BOUILLABAISSE, 97
THE MOST EXCELLENT OYSTER, 105
THE PARTRIDGE, 117
THE ARCHANGELIC BIRD, 125
SPRING CHICKEN, 135
THE MAGNIFICENT MUSHROOM, 143
THE INCOMPARABLE ONION, 155
THE TRIUMPHANT TOMATO, 171
A DISH OF SUNSHINE, 179
ON SALADS, 191
THE SALADS OF SPAIN, 205
THE STIRRING SAVOURY, 215
INDISPENSABLE CHEESE, 223
A STUDY IN GREEN AND RED, 231
A MESSAGE FROM THE SOUTH, 239
ENCHANTING COFFEE, 249
THE VIRTUE OF GLUTTONY
Gluttony is ranked with the deadly sins; it should be honoured among
the cardinal virtues. It was in the Dark Ages of asceticism that
contempt for it was fostered. Selfish anchorites, vowed to dried dates
and lentils, or browsing Nebuchadnezzar-like upon grass, thought by
their lamentable example to rob the world of its chief blessing.
Cheerfully, and without a scruple, they would have sacrificed beauty
and pleasure to their own superstition. If the vineyard yielded wine
and the orchard fruit, if cattle were sent to pasture, and the forest
abounded in game, they believed it was that men might forswear the
delights thus offered. And so food came into ill repute and foolish
fasting was glorified, until a healthy appetite passed for a snare of
the devil, and its gratification meant eternal damnation. Poor deluded
humans, ever so keen to make the least of the short span of life
allotted to them!
With time, all superstitions fail; and asceticism went the way of many
another ingenious folly. But as a tradition, as a convention, somehow,
it lingered longer among women. And the old Christian duty became a
new feminine grace. And where the fanatic had fasted that his soul
might prove comelier in the sight of God, silly matrons and maidens
starved, or pretended to starve, themselves that their bodies might
seem fairer in the eyes of man. And dire, indeed, has been their
punishment. The legend was that swooning Angelina or tear-stained
Amelia, who, in company, toyed tenderly with a chicken wing or
unsubstantial wafer, later retired to the pantry to stuff herself with
jam and pickles. And thus gradually, so it is asserted, the delicacy
of women's palate was destroyed; food to her perverted stomach was but
a mere necessity to stay the pangs of hunger, and the pleasure of
eating she looked upon as a deep mystery, into which only man could be
initiated.
PAGE
THE VIRTUE OF GLUTTONY, 9
A PERFECT BREAKFAST, 17
TWO BREAKFASTS, 25
THE SUBTLE SANDWICH, 33
A PERFECT DINNER, 43
AN AUTUMN DINNER, 51
A MIDSUMMER DINNER, 59
TWO SUPPERS, 67
ON SOUP, 75
THE SIMPLE SOLE, 89
BOUILLABAISSE, 97
THE MOST EXCELLENT OYSTER, 105
THE PARTRIDGE, 117
THE ARCHANGELIC BIRD, 125
SPRING CHICKEN, 135
THE MAGNIFICENT MUSHROOM, 143
THE INCOMPARABLE ONION, 155
THE TRIUMPHANT TOMATO, 171
A DISH OF SUNSHINE, 179
ON SALADS, 191
THE SALADS OF SPAIN, 205
THE STIRRING SAVOURY, 215
INDISPENSABLE CHEESE, 223
A STUDY IN GREEN AND RED, 231
A MESSAGE FROM THE SOUTH, 239
ENCHANTING COFFEE, 249
THE VIRTUE OF GLUTTONY
Gluttony is ranked with the deadly sins; it should be honoured among
the cardinal virtues. It was in the Dark Ages of asceticism that
contempt for it was fostered. Selfish anchorites, vowed to dried dates
and lentils, or browsing Nebuchadnezzar-like upon grass, thought by
their lamentable example to rob the world of its chief blessing.
Cheerfully, and without a scruple, they would have sacrificed beauty
and pleasure to their own superstition. If the vineyard yielded wine
and the orchard fruit, if cattle were sent to pasture, and the forest
abounded in game, they believed it was that men might forswear the
delights thus offered. And so food came into ill repute and foolish
fasting was glorified, until a healthy appetite passed for a snare of
the devil, and its gratification meant eternal damnation. Poor deluded
humans, ever so keen to make the least of the short span of life
allotted to them!
With time, all superstitions fail; and asceticism went the way of many
another ingenious folly. But as a tradition, as a convention, somehow,
it lingered longer among women. And the old Christian duty became a
new feminine grace. And where the fanatic had fasted that his soul
might prove comelier in the sight of God, silly matrons and maidens
starved, or pretended to starve, themselves that their bodies might
seem fairer in the eyes of man. And dire, indeed, has been their
punishment. The legend was that swooning Angelina or tear-stained
Amelia, who, in company, toyed tenderly with a chicken wing or
unsubstantial wafer, later retired to the pantry to stuff herself with
jam and pickles. And thus gradually, so it is asserted, the delicacy
of women's palate was destroyed; food to her perverted stomach was but
a mere necessity to stay the pangs of hunger, and the pleasure of
eating she looked upon as a deep mystery, into which only man could be
initiated.