A groundbreaking book that walks the line between recipe book, memoir, history, and philosophy, Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin's The Physiology of Taste is presented with an introduction by Anne Drayton in Penguin Classics.

Brillat-Savarin's unique and exuberant collection of dishes, experiences, reflections, history, and philosophy elevated gastronomy to an art form. First published in France in 1825, this remarkable book reflected a new era in French cuisine: the emergence of restaurants, which allowed the bourgeoisie to choose their dishes with precision and anticipation. The author also shares his views on taste, diet, maintaining a healthy weight, digestion, sleep, dreams, and the pleasures of being a gourmand.

Witty, insightful, and anecdotal, The Physiology of Taste not only includes some extraordinary recipes, but also offers an elegant argument for the joys of good food and a hearty appetite.

Anne Drayton's lively translation is accompanied by an introduction that highlights the remarkable nature of this work, created by a man who was neither a chef nor an author but a magistrate in a French provincial town.

Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1825) was born in Belley, France, an area famous for its food and wine. After earning his law degree, Brillat-Savarin became magistrate of Belley and was later elected Mayor. During the French Revolution, his life was at risk, and he fled to other parts of Europe and then to America, earning his living as a violinist in a theater orchestra. He returned to France in 1796 and became a judge of the Supreme Courts of Appeal. He began collecting meditations on gastronomy and, in 1825, just months before his death, published this brilliant treatise on the pleasures of eating: the culmination of a lifelong love affair with food.

Pages: 384, Dimensions: 12.9x12.9cm