#x98;The#x9C; table comes first family, France, and the meaning of food

Our modern society is very particular about what constitutes good food: local, seasonal, organic produce that doesn't overly impact on the environment. But throughout history every generation has believed that it alone knows the true value of food, and looked with distaste on the culinary practices of its predecessors. Not so long ago eating food from around the world was the mark of the cultural sophisticate. In The Table Comes First Adam Gopnik envisions a new 'physiology of taste' which will enable us to dispense with this moralising attitude and concentrate on the pleasure principle: food is to be enjoyed, and to help us enjoy life in turn. Above all the dining table should be the heart of the family, the place where all real family begins. To show this we are taken through the courses, from starters to desserts, from the establishment of the first restaurants in Paris in the early 19th century to the green movement of the present day, in a witty and erudite narrative interspersed with delightful anecdotes, ranging from making souffles for Derrida (hint: the perfect souffle is determined by the ineffable 'zone' between peaks and troughs) to hunting the lost recipe for 'Steack Boston'."--Publisher's description Contents......Page 10 A Small Starter: Questions of Food......Page 14 Part I Coming to the Table......Page 22 1 Who Made the Restaurant?......Page 24 2 What’s the Recipe?......Page 65 3 E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell: Anchovies, Bacon, Lamb......Page 86 Part II Choosing at the Table......Page 96 4 How Does Taste Happen?......Page 98 5 E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell: Lamb, Saffron, Cinnamon......Page 125 6 Meat or Vegetables?......Page 133 7 E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell: Chicken, Pudding, Dogs......Page 154 8 Near or Far?......Page 165 9 E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell: Salt, Pork, Mustard......Page 181 Part III Talking at the Table......Page 186 10 In Vino Veritas?......Page 188 11 E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell: Potatoes, Steak, Air......Page 203 12 What Do We Write About When We Write About Food?......Page 208 13 What Do We Imagine When We Imagine Food?......Page 216 14 E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell: Rice, Milk, Sugar......Page 227 Part IV Leaving the Table......Page 234 16 E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell: Salmon, Broccoli, Repentance......Page 258 17 Endings......Page 264 18 Last E-mail to Elizabeth Pennell......Page 288 Reading on the Way Home......Page 300 One of the finest essayists of the age takes us on an entertaining journey through just what it means for food to be 'good'.