Ambrosia
SINCE Brillat-Savarin remarked, " Animals fill themselves : man cats ; but it is the man of Intelligence alone who knows how to eat," there is no need to apologize for that deferential courtesy towards the palate, which is regarded as greed by the uninitiated ; and the writers of these three books make no attempt to do so. They all, I think, love food, and they all express that love wisely and generously.
Mr. Davey is the most querulous of the trio. He writes, peevishly, as a man who has made a weary pilgrimage in search of food, and awaits its serving. Indeed, I suspect, so bitter is some of his commentary, that his book has been written during the intervals of hungry.waiting. It is addressed to " The Traveller of Taste and Discretion, who will wisely order his meals to the enlivening of his intellect ; who is hon- estly epicure and honourably dilettante ; who is old enough to have achieved a palate and young enough to have preserved. a digestion ; neither crank nor snob, whose head is only perpendicularly above 'his stomach." So far so good ; the position of an epicure's head is his own concern, but his heart is another matter, and I do not care to read that thrushes cooked en casserole with black olives and garlics make a " veritable poem of a dish." Then, too, the fact that squids, are a dream " transcending in delicacy even the oyster seems of less importance than the barbarity that follows their capture. However, chacun a son gat : Mr. Davey allows nothing to interfere with his, and he is wise enough to prefer a meal served above sawdust to that which is sold by
the proprietor who has little left over from his advertising costs.
The first part of the book is devoted to Gastrograpliy, and the hungry reader, whether he be traveller or not, will find his appetite whetted by Mr. Davey's accounts of meals that may be eaten in small inns and large on the roads that lead up and down and across France. The author is generous enough to give away several recipes as well as a number of addresses of eating houses that are not known to English travellers. The book also contains a geographical wine list, a scathing chapter on English colonists and a section (already, alas ! a little out of date for us) on domestic economy in France.
It is sad to think that we shall not be able to sample immedh ately the royal meals Mr. Davey has enjoyed for a sum which was the old equivalent of forty francs, but our palates may still be stirred, and we may leave the light touching of our purses to a later day. Meanwhile, for the price of a few cock- tails we may possess an aperitif as permanent as the magic wines of the fairy tales. I defy the dullest palate to be untitil- ' lated by Mr. Davey's masterpiece on food.
So much for the appetiser, and now for the feast itself. " Lucullus " has given us a rare cookery book, containing brief practical recipes for the preparation of every course, including cocktails, and of nearly every dish except curry. She has been helped by the head of a well-known restaurant; who has provided a good proportion of the magic formulas, and who writes, in the introduction, There are too many cookery books, and it is always one's duty to give help to a good one when it conies one's way." After such sponsoring there is no need for the reviewer to say much, except to assure modern housewives that the recipes arc not too extravagant, to draw special attention to the chapters on soups, sauces and sweets, and to give thanks for the blank- pages, allowed for private recipes. Those who can read, may also learn to cook with this book for guide, and may be certain that good digestion waits kindly on educated appetites.
Miss Henniker-Heaton's book must have been written for those whO believe that conversation is chief nourisher at life's feast. "Her account of the dinners eaten with James, an elderly bachelor with " a blurred outline " and a sentimental heart are a sheer delight. Here is a book to recall after dinner, when lights and hearts are mellow, and the port glass still holds enough couleur de rose to tint the immediate world.
The author gives the menus of her choice, and they are excellent, but better still; the descriptions of lovely surround- ings, wit, anecdotes and liveliness. No possessor of this good- humoured and gracious book will lack topics for the table. '
BARBARA EUPHAN TODD.
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