Brillat-Savarin

"Un Dessert sans fromage est une belle a qui il manque un oeil"
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savain

I guess I should translate the quote: A dessert without cheese is like a beautiful woman with only one eye.

The author, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin could make such a statement with such authority. Perhaps the level of appreciation and elevation of gastronomy to an art, or even a science, which he most certainly did, gave him the authority.

Turn about being fair play, Brillat-Savarin had a cheese named after him. It is a rich, triple creme cows milk cheese made in Normandie, Bourgogne and Ile de France. It was created around 1930, and while not an AOC cheese, the affinage is a closely guarded secret. It is rich, creamy unpressed, uncooked cheese with a white floury rind usually about 500 grams or a 250 gram half size. The aging time is 2 to 3 weeks. The winter and early spring months are the best time to buy and enjoy this cheese.
Today, I bought one that had been coated in cracked pepper and it was a real treat with lunch.

But, the man, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, who had the cheese named for him as well as the dessert cake, a Savarin, was a real character who lived during one of the most tumultuous periods of history.

He was born in 1755 in Belley, France on the border of the Savoy. He studied law, chemistry and medicine in Dijon where he went on to practice law. At the time of the Revolution, he was elected as a deputy and sent to Paris. He was a member of the Estates General and made his mark as a politician, but on the tightrope of revolutionary politics, he soon found himself an enemy with a bounty on his head.
He escaped to Switzerland and on to Holland and then for a few years, he lived in New York, Boston and Philadelphia and made his living teaching french and giving violin lessons. He actually was the first violin at The Park Theater in New York.

He went back to France in 1797 and was able to resume his life and was appointed a judge, a post he held until the end of his life in 1825.
He was a philosopher whose passion was the realm of the senses. He investigated and wrote about food. Perhaps he was the father of the low carb diet. He wrote about the ill effects of processed white flour and the dangers of sugar, but that did not mean he did not know how to enjoy food.

He enjoyed food and drink and wrote recipes and anecdotes. He was probably the first person to write of salads and their preparation. His collected anecdotes are published in English in a volume called "The Physiology Of Taste".

In the book you learn about his theories of dreams, weight loss, but more than that, you learn about his life. Stories of a man who fought for his honor on ships, was able to scientifically drink English braggarts under the table, seduce the wife of his

persuer when on the run to Switzerland. You learn of his love of music and be regaled with portraits of epicurean abbots, the perfect breakfast and much much more.
Before he died, he finished his collected volume of essays called "Physiologie du gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante" or "The Philosophy of Taste"
In it is revealed his basic philosophy, which dates to Epicurius and is timeless...The simplest meal is the most satisfying if it is executed with artistry.

"Those persons who suffer from indigestion or become drunk, are utterly ignorant of the true pleasures of eating and drinking."