Paris à Table
1846
Eugène Briffault and Translated by J. Weintraub
Forward by David Downie
Reviews and Awards
"This is a fascinating and amusing book." - Connexion
"An eye-opening chronicle ... [Briffault's] book provide[s] often acerbic commentary on the scene of his time, when Paris was considered to be the center of the culinary world. It is filled with observations that still apply, like how the newly affluent display money but no taste, how female cooks are undervalued." - New York Times Food Section
"History buffs and Francophiles get to nerd out in Paris à Table ....Briffault has (very funny) strong opinions about how his countrymen dine... Translator J. Weintraub does an excellent job of relaying Briffault'illustrative descriptions for the 21st century reader." - Bon Appetit (Culture)
"This is a must-read for social- and cultural-history buffs, especially those with a keen interest in food and eating habits." - Mark Knoblauch, Bookslist
"Historians, enthusiasts and anyone who teaches in English about nineteenth-century France will be glad to have this new translation of Briffault's famous book on the dinners and diners of mid-nineteenth-century Paris ... J. Weintraub's skillful translation maintains the breezy but serious tone of the original, and the footnotes throughout offer the kinds of explanations destined to make this a useful teaching tool as well as a good read ... Reading this book, one gains a colourful impression of the primacy of food in the life of the city, and of the multiple identities defined in relation to the types of food on offer and the places where people ate them." - Rachel Rich, Food and History