Aphorisms of the Professor.
To Serve as Prolegomena to His Work and Eternal Basis to the Science.
- I. The universe would be nothing were it not for life and all that lives must be fed.
- II. Animals fill themselves; man eats. The man of mind alone knows how to eat.
- III. The destiny of nations depends on the manner in which they are fed.
- IV. Tell me what kind of food you eat, and I will tell you what kind of man you are.
- V. The Creator, when he obliges man to eat, invites him to do so by appetite, and rewards him by pleasure.
- VI. Gourmandise is an act of our judgment, in obedience to which, we grant a preference to things which are agreeable, over those which nave not that quality.
- VII. The pleasure of the table belongs to all ages, to all conditions, to all countries, and to all aeras; it mingles with all other pleasures, and remains at last to console us for their departure.
- VIII. The table is the only place where one does not suffer, from ennui during the first hour.
- IX. The discovery of a new dish confers more happiness on humanity, than the discovery of a new star.
- X. Those persons who suffer from indigestion, or who become drunk, are utterly ignorant of the true principles of eating and drinking.
- XI. The order of food is from the most substantial to the lightest.
- XII. The order of drinking is from the mildest to the most foamy and perfumed.
- XIII. To say that we should not change our drinks is a heresy; the tongue becomes saturated, and after the third glass yields but an obtuse sensation.
- XIV. A dessert without cheese is like a beautiful woman who has lost an eye.
- XV. A cook may be taught, but a man who can roast, is born with the faculty.
- XVI. The most indispensable quality of a good cook is promptness. It should also be that of the guests.
- XVII. To wait too long for a dilatory guest, shows disrespect to those who are punctual.
- XVIII. He who receives friends and pays no attention to the repast prepared for them, is not fit to have friends.
- XIX. The mistress of the house should always be certain that the coffee be excellent; the master that his liquors be of the first quality.
- XX. To invite a person to your house is to take charge of his happiness as long as he be beneath your roof.
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