Now that’s tasty!

The discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of a new star.

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Now THIS is a guy who obviously loved eating. He lived around the same time that the US was becoming an independent country and was a man of many talents. Trained as a lawyer, he supported himself while in the US (he was there to escape the guillotine that was then doing the rounds in France) by giving violin and French lessons. See kids, it often pays to have a skill beyond your primary job!

In addition to his other pursuits, he concentrated with great intensity on the art of stuffing one's face. Being a Frenchman, and having returned to France after the revolution had simmered down, he was in the right place for pursuing this particular interest. If he'd been alive today he'd undoubtedly have become a food critic. Living over 200 years too early for that, he did the next best thing. He wrote a book.

He waited until he was really sure of his facts (at least he thought he was) and near the end of his life he published THE BOOK. One of the best things about it was the title, which was definitely NOT written with an eye toward a quick sound bite. It was, in all its glory, this: The physiology of taste, or, Meditations of transcendent gastronomy; a theoretical, historical and topical work, dedicated to the gastronomes of Paris by a professor, member of several literary and scholarly societies.

Man, the title alone is longer than some books!

This quote has appeal  because it reminds me that there always exists more than one point of view. This guy really, really liked food and, as he himself states, a new dish of grub gave him immediate and intense satisfaction. Did it matter to him whether a new star was discovered or not? Nope, not at all. What's one more among the teeming millions? Would an astronomer agree with him? Likely not. In fact, almost assuredly not.

And that's a fact that we'd all be well advised to keep in mind. Different people will have different takes on pretty much everything. What you love, someone else will hate. And vice versa. I mean, there are even people out there who don't groove to Nicky510, hard as that is to believe. So don't worry too much when you find yourself facing opinions that aren't aligned with your own. They work for the person holding them and they don't negate your own. Not even a little.

The other reason I like the quote is because this guy was a real enthusiast, and I'm enthusiastic about enthusiasts. You don't want to stagger through an existence in which everything is just "meh" to you. You've gotta have some things that are "wow!" or "zowie!" level. His gig was food. What's yours?

- And that's today's word from the bird