Publisher's Synopsis
In his trademark witty and informative style, David Downie embarks on a quest to discover 'What is it about the history of Paris that has made it a food lover's paradise?'. Long before Marie Antoinette said, 'Let them eat cake!' (actually, it was brioche), the Romans of Paris devoured foie gras, and live oysters rushed in from the Atlantic; one Medieval cookbook describes a thirty-two part meal featuring hare stew, eel soup, and honeyed wine; during the last great banquet at Versailles a year before the Revolution the gourmand Louis XVI savored thirty-two main dishes and sixteen desserts; yet, in 1812, Grimod de la Reyniere, the father of French gastronomy, regaled guests with fifty-two courses, fifteen wines, three types of coffee, and seventeen liqueurs.
