Through a walk that is both thematic and chronological, this volume offers a scholarly, detailed and pedagogical synthesis of the gastronomic traditions and practices of the West, from Antiquity to the twentieth century. Superbly reproduced images of art - frescoes, decorations of dishes, illuminations, engravings, tapestries and paintings - and period texts, guide the presentation of the history of the table and the kitchen, their slow secularization, their continuous tension between necessary meals and sumptuous spectacle. Each era has built the image of its tables and dishes, reflecting its identity and ideals: art, through the centuries, has preserved these gastronomic representations, made them a genre, a document for the historian and a source of fantasy for the artist. It is the story of this fruitful and tasty encounter between art, cuisine and the table that Patrick Rambourg tells and documents with passion.
From ancient Mesopotamia to the vanguards of "Eat Art", practices and rites, the ordinary of days and exceptional feasts, the lean and fat, sacred food and delicacies of gluttony are unveiled and richly illustrated.
