To attain the ultimate in the pleasures of the table

But, the impatient reader may exclaim, how can one possibly assemble, in this year of grace 1825, a meal which will meet all the conditions necessary to attain the ultimate in the pleasures of the table?
I am about to answer that question. Draw near, Reader, and pay heed: it is Gasterea, the loveliest of the muses, who inspired me; I shall speak more clearly than an oracle, and my precepts will live throughout the centuries.
“Let the number of guests be no more than twelve, so that conversation may always remain general;
“Let them be so chosen that their professions will be varied, their tastes analogous, and that there be such points of contact that the odious formality of introductions will not be needed;
“Let the dinning room be more than amply lighted, the linen of dazzling cleanliness, and the temperature maintained at from sixty to sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit;
“Let the gentlemen be witty without pretension, and the ladies charming without too much coquetry;
“Let the dishes be of exquisite quality, but limited in their number, and the wines of the first rank also, each according to its degree;
“Let the progression of the former be from the most substantial to the lightest, and of the latter from the simplest wines to the headiest;
“Let the tempo of eating be moderate, the dinner being the last affair of the day: the guests should behave like travelers who must arrive together at the same destination;
“Let the coffee be piping hot, and the liqueurs of the host’s especial choice;
“Let the drawing room which awaits the diners be large enough to hold a card table for those who cannot do without it, with enough space left for after-dinner
conversations;
“Let the guests be disciplined by the restraints of polite society and animated by the hope that the evening will not pass without its rewarding pleasures;
“Let the tea be not too strong, the toast artfully buttered, and the punch made with care;
“Let the leavetakings not begin before eleven o’clock, but by midnight let every guest be home and abed.”
If anyone has attended a party combining all these virtues, he can boast that he has known perfection, and for each of them which has been forgotten or ignored he will have experienced the less delight.

-Brillat-Savarin's The Physiology of Taste

Invitation to Gastricolium I - Saturday 29th, 2007

Gastricolium I

7pm Saturday 29th, 2007
Cesar's house.

Menu:

The Gastrinaut was inspired by tropical flavors from the caribbean and asia minor. Emphasis in fat and sweet reinforces the connection of these cultures with a healthy diet.

1. Fried Plantains with Mango Pico de Gallo
2. Greens with Fried Chevre
3. Catch-of-the-day Fish in a coconut curry sauce served in banana leaves, accompanied by a side of roots.
4. Cheese Flan

Reminders:

Each person should bring a bottle of alcohol that would go well with the main dish.
Pairing wines with a spicy coconut sauce can be tricky, so ask the experts at your local wine shop. Here are some recommendations: Gewürztraminer, German Kabinett Riesling (dry, not too sweet), Demi-Sec Champagne.

Dress Code will be strictly enforced.

(Gastricolium rules can be found here)


Don Flan

An invitation and a promise

For gourmet cooking is where you find it, and connoisseurs of the culinary art are found wherever there is good eating. It is not only in Europe, it is not always in the grand places, nor is it necessarily exotic or expensive. The finest food, like the best in every art, is simply a matter of excellence of preparation, imagination and performance.

-Mary and Vincent Price, A Treasury of Great Recipes

Planning a Gastrinomicon

We are planning on recording all of our recipes, along with extensive photography of the food at all stages, and incorporating them with a semi-historic legend of Gastricolium throughout the ages of civilization. We will compile and publish this collection under the title Gastrinomicon: A True History of the Gastricolium.  At least these are our plans. 

Respectfully,

Your neighbor, the goat

Established Rules for a Gastricolium

The three Gastrinauts may invite three guests each for total of twelve so the number dining is not too taxing on the pocketbook of the head Gastrinaut nor on the quality of the food prepared.  The guests shall be called Gastricolites.  Each Gastricolite is required to bring one bottle of wine, as specified by the head Gastrinaut of the night.  Those who do not comply will be reprimanded and expelled from the feast and all future feasts and banquets with no chance for redemption.  All Gastricolites will be informed that it is their duty to adhere to the Dress Code.  Those who do not will be humiliated and expelled.  The two assisting Gastrinauts are responsible for champagne before the feast and alcoholic libations for the events following the feast.  Before the feast commences, one of the Gastrinauts will read to the Gastricolites from the ancient tome of their forefathers, The Gastrinomicon.  The two assisting Gastrinauts will begin serving the food.  Dinner begins.....

Second Meeting of the Gastrinauts

The first meeting was very fruitful. Several ancient rules were evaluated and modernized. However, several items were left untouched. This Tuesday, same place and same time, it will be the second meeting of the Gastrinauts.

Don Flan

Hemp Seed Soup

Italy, 1470

To make 12 servings, take a pound of hemp seeds. Clean them and let them boil in a pot until they begin to open, and then add a pound of white almonds, well pounded, and then add them to the seeds. Pound it well and add a crustless bread. Distemper this with meat broth or thin chicken broth and pass through a sieve. Set it to boil in a pot over the coals far from the fire, stirring many times with a spoon. The add half a pound of sugar and half an ounce of ginger, and a bit of saffron with rosewater. Serve it with sweet spices on top.

(Excerted from "Cooking in Europe, 1250-1650", by Ken Albala)

Dining in Ancient Times

Mesopotamians and Egyptians preferred small, portable tables that might serve only one or two diners, although many tables could be brought into an area for a banquet. The Greeks ate in many different styles, from individual tables to the boardinghouse-style dinners for which Sparta was famous. Rome boasted formal dining rooms, called triclinia, in which three couches were aligned in a U-shape. Each couch traditionally accommodated three diners, who took foods from a central table. Formal dining posture changed during the ancient period. In archaic times, polite society sat upright to dine; by about the seventh century B.C.E the well-to-do started reclining on couches for formal meals, a custom attributed to the Persians. Upright posture remained the rule for informal meals among all classes and civilizations. Women were usually excluded from dinner parties in Greece; they might attend Roman parties, but many times they sat, rather than reclined, on the couches. In the Greco-Roman world sitting up to dine signaled social inferiority.

(Excerpted from "Cooking in Ancient Civilizations", by Cathy K. Kaufman)