Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Cheese, Pears, & History in a Proverb

Cheese, Pears, & History in a Proverb

Montanari, Massimo
Brombert, Beth Archer

Paperback

Series: Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary H

Food WritingFruits & VegetablesItalian History

ISBN10: 0231152515
ISBN13: 9780231152518
Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr
Published: Jul 31 2012
Pages: 128
Weight: 0.40
Height: 0.40 Width: 5.10 Depth: 7.90
Language: English

Do not let the peasant know how good cheese is with pears goes the old saying. Intrigued by these words and their portent, Massimo Montanari unravels their origin and utility. Perusing archival cookbooks, agricultural and dietary treatises, literary works, and anthologies of beloved sayings, he finds in the nobility's demanding palates and delicate stomachs a compelling recipe for social conduct.

At first, cheese and its visceral, earthy pleasures were treated as the food of Polyphemus, the uncivilized man-beast. The pear, on the other hand, became the symbol of ephemeral, luxuriant pleasure-an indulgence of the social elite. Joined together, cheese and pears adopted an exclusive savoir faire, especially as the natural phenomenon of taste evolved into a cultural attitude. Montanari's delectable history straddles written and oral traditions, economic and social relations, and thrills in the power of mental representation. His ultimate discovery shows that the enduring proverb, so wrapped up in history, operates not only as a repository of shared wisdom but also as a rich locus of social conflict.

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