Serve It Forth (1937)

by M. F. K. Fisher

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230	7	116,713	(3.99)	14
In Serve It Forth, her first book, M. F. K. Fisher takes readers on an animated journey through culinary history, beginning with the honey-loving Greeks and the immoderate Romans. Fisher recalls a hunt for snails and truffles with one of the last adepts in that art and recounts how Catherine de Medici, lonely for home cooking, touched off a culinary revolution by bringing Italian chefs to France. Each essay makes clear the absolute firmness of Fisher's taste--contrarian and unique--and her skill at stirringmemory and imagination into a potent brew.… (more)

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Such a collection of stories, ranging from the loving execution of a rabbit to a considered look at kitchens, and a still relevant look at the social status of vegetables (think of the commotion about Obama eating arugula). (

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giovannaz63 | Jan 18, 2021 |

I think I ran into a reference to this food writer when reading reviews of Garlic and Sapphires (which I haven't read yet) She has a large oeuvre of short essays about gastronomy that began in the 1930s. This was her first publication and it was charmingly dated, light and amusing. Snails, tangerines, subtleties, histories and personalities. (August 30, 2005) (

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cindywho | May 27, 2019 |

Reading The Art of Eating 50th anniversary edition but am hard pressed to not divide the entire book into the five books that make the whole.

Too frenchie for me. (

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Alphawoman | Mar 11, 2018 |

Disappointing (

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mahallett | Feb 20, 2018 |

Essays on food by one of America's much admired prose stylists. Fisher had the good luck to live in France for several years, where she ate well and learned to develop her "powers of enjoyment" where food and drink were concerned. The book divides neatly into two types of essays--a sort of whimsical history of food (which I didn't find particularly effective) and those which celebrate food and memory (which are much better.) Her tone, which is a sort of girlish gush with sharp edges, grows on you. (

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Bjace | Dec 7, 2012 |

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The Art of Eating by M. F. K. Fisher

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Canonical title

Serve It Forth

Original title

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Original publication date

1937

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Epigraph

"Of course,"concluded Robert Kilburn Root, sitting crosslegged and contemplating his Shashlik---"of course if this book is well larded with anecdotes, it will of necessity be short."

Dedication

For R.B.K. and E.O.H.K.

First words

There are two kinds of books about eating: those that try to imitate Brillat-Savarin's, and those that try not to.

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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Fadiman, Clifton

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▾Book descriptions

In Serve It Forth, her first book, M. F. K. Fisher takes readers on an animated journey through culinary history, beginning with the honey-loving Greeks and the immoderate Romans. Fisher recalls a hunt for snails and truffles with one of the last adepts in that art and recounts how Catherine de Medici, lonely for home cooking, touched off a culinary revolution by bringing Italian chefs to France. Each essay makes clear the absolute firmness of Fisher's taste--contrarian and unique--and her skill at stirringmemory and imagination into a potent brew.

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