KARACHI, Oct 18: Food enthusiasts were treated to an interesting lecture on the history, art and philosophy of gastronomy delivered by Daniel Baillon at the Alliance Francaise Karachi on Thursday.

Daniel Baillon established at the outset that gastronomy was a French approach to life. He said like the Eiffel Tower, the subject was not deeply understood. He connected the lecture to the ‘Week of Taste’, which was being observed for the past eight or nine years and had become an international event. He formally began his talk by showing a still life painting in which peaches prominently featured, and said the fruit was naturally appealing to the senses.

Mr Baillon, director of the Alliance Francaise Karachi, pointed out that the term gastronomy was first used in 1801 in a poem by Joseph Berchoux. It was derived from the Greek words gaster (stomach) and nomos (laws), basically meaning the laws that govern the stomach or the art of regulating the stomach. With the passage of time food began to be studied in different cultures and in the19th century became a global concept. He argued that it was important to understand the 19th century because its preceding century was the era of Enlightenment, which meant bringing light into darkness. He told the audience that in the second half of the 18th century two Frenchmen (Denis Diderotand and Jean le Rond d’Alembert) embarked on an ambitious project of coming up with an encyclopaedia. The front page of the encyclopaedia had a picture in which ‘Truth’ was shown surrounded by light, while on its right ‘Reason’ and ‘Philosophy’ tried to unveil it. On its left, ‘Arts’ (poetry, drama, etc) could also be seen. The book paved the way for the revolution. What was amiss in that picture was the sense of ‘Pleasure’, he added.

The said after the French Revolution power was transferred to the bourgeoisie and with the advent of the Industrial revolution new ways of making fortunes were introduced. He then came to the central part of his lecture where he talked about Brillat-Savarin, credited with founding the genre of gastronomy. Savarin was born into a family of lawyers. During the French Revolution he was sent as a deputy to the Estates-General where he acquired fame. Afterwards he went to the US and during his stint there, among other things, he played the violin. He had a big belly and before his death he published a book with a longish title which basically had to do with the physiology of taste.

Daniel Baillon said the book had 30 meditations and quite a few aphorisms. He then distributed a copy of 20 aphorisms in the audience, the first of which read, “The universe would be nothing were it not for life and all that lives must be fed.” Then he read the fifth aphorism which was, “The creator, when he obliges man to eat, invites him to do so by appetite, and rewards him by pleasure.” He said it was not just about food but also about enjoying and the pleasure of eating. He emphasised the importance of sensorial philosophy because of the action of the senses in the eating process. He likened it to a scientific experiment where the visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and the sense of taste worked by virtue of a process of assimilation. He said that was exactly what Sherlock Holmes did: a murder took place, he would observe, feel, smell, taste, understand and find a solution to the problem. Holmes would also keep that knowledge for future use.

Mr Baillon described the process of eating in three steps: direct sensation, complete sensation and reflected sensation (mouth to mind).

Quoting a 20th century French philosopher, he said taste developed like a narrative (of a book). He said eating had to be done with friends and to highlight that point read out aphorism number 20: “To invite a person to your house is to take charge of his happiness as long as he be beneath your roof.”

In the ancient Rome, he said, the rich were identified by eating more food and the poor did not have much to eat. Time passed and the gap narrowed. The 19th century replaced empty bellies with flat bellies.