FAMOUS GLUTTONS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3297, 16 August 1911, Page 7

FAMOUS GLUTTONS.

AMAZING GASTRONOMIC FEATS. “Beasts feed, man eats. The wise, man alone knows how to eat.” But not. always. It would scarcely be incorrect to describe Balzac, Voltaire and Victor Hugo,, for instance, as wise men in; their own way ; and yet they were hi man gluttons, whose gastronomic feats would strike the average reader as somewha t amazing, to say the least. Balzac has told us himself that at the end of a right of hard writing he went to a certain famous eating-house in Paris and there ordered, and ato, a little dinner carefully composed of twelve dozen Ostend oysters, twelve mutton cutlets, a duck, two roast partridges, a Normandy sole, fruit, coffee, and liquers. Victor Hugo, whose-iron, teeth could crush a cutlet bone as if it were an almond, sometimes amused, his grandchildren, after eating through a dinner of six courses, by collecting the remnants of soup, entree, fish, roast, vegetables and sweet dishes, mixing them, and eating this 'horrible “salad” there and them with obvious pleasure. ROYAL GLUTTONS. Voltaire, who almost lived on strong coffee, bragged of drinking sixt- cups a day which reminds one of Dr. Johnson, who could almost equal this record in the matter of tea. Judging, however, from the information contained in an interesting book lately published in France, on “Dining and. its Amenities,” it would appear that not even Balzac, Hugo, or the more modern eating-champions we occasionally read about, whose feats foi wagers—such, as disposing of a trifle like 201 b of plum-duff, fifty or sixty eggs, or a'score of pigeons—would not have stood much chance if matched against one or two of the French ‘kings. Take Louis XIV., for instance, who was a gourmand and a gourmet too. He had as many as 1500 men to cook for him and to wait at his banquets. Here is the menu of one of has ordinary dinners; One broth made of two fowls and one of four partridges and cabbages! one additional soup, made of six pigeons and one of cocks -combs; two further soups, one of fowl and one of partridge; a. 201 b side of veal and twelve pigeons ;a .fricassee of six chick- ; ens and two hashed partridges,. three ; roast partridges, six braised pigeons, two roast turkeys, three truffled hens, two fat capons, nine. chickens, nine pigeons, two young chickens, six partridges, and four pigeons. The dessert consisted of two china bowls of raw fruit, two of jam, and two of com--1)0 AN ANCIENT VEGETARIAN. No doubt the King did not eat all this, but he certainly more than touched it, as shown by his supper menu of the same dav, which consisted of two capons, twelve pigeons, one partridge with parmesan, four more pigeons, six chickens, 81b of veal, one pheasant, three partridges, three tat hens four young chickens, nine chickens, another eight pigeons, four young pigeons. And on that particular day the King did not find the supper menu sufficient to satisfy his Royal appetite, and called for more. The following had to be added to the menu:-Four partridges in sauce, roast pie of two fat chickens, two capons, two woodcocks two teals, and five partridges. Hors-d’oeuvre are not mentioned, but they included such things as blackpudding, sausages and tniffleo. pies. The book mentions that .Alexander the Great 5 and the Emperor Septimus Sevens both died from, over indulgence in food, while vegetarian readers mil be interested’ to learn that Albums, v • ancient vegetarian, showed, rare digestive powers b™ consuming m one morning 100 peaches, ten melons, or muscat grapes, and 480 oysters.