Dalí. Les dîners de Gala

Les Dîners de Gala is solely dedicated to the pleasures of the palate. If you are a disciple of those who weigh and measure calories, turning the joys of a meal into penalties, then close this book immediately: it is far too vibrant, too aggressive, and too challenging for you. Food and surrealism are ideal bedfellows: sex and lobster, collage and cannibalism, the encounter between a swan and a toothbrush on a cake base. The opulent dinner parties hosted by Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) and his wife and muse Gala (1894-1982) were legendary. Fortunately for us, Dalí published the cookbook Les Diners de Gala in 1973, the craziest cookbook of all time, a synthesis of surrealistic wit and elevated, eccentric culinary delights. This abridged reissue contains 78 recipes in twelve chapters illustrated by Dalí himself, with titles like "Soft Watches in Half-Sleep," "Sodomitic Side Dishes," "Monarch Meat," or "Deoxyribonucleic Atavisms." Saucy quips and bouillon bon mots from the master, such as "The jaw is our best tool for acquiring philosophical knowledge," or "The momentum of my entrails I consider the highest guide," add extra flavor. All these delicious recipes can be recreated at home, although some may require a bit of practice, a well-stocked pantry, and perhaps a special neural wiring. This is old-school culinary art, gathered by Dalí from Parisian fine dining establishments. Les Dîners de Gala is at once a work of art, a cookbook, and a multisensory adventure.