Dali Created An Erotic Cookbook
Why didn’t Bunuel make a movie version? In 1973, Salvador Dali created a colorful cookbook entitled “Les Diners de Gala,” lavishly illustrated by the surrealist master himself. If you’re expecting a classic survey of healthy American eats, however, you best look elsewhere — somewhere far, far away for that matter. Dali’s compendium is divided into 12 chapters, each discussing a specific variety of foods, from shellfish to aphrodisiacs. The book is an overflowing ode to sipping, nipping and swallowing, a delightfully erotic take on supper time. Dali’s preface, which can be found on Brain Pickings, details his aims in creating the treatise on taste and pleasure. Dieters, be warned: “We would like to state clearly that, beginning with the very first recipes, “Les Diners de Gala,” with its precepts and its illustrations, is uniquely devoted to the pleasures of Taste. Don’t look for dietetic formulas here. We intend to ignore those charts and tables in which chemistry takes the place of gastronomy. If you are a disciple of one of those calorie-counters who turn the joys of eating into a form of punishment, close this book at once; it is too lively, too aggressive, and far too impertinent for you.”
