In one word, extravagant. The dishes themselves are extravagant, not just in the effort and cooking times (often four hours or more), but in the buckets of cream, wads of butter, and the numbers of different meats in most dishes. As a vegetarian, I'll take "meat" to include fish and fowl, but many recipes have four or more, and few have less than two. Note that "meat" also includes tripe, brains, calves' heads and other exotica. I suspect a few of these recipes to be surrealist fantasies that could never be realized in our universe, but all are presented as actual possibilities. Then there's the extravagance of Dali's artwork, from scribbled drawings or lithos to finely finished oil paintings, plus a fair few photos of The Man and The Mustache in front of various laden tables. Not just extravagant in manner, but in quantity, the imagery pulls one's imagination past the extremes reached by the recipes. Photos, allegedly of actual preparations of recipes, festoon this book extravagantly, as well, As food photography goes, these dishes scale the heights of sensual excess, food porn at its finest. Then, the printer chose extravagant color saturation and contrast in every image. The pictures come alive as riots of color even before you can parse them as something supposedly to be eaten, and leave your retinas ringing after you turn the page. When I says "supposedly" to be eaten, I mean regrettable combinations assembled on princely budgets. Even if these recipes were meant as genuine luxuries in their day, a modern eye can read them as extravagant parodies of anything you might try - or at least, try more than once. The final extravagance I observe is the quietest and most appreciated. Taschen applies their habitual excellence to this volume, with quality printing (except maybe for colors like Crayola on crystal meth), heavy, opaque paper, and sturdy binding. Content aside, the book is a sturdy and well made artifact, Certainly not the first book I'd suggest to readers new to Dali, this makes a remarkable addition to his canon. -- wiredweird Read more
The first one arrived damaged so I had to have it replaced. The stock isnt very good so it took a while until I received it again. The book is very fun, interesting and beautiful but the recipes are more of a novelty rather than practicality. It looks great but most of the recipes aren't possible to make at home. This is less of a cook book rather than an art book for the coffee table. Read more
My mother had the original First French Edition of this book which was published in 1973. As a teenager it could usually be found in my room. I was already a big Dalí Fan then. I was delighted when Taschen reissued this book, this time translated into English. This lavishly illustrated cookbook presents all 136 recipes of the original in 12 chapters, specially illustrated by Dalí. The sections include: exotic dishes, eggs - seafood, first course, meats, snails - frogs, fish - shellfish, game - poultry, pork, vegetables, aphrodisiacs, sweets - deserts and hors d'oeuvres. The recipes are from top Paris Restaurants such as Lasserre, La Tour d’Argent, Maxim’s, and Le Train Bleu. Dali and Gala were known as extravagant connoisseurs. As far as I can tell these are all real recipes. The only one I ever tried was No.54 "Snails á la Chablisienne". The recipe calls for 100 snails, I reduced this to 12. Many of the other recipes are not really doable because of complexity, difficulty in finding the ingredients and probably also the difficulty in finding willing dinner guests to eat "Frog Cream", "Pig Feet in flaky pie crusts" and "Salsifies with quenelles". Illustrations consist of photographs of the dishes and table settings which are mostly ok and paintings and drawings by Dalí. Some I've seen before others not. There are also some photographs of menus. The book was printed in Italy and is very well illustrated. The reproductions are good, but the quality is not as good as the original, nor is the paper. One word of caution. The cover of the original was kind of metallic golden foil. This new edition is done in a shiny thick paper replicating the original gold cover. Both the new and the old cover are vulnerable to marking, scratching and damage. I would suggest if you're going to read the book, possibly slide it around a table or carry it around, to take the cover off while in use. Underneath the cover is cloth binding which features the painting "Autumnal Cannibalism" from 1936. Last word by Dalí himself on the book: “Les diners de Gala is uniquely devoted to the pleasures of taste … 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.”—Salvador Dalí Review by Walter O. Koenig Read more
Although we have yet to actually make a recipe from this book, I am so glad I got this for my girlfriend. She is a big Dali fan. The quality of the book is fantastic. The artwork in the book alone is worth owning, but the fact that it has some of his personal recipes is a super neat touch. It's a good looking book (the cover art). Shipping was quick considering the pandemic issues that some have faced, and it was sufficiently packaged. If you're on the fence about this, as long as you or your friend is a big Dali fan, just go ahead and buy it. They (or you) will love it! Read more
More a great decorative piece than a cookbook, at least in my home. Beautiful binding, vivid photos and editorial layout inside. The actual content is... almost laughably pretentious (A Monarchy of Intelligence, "The elegant anatomy of a naked woodcock, laid out upon a dish attains, one could say, the proportions of the highest raphaelites perfection." [omg, eye-roll].) Still, super interesting nonetheless. If you're like me, you'd want it for the art and as a cool coffee table book versus a gastronomical reference. (I definitely do not see myself making any of these recipes--not buying 1 oz of caviar per person and 24 quail eggs anytime soon.) Would make a great gift for art and/or food lovers, though. Arrived promptly and perfectly in tact. Read more
