Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s dark scenes of Parisian cafes and nightclubs convey the impression of a man in pursuit of a life of pleasure, but to truly understand his dissolute lifestyle one must first read Culinary artIt’s an invigorating cookbook, published in limited edition by the artist’s longtime friend, art dealer Maurice Joyant, shortly after his death in 1901 at the age of 36.
The book, a collection of recipes jointly developed or collected by Toulouse-Lautrec and Joyant, reveals the artist as a lifelong gourmet: “His studio was not only a place of work but also a bar, well-stocked enough to offer his visitors ‘an endless variety of cocktails,'” scholars Philippe Huisman and MG Dortoux wrote in the preface to the 1966 reprint. They add that these drinks were “essential for the artist to properly appreciate his paintings.”
Cover of the 1966 edition of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Maurice Joyant Culinary artPhoto by Holt Rinehart Winston.
In fact, creating artwork and preparing a feast seem to have been equally important to the painter and illustrator: Toulouse-Lautrec produced paintings and prints of menus (some of which were included in a book reprinted in 1995), and sometimes combined art and cooking in acts that could be described as performance art. Avant la letter.
The artist Édouard Vuillard recalled that at one dinner Toulouse-Lautrec hosted in his apartment in the French capital, Lautrec took his guests for a short walk after the cheese course. On arriving at the home of a musician friend, he showed them a painting by Edgar Degas from the Louvre and said, “This is what we have for dessert.” On another occasion, he attempted to prepare one of his specialties, lobster à l’américaine (a live lobster butchered), in a friend’s drawing room (the friend quickly covered the furniture).
Many of the recipes in the book would seem arcane, even bizarre, to a modern reader. A stewed eel dish calls for quails “from a clear, swift-flowing river.” A recipe for “quails in ashes” begins with the sentence, “After killing a fat quail in late September or early October, pluck the feathers and empty the insides.” Another recipe calls for leaving a 19-pound leg from a 300-pound wild boar “out in the winter air for three days.”Canal au SaintThe author points out that “duck cakes,” a specialty of the New York Grill, are made during the spring regatta “and must be made and eaten within two hours of the death of the suffocated duck.” Even more accessible to amateur chefs is “the convent serpent,” a cake that uses almonds instead of scales.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec enjoying a nap, circa 1895. Photographed by Alfred Nathanson, circa 1895. Photo: Apic/Getty Images.
This tome was “written at a time when recipe books were fun but rather imprecise,” food writer Barbara Kafka points out in the introduction. “Instructions were irregular, measurements widely vague.” For those of us lacking the knowledge of an aspiring 19th-century home cook, Kafka thankfully provides precise measurements in some cases. For example, to make Toulouse-Lautrec and Joyan’s strong rum punch, she advises using 4 cups water, 4 pounds sugar, 10 cups rum, and 2 cups tea. (Thanks!)
Toulouse-Lautrec’s infamous “Earthquake Cocktail” isn’t in the book, but it’s easy to mix: just fill a goblet with half absinthe and half cognac. He was a notorious alcoholic. But he clearly tried to make the most of life, was eager to entertain his friends, and learned to taste (and recreate) all kinds of unusual delicacies. Pleasure was at the heart of his creative endeavors. (It’s hard to trust an artist who disagrees.) “He always carried a small grater and nutmeg with him to flavor the glass of port he was drinking,” recalled poet Paul Leclerc. (It’s hard to believe that some enterprising hipster hasn’t revived the habit, at least as far as I know.)
Toulouse-Lautrec and Joyant clearly enjoyed gastronomic pursuits and luxury, but they weren’t too self-conscious about it. Their book ends with “Ancient Recipes,” gently mocking their never-ending quest. The recipes, they explain, are “full of mystery”; “They can never be revealed. God only revealed the knowledge to the Prophet, who never spoke about it.”
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