SAVORY SURREALISM

A mind-melting glimpse of French fine dining through the lens of Dalí.

Spanish painter Salvador Dalí is, of course, best known for his melting clocks and eerie landscapes. Almost as notorious were the theatrical dinner parties he co-hosted in the 1940s with his wife, Gala. Celebrities and intellectuals flocked to the fêtes, donning over-the-top looks to mingle with free-roaming wild animals and enjoy the likes of Frog Pasties, Thousand-Year-Old Eggs, and Bush of Crayfish in Viking Herbs.

Recipes for those and 133 other decadent dishes were published in a fantastical 1973 cookbook, Les Dîners de Gala. Authored and illustrated by Dalí himself, the book was long out of print and wildly collectible until a Taschen’s reissue gave everyone a seat at the table.

Les Dîners de Gala—a nod to his wife that cleverly translates “dinners for special occasions”—may not inspire you to entertain on Dalí’s scale. But it will surely captivate and amaze. “Les Dîners de Gala is uniquely devoted to the pleasures of taste,” says Dalí. “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.”

The dozen intriguingly named chapters include Deoxyribonucleic Atavism (for vegetables) and ‘I Eat Gala’ (aphrodisiacs, what else?). As for Dalí’s toast topped with lamb brains? Lovely, but we’ll stick with avocado.

The Details: Stop by the TASCHEN Library at The Joule to pick up a copy ($60) and get cooking.