Gourmand Quotes

“I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti”
― Thomas Harris, The Silence of the Lambs

“De toutes les passions, la seule vraiment respectable me paraît être la gourmandise.”
― Guy de Maupassant

“I took my time at the till, allowing the scent of my new batch of chocolate to filter through from the kitchen. Freshly ground Criollo beans; a dash of black pepper; a pinch of salt; then tamarind, vanilla and a generous measure of Armagnac.”
― Joanne Harris, The Strawberry Thief

“Fine food is poison. It can be as bitter as antimony and bitter almonds and as repulsive as swallowing live toads. Like the poison the emperor took every day to stop himself being poisoned, fine food must be taken daily until the system becomes immune to its ravages and the taste buds beaten and abused to the point where they not only accept but savour every vile concoction under the sun.”
― Lisa St. Aubin de Teran, The Palace

“In the rather informal survey I have taken over the years on intensity of interest in food by profession, lawyers rank only a few trades below concert pianists....”
― Calvin Trillin, The Tummy Trilogy: American Fried; Alice, Let's Eat; Third Helpings

“Jeu de Paume. C'est un petit gout, he'd said. A little taste. The hostel knew Marguerite was a gourmand; he saw the treasures she brought home each night from the boulangerie, the fromagerie, and the green market. Bread, cheese, figs: She ate every night sitting on the floor of her shared room. She was in Paris for the food, not the art, though Marguerite had always loved Renoir and this painting in particular appealed to her. She was attracted to Renoir's women, their beauty, their plump and rosy good health; this painting was alive. The umbrellas- les parapluies- gave the scene a jaunty, festive quality, almost celebratory, as people hoisted them into the air.
It's charming, Marguerite said.
A feast for the eyes, Porter said.”
― Elin Hilderbrand, The Love Season

“My Easter smells are the cinnamon and mixed spices in the hot cross buns, and the rosemary and mint sauce with the roast lamb. The grassy tang of rhubarb and real muddy wet grass from the egg rolling. And of course, lots and lots of milk chocolate.


My scents for Easter are:

Angel by Thierry Mugler
Anima Dulcis by Arquiste
Musc Maori by Parfumerie Générale
Blue North by Agonist
Opium by Yves Saint Laurent
English Pear & Freesia by Jo Malone London
La Tulipe by Byredo”
― Maggie Alderson, The Scent of You

“Polly laughed to think how outraged Lucas would be that she'd chosen one of Britney Spears's perfumes to represent him, but the name- Rocker Femme- and the sweet gourmand mix was just perfect for him. It opened with blackberry liqueur and coconut cream, which made her think of one of his horrible biscuits...”
― Maggie Alderson, The Scent of You

“The food itself had been spectacular, starting with rich circlets of foie gras laid out on slabs of ice arranged down the center of the mile-long table. An endless procession of courses had struck perfect chords of salt, butter, smokiness, and richness.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Chasing Cassandra

“His eyes darted around the hallway, across the woven blue rug and up to the framed photos of baguettes and cheese wedges that covered the walls. His skin warmed from the heat coming out of the nearby kitchen. The smell of butter and cream mingled together like the tastiest candle you could ever light. He'd never had the food at Lyon, but he already knew what he was missing.”
― Erin La Rosa, For Butter or Worse

“When they heard that someone was full figured and liked cooking & eating, most men imagined someone who was quiet and domestic; someone whose interior life would not surpass their own. But did that reasoning really hold up? Eating was fundamentally an individual and egoistic compulsion... a gourmand was ultimately a seeker of the truth. You could wrap up their mission in all kinds of fancy language, but it was simply confronting their desires day in and day out. As you learn to cook, you become increasingly able to shut out the outside world and create a fortress within your own spirit. You hunted down your prey using fire and blade to fashion them down into the form you desired... it takes a deathly earnestness to remain faithful to your desires at all times.”
― Asako Yuzuki