Food And Drink

"I have been spending a small fortune in durians, they are relatively cheap and very good this season in Singapore. Like all the good things in Nature--tempests, breakers, sunsets, &c. durian is indescribable. It is meat and drink and an unrivalled delicacy besides, and you may gorge to repletion and never have cause for penitence. It is the one case where Nature has tried her hand at the culinary art and beaten all the CORDON BLEUE out of heaven and earth. Would to Heaven she had been more lavish of her essays! "Though all durians are, perhaps, much alike and not divided like apples and mangoes into varieties, the flavour varies much according to size and ripeness. In some the taste of the custard surrounding the heart-like seeds rises almost to the height of passion, rapture, or mild delirium. Yesterday (21st June, 1907) about 2 p.m. I devoured the contents of a fruit weighing over 10 lb. At 6 p.m. I was too sleepy to eat anything, and thence had twelve hours of almost unbroken slumber."

"For example, imagine part of a review of literature on the theological significance (tongue-in-cheek, of course) of the durian, that Asian fruit that has only lovers and haters: "Professor Adriel Sandoval, in agreement with Yeng Ka Seng and Komarno, states that durian will be the fruit of the tree of life. (References tor all three) Sandoval goes so far as to suggest that only the durian could have been tempting enough to Adam and Eve to cause them to disobey God's instructions, (Reference) In clear opposition to his position is that of Vasince Suvonapong, who claims that durian came into being only after the fall, once decay and decomposition had set in. (Reference)""

"One day when I was practicing chanting in my temple in Vietnam, there was a durian on the altar that had been offered to the Buddha. I was trying to recite the Lotus Sutra, using a wooden drum and a large bowl-shaped bell for accompaniment, but I could not concentrate at all. I finally carried the bell to the altar and turned it upside down to imprison the durian, so I could chant the sutra. After I finished, I bowed to the Buddha and liberated the durian. If you were to say to me, "Thây, I love you so much I would like you to eat some of this durian," I would suffer. You love me, you want me to be happy, but you force me to eat durian. That is an example of love without understanding. Your intention is good, but you don't have the correct understanding."

"There was a great abundance and variety of tropical fruits, but the dorian was never in evidence. It was never the season for the dorian. It was always going to arrive from Burma sometime or other, but it never did. By all accounts it was a most strange fruit, and incomparably delicious to the taste, but not to the smell. Its rind was said to exude a stench of so atrocious a nature that when a dorian was in the room even the presence of a polecat was a refreshment. We found many who had eaten the dorian, and they all spoke of it with a sort of rapture. They said that if you could hold your nose until the fruit was in your mouth a sacred joy would suffuse you from head to foot that would make you oblivious to the smell of the rind, but that if your grip slipped and you caught the smell of the rind before the fruit was in your mouth, you would faint. There is a fortune in that rind. Some day somebody will import it into Europe and sell it for cheese."

"Love, biochemically no different than consuming large quantities of chocolate."

"Asking someone whether they prefer 60%, 70% or 80% chocolate is like asking them whether they prefer a wine with 10 or 12% alcohol."

"I am pursued by chocolate... I can’t remember having ever lived without it... it’s part of me. When I read a book I eat chocolate, when I go to the movies, I eat chocolate, when I travel I eat chocolate. I keep chocolate hidden in a special place at home and it happens that sometimes I share it, but only with my sisters. Chocolate is a drug and a mystery you shouldn’t try too hard to solve."

"So why did Montezuma give his guest,"

"Today I had some Spanish chocolate and it tasted so good that I felt as though I were in heaven."

"In the warmth of his mouth, the chocolate explodes into glorious peppery chocolate yum. For a second he closes his eyes against the delicious darkness, all his senses receding into sensation of pure bliss dancing on his tongue."

"Eat your chocolates, little girl, Eat your chocolates! Believe me, there's no metaphysics on earth like chocolates."

"Well, folks, it looks like we're up chocolate creek without a popsicle stick."

"Augustus: I'm Augustus Gloop. I love your chocolate. Willy Wonka: I can see that."

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

"The only thing that keeps me going ... is a good cup of freshly ground coffee. There's nothing to beat it! But for my coffee I'd have been dead long ago. And old woman alone. Pssss!"

"No "food drink" has ever encountered so much opposition as coffee. ...During the thousand years of its development it has experienced fierce political opposition, stupid fiscal restrictions, unjust taxes, irksome duties; but, surviving all of these, it has triumphantly moved on to a foremost place in the catalog of popular beverages."

"It has been acclaimed "the most grateful lubricant known to the human machine," and "the most delightful taste in all nature.""

"Coffee is universal in its appeal. All nations do it homage. ...It is ...a corollary of human energy and human efficiency. People love coffee because of its two-fold effect—the pleasurable sensation and the increased efficiency it produces."

"Civilization in its onward march has produced only three important non-alcoholic beverages—the extract of the tea plant, the extract of the cocoa bean, and the extract of the coffee bean."

"My experience... leads me to the belief that two-thirds of the lovers of coffee are, from lack of knowledge, daily cheated out of the solid enjoyment of an ideal cup of coffee. ...It is ...my design to try and point out how dealers may select and furnish, and how consumers may prepare coffee which will satisfy the critical palate."

"The story has been told of an Indian chief who, dressed in a robe of great beauty, came in contact with a trader, who tried every means to secure the coveted garment. At last the meeting terminated with the accustomed treat of coffee. The chief was one of the first to gratify his palate with the beverage. It seemed as if his spirits had been roused by some unseen power. He pressed eagerly for more, and, delighted at receiving a second supply, he threw upon the trader, as an expression of his joy, the magnificent robe that money could not purchase. Similar experiences attended the introduction of coffee into all the countries where it is consumed..."

"[C]offee was designed for man's sustenance and happiness as much as the golden grain, or the delicious fruits of mother earth."

"There are... conditions both in the selection and preparation of the bean which apply equally to all varieties, and which, if observed, will add greatly to the satisfaction of lovers of coffee."

"I began by investigating the mysteries of the kitchen; and this led to an examination into the different ways of making the beverage, including the use of many patent coffee-pots; the degree of fineness to which the coffee should be ground; the method and extent of roasting; the deterioration in quality after roasting; the best receptacle for the preservation of the aroma; and finally... a study of the varieties and qualities producing the best results. ...I have had an opportunity to verify impressions ...formed by observations made in some of the principal coffee producing and consuming countries."

"At a majority of breakfast tables, "if the coffee is good everything is good," a fact so significant in itself that no other argument is needed..."

"“‘Morning, Sam,” the coffee boy said. “How about some coffee?” “‘Morning, Herb,” I said. “That’s the first intelligent remark I’ve heard in some time.”"

"“Right,” Holden said. “No coffee. This is a terrible, terrible planet.”"

"I mentioned the caffeine. I should also note that if coffee does not prevent or inhibit sleep, it will stimulate dream projections, and also aid you in bringing the critical faculties into the dream state."

"A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems."

"Coffee was only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to your slightly older self."

"She wasn’t certain what the future held, but coffee would be involved if she had any say in the matter."

"Coffee, which makes the politician wise And see through all things with his half-shut eyes..."

"I think if we see dropping prices, [they] are going to be modest."

"Coffee is a drink for grownups. No kid ever likes coffee. It’s psychoactive. Coffee is the drug of memory. I can remember the great cups of coffee of my life; the places, the faces, the words spoken. It never quite tastes the way it smells. If it did, we would drink it until our heads exploded with memory."

"Coffee futures are up over 60% this year to $3.18 per pound, the highest level since 1977"

"Way too much coffee. But if it weren't for the coffee, I'd have no identifiable personality whatsoever."

"The influence of coffee in stimulating the genital organs is notorious."

"Coffee: the finest organic suspension ever devised. It's got me through the worst of the last three years. I beat the Borg with it."

"Coffee reached Western Europe in the third quarter of the seventeenth century, brought by mariners who had acquired a taste for it in the . It was first established at seaports, but spread rapidly to major cities inland. Considered a dangerous stimulant, it was closely monitored by municipal and royal authorities who licensed and taxed its use. They also worried about its association with those citizens who made the new coffee houses into social and political gathering places. Already in 1675, Charles II of England tried to close down the coffee houses as places of sedition (popular pressure made him desist, however), and for the next two centuries they were frequently subjected to government surveillance and suppression. In Paris... [b]y the middle of the eighteenth century the café-tavern and café-restaurant were firmly embedded... Over the next hundred years they increased in both numbers and variety... Because tobacco and alcohol... were consumed in the cafés, and because a number of them became singing clubs... [c]offee, alcohol, and song were regarded as attributes of political opposition, so one of Louis Napoleon's first decrees (29 December 1851) put cafés under direct governmental authority and placed an outright ban on group singing in cafés; thousands were closed... Despite police surveilance, cafés generally prospered during the Second Empire. They took on new forms that are familiar to us from the lives of famous writers and impressionist painters."

"The voodoo priest and all his powers were as nothing compared to espresso, cappuccino, and mocha, which are stronger than all the religions of the world combined, and perhaps stronger than the human soul itself."

"Coffee comes in five descending stages: Coffee, Java, Jamoke, Joe, and Carbon Remover."

"To my mother, pouring the morning coffee was a secret ritual—irrigating the garden, she called it."

"“I brought coffee.” “Dinar of Prinagos has just won my unqualified support against the perfidious White Bragenmeres under any circumstances, at any time, in thought, word, deed, spell, and incantation.”"

"There was coffee. Life would go on."

"It is disgusting to notice the increase in the quantity of coffee used by my subjects, and the amount of money that goes out of the country as a consequence. Everybody is using coffee; this must be prevented. His Majesty was brought up on beer, and so were both his ancestors and officers. Many battles have been fought and won by soldiers nourished on beer, and the King does not believe that coffee-drinking soldiers can be relied upon to endure hardships in case of another war."

"For a writer, it's more essential than food."

"Never drink black coffee at lunch; it will keep you awake in the afternoon."

"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons (...)"

"Grief, joy and coffee have much the same effect upon the eyelids."

"The coffee, when he tried it, was strong almost to the point of being unbearable, but not quite. In short, it was divine."