D'Annunzio, food and eros: refined delicacies and sumptuous settings as tools of seduction.
[Dining with D’Annunzio] It takes a bit of imagination to think of Gabriele D’Annunzio, that champion of the myth of lack of appetite, in keeping with his image as a prophet and superman, sitting down to a healthy repast.
Actually he was perfectly aware of the close link between food and eros. He knew the rules of the game, learned the rituals and recipes of Roman nobility, enjoyed the stimulating atmosphere of sumptuous meals, richly decorated, featuring light, appetizing foods, as well as enormous boxes of chocolates and marrons-glacés to spoil his women.
These facts and more can be gleaned from the texts in this volume, many never published before, that fully debunk the legend of a D’Annunzio above such mundane pleasures. Here we see him as a man with rather finicky tastes, but also as a refined connoisseur of food, its preparation and presentation, and a host who paid almost maniacal attention to the setting of the table and the choice of delicacies for his guests.