Autobiography of a Demi-god

Feeling himself to have been misrepresented by history, the wine-god has retired to Tuscany to write his memoirs. This book is therefore his book and presents his personal view of the world, recounted with the detachment of an old man looking back on events of his life. By way of illustrations there are recipes, whose ingredients Bacchus associates with the various topics under discussion and whose method of preparation reflect the culinary practices of the relevant ages.

Each chapter begins with a poetic vignette (original meaning: a design of vine-leaves and tendrils) whilst among the numbered sketches of which it is composed, there are the starters, main courses and deserts of a historical meal.

 

Chapter 1 [1-6]

Bacchus' wine cellar, the Etruscans, hepadoptry, haggis, birth, Arrosto di Angello Etrusco, childhood and the invention of wine. Castagnaccio Toscano.

 

Chapter 2 [7-11]

The origins of the Etruscans, the births of Tages and Hercules, Etruscan Lore and wine, Cariofi in Umido, the Bacchanalian scandals, Bemraphye con Finocchio, Lightening, Prometheus' theft and punishment, betrothal to Ariadne, Nozze di Ariadne.

 

Chapter 3 [12-21]

Women and wine in the Ancient world, the fall of Veii, the legendry thirst of Rome, Tartuffo al Vino, Roman wine and wine-making techniques, Arrosto di Lepre, the quest for sweetness and the attendant lead in Roman wine, wine and hepadoptry, Pera Apicuis.

 

Chapter 4 [22-28]

Greek symposiums, Olive in Salamoia, sacrifices, dreams, prophesy and the liver, Fegato all Apicius, the Orphic heresy, the birth of Zeus and the survival of the Etruscan soothsayer until the 4th century AD, Pelanos.

 

Chapter 5 [29-40]

The creation, decadence in Ancient Rome and Augustus' measures against it, Cotechino del Mirto, Christianity, the first sacrifices, on death and rebirth, Medieval wine, the goddess Hecate, the Renaissance and its wine, Limonia, Renaissance Neoplatonism, Codognato, the Mysteries at Eleusis.

 

Chapter 6 [41-50]

Chianti, the pastoral tradition in poetry, Roman and Renaissance methods of farming, Neoplatonic theory and hepadoptry, Bianco Mangiare, Roman and Renaissance Banquets, Terrina Blanchiere con Animella, Polpetta e tartuffo, Zeus' cleansing of the heavens, Picza Figliata, the Renaissance magnus and methods of union with a diety.

 

Chapter 7 [51-59]

Hepadoptry and the fall of Ophion, Renaissance eating habits, Tortelloni di Zucca, the art of memory, Anguilla in Umido, Giordano Bruno, a definition of consciousness, the popularity of Eastern cults in Ancient Rome, the goddess Isis, Panforte Isis, Lucius Apuleius.

 

Chapter 8 [60-67]

The dating of the 'Corpus Hermeticum', the Florentine lethargy of the 17th C., the art of memory adapted to science, Salmagundi, tarot, hepadoptry and the art of memory, the invasion of the new crops, the invention of the pie, Torta Francesca di Fagiano, a history of farming in Tuscany during the 17th and 18th centuries, the salmagundi, Crostata Frangipani.

 

Chapter 9 [68-76]

The impossibility of marrying Ariadne, sexuality in Ancient Greece, Zuppa di Ostrica, the sexual attitudes and tyranny implicit in science, the passing of the age of innocence, the rites of Cybele and repentance, Salmone al Champagne, Champagne, Bavarios alla Crema, the rites of Demeter.

 

Chapter 10 [77-86]

19th C. cooking in France, on Tartatus and death, Chartreuse di Pernice, Etruscan burial practices, the rediscovery of the Etruscans, Caneton Rouenais à la Presse, the bronze liver of Piacenza, the crises of oidium, phylloxera and mildew, Baron Bettino Ricasoldi and Chianti, Pesca Melba, Canton Rouenais à la Presse.

 

Chapter 11 [87-98]

Isis and Osiris in Ancient Egypt, olive oil, the rites of the Hersephonia and Bouphonia in Athens, olive growing, the birth of Athene and Zeus' method of maintaining his title of Ruler of the Gods, the bronze liver of Piacenza and the current age, Bacchus signs off.

---

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | References | Bacchus Table of Contents