Temptation of Food: Gluttons or Gourmets?

Throughout history, people's attitudes towards food and gluttony have varied, and being overweight was not only not condemned but was also considered a sign of health, evoking dreams of exquisite food and stirring the imagination. One of the seven deadly sins and the very first temptation opposing the abstinence of medieval monks, gluttony over time became a bodily expression of gourmets and even a criterion of female beauty. But should we understand indulgence as something the Church and rules of good manners condemned since the Middle Ages? Or as an art of exquisite food, cultivated in leisure by noble gourmets? As a natural children's craving for sweets? Or even a universe of treats and pastries? French historian Florence Kelley delves into the past and provides an overview of the history of food, its culture, and its reflection in art, offering the reader a comprehensive view of the subject of gluttony.