Publications
Partners
While the Sun King (France's King Louis XIV) is rumoured to have eaten around 60 to 90 dishes over the course of a day and died with a stomach two times the size of a normal man (incongruously, his reign was known for the starvation he inflicted on his people), it would seem that the concept of opulence, and that terrible word, luxury, may be morphing into something new - something better, more palatable.
While El Bulli's fabled 32-course tasting menu resembled the height of luxury and sophistication in its heyday, this new generation is obsessed with health, youth and sustainability. And who can blame them? Gluttony is fun for a while, before it becomes more of a marathon challenge, which, on completion, can leave you with a whole host a maladies: indigestion, fatigue, nausea, weight-gain, insomnia… it only gets more graphic from there.
The same goes for alcohol consumption, of which the pitfalls of overindulgence have been widely documented. Thoughtful, informed consumption of food and drink has become a science, as more and more studies have proven the adverse effects of a variety of things: sugar, dairy, gluten, fat, carbohydrates, alcohol… but, as my grandmother would always say, fixing me with a stern eye when I asked for another glass of wine: "Everything in moderation." [but in Afrikaans: "Onthou, matigheid voor oë!"]
