the worst thing that the Russians did in Europe
was to introduce (to the aristocrats of France,
mid-18th century) the Chinese tradition
of serving meals in courses,
where, before, élites in Europe followed
the Middle Eastern tradition of mezze,
all dishes served together, to be sampled as one chooses
- the most rational, sympathetic
and accommodating way to eat.
Have the arts of Russia (Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Schnittke,
Rachmaninov, Kustodiev, etc.) purged that sin ?
Not quite.
No comments:
Post a Comment