Salvador Dali is well known as a surrealist master and all-around eccentric. His absurdist paintings, which often depicted objects and scenarios using fragmented and distorted imagery, were a representation of the movement’s goal to liberate thought and human experience.
Despite his obvious artistic mastery, however, Dali started out wanting to be a chef.
As young as age 6, the eccentric artist expressed a desire to be a chef. Although he didn’t pursue this goal, he did write a cookbook in 1973, titled Les Diners de Gala . It translates to “Gala’s Dinners,” and is a direct reference to the legendarily opulent dinner parties he would throw with his wife, Gala.
Until 2016, only 400 issues of the cookbook remained, and they were priced in the hundreds of dollars.
But renowned art book publisher Taschen reissued the surrealist cookbook for fans of Dali and inventive food, alike.
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The cookbook is as eccentric as can be imagined.
Comprising 136 recipes divided into 12 chapters — one of which is dedicated to aphrodisiacs — dishes are unsurprisingly wacky, and include “Frog Pasties,” “Thousand Year Old Eggs,” “Larded Meat a la Mode,” and “Veal Cutlets Stuffed with Snails.”
What’s more, the book is also filled with equally absurdist illustrations and paintings by the artist.
His goal was to indulge the palate with a multitude of flavors.
As a result, he writes at the outset of the book, these recipes are not for the calorie conscious:
“We would like to state clearly that, beginning with the very first recipes, Les Diners de Gala , with its precepts and its illustrations, is uniquely devoted to the pleasures of Taste. Don’t look for dietetic formulas here.”
Now, the only thing left to do is put on your most outlandish costume and throw a Dali dinner party.
How fun would it be to throw an opulent dinner party, much like Dali did with Gala, complete with guests dressed in their wackiest costumes? Maybe the free-roaming wild animals can be optional.
