The Grand Curnonsky, the Prince of Gastronomy: A Man of Letters Who Loved Good Food

Waverly Root, James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child and Elizabeth David, among many other passionate epicures, owe their enduring legacy as culinary writers and adventurers to Maurice Edmond Sailland. Better known by his sobriquet, Curnonsky, he was the first gastronome to link regional cooking and travel. Decades before Anthony Bourdain’s award-winning television show “A Cook’s Tour” and “No Reservations,” Curnonsky traveled the four corners of France from 1921 to 1930, celebrating la cuisine du terroir, country cooking.