"anything that smells very bad is per se very good to eat"
Typed letter signed ("N. B. Sauvé").
4to. 1 p.
€ 300.00
To Cleophus Griffin, the chef of New York Explorer's Club, who was preparing a book of interesting recipes encountered by explorers on their travels: "Although I have encountered some pretty strange things in the eating line at various times, it seems to me that in the Far East, especially, the philosophy appears to be that anything that smells very bad is per se very good to eat. I am sorry, but I don't believe I am particularly qualified to give you any worthwhile recipe [...]". Sauvé does, however, recount the story of gastronomic misfortunes encountered on an expedition to Colombia, where all labels on the cans were destroyed.
A native of Denver, Colorado, Sauvé joined the Standard Vacuum Oil Co. in 1934 and explored for oil in North and South America, Sumatra, Australia, and Indonesia. He retired in 1960 to join an Australian oil drilling concern as a director. Extensive memoirs and other material from Sauvé's war service in the East, in which he served Military Intelligence in the rank of colonel, are preserved at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center at Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Known for his recipes made with exotic meat such as boa constrictor, monkey, polar bear, flying fox, and iguana, Cleophus Griffin served as chef of New York Explorer's Club for more than 20 years. He would create and cook these recipes mostly for the Club's annual dinner, with the meat provided by the club members. The book for which this contribution was intended never materialized.
Traces of folding.
