The term, ‘gourmandism’ is used by Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in his impressive La Physiologie du Goût (The Physiology of Taste, first published in 1825. He discuses the meanings and implications of the term at length. He writes:

‘Gourmandism is an impassioned, reasoned, and habitual preference for everything which satisfies the organ of taste. Gourmandism is the enemy of excess; indigestion and drunkenness are offenses which render the offender liable to be struck off the rolls. Gourmandism includes friandise, which is simply the same preference applied to light, delicate, and insubstantial food, such as preserves and pastry [...] From whatever point of view gourmandism is considered, it deserves nothing but praise and encouragement.’

In chapter 12, ‘On Gourmands’, in the section, ‘Not Everyone can be a Gourmand’, he expands:

‘There are some individuals to whom Nature has denied either the organic delicacy or the power of concentration without which the tastiest dishes go unappreciated. Physiology has already recognised the first of these two classes, and has shown that certain tongues are ill equipped with the papillae whose function it is to absorb and appreciate savours. They can convey to their unfortunate owners noting but a dull sensation, and are to savours what blind eyes are to light. The second class is made up of the absent-minded, the garrulous, the busybodies, the ambitious, and others who try to do two things at once, and only eat to fill their bellies.’

These individuals, Brillat-Savarin claims, ‘do not deserve to have treasures lavished on them, the worth of which they cannot appreciate’. To avoid those ‘whose claim to the honours of gourmandism is more insistent than justified consists in their dull-eyed and phlegmatic appearance when surrounded by good cheer’,  he recommends the application of ‘gastronomical tests’ to prospective dinner guests or companions, for he argues, ‘[...] however exquisite the food, and however sumptuous the accessories, there will be no pleasures of the table if the wine is bad, the guests collected haphazardly, their faces gloomy, and the meal eaten in haste.’

Bon appetite.