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History
of the International Wine and Food Society
The
Beginnings
- 1933-1947
The
Wine and Food Society, later the International Wine and Food Society, was
founded in London, England, by André Simon in 1933.
He set the official date as October 20, and plans for the first
event were made over dinner at the home of The Dowager Lady Swaythling in
Kensigton Court on October 31. In
attendance with André and
his wife was AJA Symons, the Society's cofounder and first Secretary.
In January 1934, a Society banquet for nearly 400 people was held
at the Savoy in London, launching from a small nucleus an international
organization which burgeoned to proportions that even André
initially could not have imagined.
At
that time, the Society was the world's only association of gastronomic
enthusiasts not associated commercially with the wine and food trade.
Today, there are hundreds of organizations that fit this category,
but the International Wine and Food Society remains the most prestigious,
most widespread, independent gastronomic society in the world.
The
very thought of a society for wine and food was, in the early 1930s, a
bold idea indeed. That period
was not a propitious time in which to start an international association
of gastronomes. Nazi
Propaganda Minister Goering spoke of "guns before butter",
children were being told that nasty tasting food was good for them, and
anything that smacked of extravagance was distinctly unfashionable.
André rose to the occasion. Although some considered him an
eccentric, he espoused a philosophy that worked during that era of
austerity and has continued to appeal since.
He urged high culinary standards while deploring waste, declaring
it criminal to ruin valuable foodstuffs by bad preparation.
He believed that quality could and should be maintained while
adjusting to restraints impose by the economic circumstances of the day -
with dispensation, of course, for the occasional special feast.
His
position was always one of moderation and simplification.
Although he was brought up in a period of long, elaborate meals, he
eschewed the proliferation of complex dishes, preferring a restrained
sequence of wines to accompany a limited number of courses.
He took his aperitifs (champagne if at all possible) without hors
d'oeuvres. A proper dinner,
he insisted, should begin with soup, and the fish to follow required only
the most basic preparation. He
served lesser wines at the beginning and reserved the mature, noble ones
for the main course and the cheese. He
enjoyed sauternes with dessert, and cognac - or more often port -
afterward. He was able to adapt to simpler fare with facility, indeed
with approval, and it was always quality, not quantity, that mattered.
While
his philosophical outlook made him well suited to the times, it was surely
the sheer power of his personality that forged and sustained the Society
in those early years. His
skilled diction, his witty conversation and his entertaining stories, all
delivered with a disarmingly engaging French accent, opened doors for him;
his knowledge and dedication gained him the respect that kept the doors
open wide.
In
1934, André traveled to the
United States where he founded a New York branch on December 11 and a
Chicago branch on December 17. On
January 9, 1935, he founded a San Francisco branch, then a Los Angeles
branch on January 22 and a New Orleans branch on February 9.
There was much he enjoyed about the United States, but he
disapproved the Americans' affinity for iced water and hard spirits.
Wine, he insisted, was a natural beverage. Dry martinis were not.
(All but the New Orleans branch are healthy and vigorous today.
Los Angeles changed its name to Southern California some years ago
and a new Los Angeles branch was initiated in 1996.)
There
followed journeys to Australia and South Africa that endowed the Society
with a healthy and vigorous worldwide representation.
The network grew slowly under the direction of the Founder with
great help from his close friend, AJA Symons, who died aged 41 during
World War II. Thereafter, the Society was the child of André's efforts
alone. The Society's Journal, Wine
and Food, which he founded and edited, was what kept the organization
together during the war. By
1947, there were about 1,500 members worldwide.
Coming Soon:
Post-war Expansion
The Society after André |
