"Tarte au Citron" with Toulouse-Lautrec

The Art of Cuisine is a cookbook by Toulous-Lautrec and Maurice Joyant.

The Polk Museum of Art is showcasing its largest exhibition ever with over 230 works of art, Toulouse-Lautrec & the Belle Époque. Visitors to the show know that Lautrec viewed art as a way of life, but they might be surprised to learn that Lautrec also viewed cookery as a form of art.

An illustration in the cookbook, which might have been on one of Lautrec’s personalized Menus he made for his extravagant dinners.

Dr. Alex Rich, the Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Museum, was gifted a cookbook titled “The Art of Cuisine” by Museum member Sarah Howell, who also frequently audits Dr. Rich's classes, including his 18th and 19th Century Art course this Spring 2021 term. The cookbook is a compilation of recipes written by Lautrec and Maurice Joyant. Translated by Margery Weiner and including culinary notes from Barbara Kafka, the book was published in English in 1966 and features a range of recipes, notes, and menus from the artist and his friend. As a tribute to his dear childhood and lifelong friend, Joyant compiled his and Lautrec’s recipes, which eventually became this cookbook with drawings and illustrations by the artist. In the introduction to the cookbook by M.G. Dortu and P. Huisman, they write of Joyant’s compilation: “The result is an evocation of the Belle Époque…is there any better way, for example, to appreciate the Lautrec portraits of May Belfort and Cha U Kao than by cooking and eating the artist’s incomparable ring doves with olives, created and cooked by Lautrec for only his favorite friends and models.”

In order to celebrate the opening of the Polk Museum of Art’s exhibition, I have decided to embark on a journey to follow one of Lautrec’s recipes myself.

In the “About Certain Flatteries” (or "De Quelques Flatteries" in French) section of the cookbook, I found some pastry, cheese, and dessert recipes. As a lover of all things sweet, I chose to follow the directions of Lautrec and Joyant’s Lemon Tart. I have included a photograph of the recipe. 

The recipe by Toulouse-Lautrec and his friend Maurice Joyant!

In the culinary notes of this contemporary edition of the cookbook, the editors note that “this book was written in an age when recipe books were exciting but rather imprecise.” By this, they mean that instructions were erratic and measurements vague. I found this to be quite true in Lautrec and Joyant’s recipe for a Lemon Tart! I am an amateur in the kitchen, so my following these directions reflects that. A more experienced cook might take these instructions and more carefully execute them. However, here are my results!

In Lautrec and Joyant’s instructions for Tarte au Citron, they instruct to “lay some tart pastry on an open pie dish.” Since the cookbook did not have a recipe for tart pastry, I acquired a graham cracker crust from the store. 

The next step was to “beat three whole eggs as for an omelette,” and “add their weight in granulated sugar,” or, as the culinary notetaker writes, about a ¾ cup of sugar. I then added the juice of a lemon, poured it into the crust, and added bits of small butter pieces on top of the mixture. 

After 20 minutes in the oven, here was my result!

It may not be the prettiest lemon tart, but my friends and I did think it was delicious!

Cooking a recipe from Lautrec’s own repertoire was both an exciting and delicious experience. I encourage you to do the same! 

Do you have the Lautrec cookbook? Have you made a recipe from the book or talked about Lautrec’s art over a meal with your family or friends? Send us a picture or comment below! We can’t wait to hear from you.

Special thanks to Sarah Howell for gifting the cookbook to Dr. Rich, who loaned the cookbook to me for the purpose of this post. 

Want to visit the Polk Museum of Art? Plan your visit here: https://polkmuseumofart.org/signup.