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Literary notes about Palatable (AI summary)

The term "palatable" in literature is used both in a literal, culinary sense and as a metaphor for acceptability and ease of consumption, whether of food or ideas. In descriptions of food, it often appears in works that discuss the art of cooking or the evaluation of taste—for instance, chefs striving to make dishes not only palatable but visually appealing ([1]), or narratives where the seasoning and preparation can render even unusual meats acceptable ([2], [3], [4]). On a figurative level, authors employ the word to suggest that truths or ideas must be presented in a way that is easily digestible to the reader, as seen in reflections on the need to season truth to make it palatable ([5], [6]). This dual usage enriches the reader's understanding, connecting sensory pleasure with the broader idea of aesthetic or intellectual acceptability.
  1. The highest aim of the cooks of the Taillevent school was to make dishes not only palatable, but also pleasing to the eye.
    — from Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by P. L. Jacob
  2. He hoped to knock it down, thinking that even the fishy flesh of a crane would be found palatable by two half-starved boys.
    — from Captain Ted: A Boy's Adventures Among Hiding Slackers in the Great Georgia Swamp by Louis Pendleton
  3. When well prepared it is a very palatable article of diet but when insufficiently cooked or fried it is indigestible.
    — from Birds and Nature, Vol. 12 No. 4 [September 1902]Illustrated by Color Photography by Various
  4. [466] SAUCE FOR EEL IUS IN ANGUILLAM EEL WILL BE MADE MORE PALATABLE BY A SAUCE WHICH HAS [1] PEPPER, CELERY SEED, LOVAGE
    — from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius
  5. Truth must be seasoned to make it palatable.
    — from A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs
  6. His eloquence was distinguished by a bold, uncompromising, truth-telling spirit, whether the words might prove palatable or bitter to his audience.
    — from The Rise of the Dutch Republic — Volume 30: 1579-80 by John Lothrop Motley

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