Foreign News: Abominable Sauerkraut

A second manifesto on "Futurist food" (TIME, Jan. 12) was issued in Rome last week by famed Filippo Tomaso Marinetti, poet, millionaire, founder of Futurist Art, friend of Dictator Mussolini.

"Down with roast beef and pudding in England!" the manifesto began. "And down with sauerkraut in Germany—the most abominable of all inventions!"

Calling upon kindred spirits in all nations to rally to the banner of "Futurist food," Signer Marinetti somewhat further defined this rather vague conception: "The whole world must wake up and invent Futurist lunches and dinners. We must begin with abolishing volume and weight in our food and we must get up a new Futurist mixture which will consist in mixing only the nutritious parts of the food according as scientists will have to discover. . . . The deliciousness of food must be 'immensified' so as to comprise a sensation of all the joys in the universe.

"Cooking must proceed with the use of harmonious instruments of music, like violins, flutes and guitars. Each kitchen is to have its 'ozonificators' that will spread the savor of the food through the air and follow it to the tables. No knives, spoons or forks will be required and the food may be taken with the fingers or simply aspired with the breath. Special radiating lamps will hang over the tables to radiate with ultraviolet rays the color of the food and excite the appetite. When all this has been accomplished the human race will be happy in the enjoyment of food, old age will become unknown and men and women will live again as long as Methuselah."