Modern Living: Hold the Butter! Dam the Cream!

The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a new star.

—Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

No group has given more meaning to Brillat-Savarin's statement than the chefs of France. They are the world's gastronomers royal. But they exact from their followers a literally heavy price —in calories and cholesterol. Their creations call for churns of butter, streams of cream and eggs by the dozen. With the late great Chef Fernand Point, they cry with all the fervor of a Richard III, "Du beurre! Donnez-moi du beurre!...