Share |

Request an Information Packet

Top Ten Reasons Why We Are Your Best Choice

Attend an Open House

Funding Your Education

Hear What Our Students Have to Say

Click here to watch the CIAML Video

Apply to the Culinary Institute

Send This Page to a Friend

Bookmark and Share



Inspiration from Master Chefs  

Auguste Escoffier   1846 - 1935

Auguste Escoffier was born in the Provence region of France in October 1846. When he turned 13, his father took him to Nice where he apprenticed at a restaurant owned by his uncle, thus beginning the illustrious career that he enjoyed for the next 62 years.

His culinary career took him many places, from the early years at the fashionable Le Petit Moulin Rouge and several other restaurants in Paris, to Monte Carlo, Switzerland, and London.   In 1870, when the Franco-Prussian War began, Escoffier was called to duty in the army where he served as Chef de Cuisine. It was during this period that he came to consider the need for tinned foods and was thus the first chef to undertake in-depth study of techniques for canning and preserving meats and vegetables. After returning to civilian life, Escoffier resumed his career in several Parisian restaurants where he steadily moved up the ladder of success.

It was during his years in Monte Carlo that Escoffier met Cesar Ritz. The pairing of Escoffier and Ritz brought about significant changes in hotel industry development throughout the ensuing years, raising the standards of hospitality to considerable heights. Both went to the Savoy Hotel in London where Escoffier served as Head of Restaurant Services. Later, Ritz opened several of his own hotels, such as the Hotel Ritz in Paris and the Carlton in London, where Escoffier was the key player in the restaurant end of the establishments. During his time at the Carlton, Escoffier developed a superior reputation for haute cuisine.   While at the Savoy, Escoffier created one of his most famous recipes, Peach Melba, in honor of the Austrian singer Nellie Melba who was a guest at the hotel.

Three of Escoffier's most noted career achievements are revolutionizing and modernizing the menu, the art of cooking and the organization of the professional kitchen. Escoffier simplified the menu as it had been, writing the dishes down in the order in which they would be served (Service à la Russe). He also developed the first à la Carte menu.

He simplified the art of cooking by getting rid of ostentatious food displays and elaborate garnishes and by reducing the number of courses served. He also emphasized the use of seasonal foods and lighter sauces. Escoffier also simplified professional kitchen organization, as he integrated it into a single unit from its previously individualized sections that operated autonomously and often created great wasted and duplication of labor.

Throughout his career, Escoffier wrote a number of books, many of which continue to be considered important today. Some of his best-known works include Le Guide Culinaire (1903), Le Livre des Menus (1912) and Ma Cuisine (1934).

As well as making changes in the culinary world, Escoffier undertook several philanthropic endeavors including the organization of programs to feed the hungry and programs to financially assist retired chefs.   Escoffier received several honors in his lifetime. The French government recognized Escoffier in 1920 by making him a Chevalier of the Legion d' Honneur, and later an Officer in 1928. The honors due Escoffier can be summed up by a quote from Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II when he told Escoffier, "I am the Emperor of Germany, but you are the emperor of chefs."

With his wife, Delphine Daffis, Escoffier retired to Monte Carlo in 1921, there he died on February 12, 1935.

One of the world's first true celebrity chefs, Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935) is credited with helping to raise the status of cooking from a laborer's task to anartist's endeavor. Renowned as "the king of chefs and the chef of kings," Escoffier left a legacy of culinary writings and recipes that are indispensable to modern cooks, and remains perhaps the foremost name in French cuisine.

Marie Antonin Carême 1784 - 1833  


Marie-Antoine Carême

Marie Antoine (Antonin) Carême (c.June 1784-12 January 1833), was an early practitioner and exponent of the elaborate style of cooking known as haute cuisine, the "high art" of French cooking: a grandiose style of cookery favored by both international royalty and by the newly rich of Paris. Carême is often considered as one of the first, internationally renowned celebrity chef.

Born in Paris and abandoned there by destitute parents in 1792 at the height of the French Revolution, he worked as a kitchen boy at a cheap Parisian chophouse in exchange for room and board. In 1798, he was formally apprenticed to Sylvain Bailly, a famous pâtissier with a shop near the Palais-Royal. Bailly recognized his talent and ambition.

Carême gained fame in Paris for his pièces montées, elaborate constructions used as centerpieces, which Bailly displayed in the pâtisserie window. He made these confections, which were sometimes several feet high, entirely out of foodstuffs such as sugar, marzipan, and pastry. He modeled them on temples, pyramids, and ancient ruins, taking ideas from architectural history books that he studied at the nearby Bibliothéque Nationale. Utilizing his previous architectural knowledge coupled with culinary genius, some of his sugar works were so elaborate that court jesters would dance upon them while entertaining the king.

He did freelance work creating pieces principally for the French diplomat and gourmand Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, but also other members of Parisian high society, including Napoleon. While working on his confections at many private kitchens, he quickly extended his culinary skills to main courses.

Napoleon was famously indifferent to food, but he understood the importance of social relations in the world of diplomacy. In 1804, he gave money to Talleyrand to purchase Château de Valençay, a large estate outside of Paris. The château was intended to act as a kind of diplomatic gathering place. When Talleyrand moved there, he took Carême with him.

Carême was set a test by Talleyrand: to create a whole year's worth of menus, without repetition, and using only seasonal produce. Carême passed the test and completed his training in Talleyrand's kitchens. After the fall of Napoléon, Carême went to London for a time and served as chef de cuisine to the Prince Regent, later George IV. Returning to the continent he served Tsar Alexander I in St. Petersburg, before returning to Paris, where he was chef to banker James Mayer Rothschild.

He died in Germany at the age of 48, due perhaps to many years inhaling the toxic fumes of the charcoal on which he cooked. He is remembered as the founder of the haute cuisine concept and is interred in the Cimetière de Montmartre in Montmartre.

Influence

In his first major position, Carême worked as chef de cuisine to Talleyrand. More than simply an employer or sponsor, Talleyrand actively encouraged Carême to produce a new refined style of eating, using fresh herbs and vegetables and simplified sauces with fewer ingredients. Talleyrand's table became famous during the negotiations that followed the fall of Napoléon, at the Congress of Vienna. When the Congress dispersed, both the map of Europe and the culinary tastes of its upper classes were thoroughly revised.

Carême's impact on culinary matters ranged from trivial to theoretical. He is credited with creating the standard chef's hat, the toque; he designed new sauces and dishes, he published a classification of all sauces into groups, based on four mother sauces. He is also frequently credited with replacing the practice of service à la française (serving all dishes at once) with service à la russe (serving each dish in the order printed on the menu) after he returned from service in the Russian court, but sources differ on this point.

Carême wrote several encyclopedic works on cookery, above all L'Art de la Cuisine Française (5 vols, 1833-34), which included, aside from hundreds of recipes, plans for menus and opulent table settings, a history of French cookery, and instructions for organizing kitchens.

 Works by Carême:

  • Le Pâtissier royal parisien,ou Traité élémentaire et pratique de la pàrtisserie et moderne, suivi d'observations utiles au progrès de cet art, et d'une revue critique des grands bals de 1810 et 1811 (Paris, 1815)
  • Le Maître d'hôtel français, ou Parallèle de la cuisine ancienne et moderne, considéré sous rapport de l'ordonnace des menus selon les quarte saisons. (Paris, 1822)
  • Le Cuisinier parisien, Deuxième édition, revue, corrigée et augmentée. (Paris, 1828)
  • L'Art de la cuisine française au dix-neuvième siècle. Traité élémentaire et pratique. (Volumns 1-5. [Work completed after author's death by A. Plumerey.] Paris, 1833-1847)
  • Le Pâtissier pittoresque, précédé d'un traité des cinq orders d'architecture (4ème edition, Paris, 1842)
  • The royal Parisian pastrycook and confectioner ([From the original of Carême, edited by John Porter] London, 1834)
  • French Cookery, Comprising a'Art de la cuisine française; Le Pâtissier royal; Le Cuisinier parisien... ( [translated by William Hall ] London,1836)