In a quiet backstreet of Villeneuve-Loubet, simply inland from the Riviera, you may discover the home the place Auguste Escoffier was born. At this time it’s a small, unassuming museum that tells the story of the person who helped flip cooking right into a high-status occupation.
On a latest journey to the Côte d’Azur, I did one thing I would wished to do for some time: pay homage to Auguste Escoffier, that behemoth of French gastronomy.
Tucked away on a small, hilly avenue within the previous a part of Villeneuve-Loubet, a coastal resort between Good and Cannes, is the home through which he was born in 1846.
At this time, it’s a museum that homes his physique of labor, nevertheless it nonetheless feels home, like a house, with low ceilings and heat stone partitions. One room even smells of chocolate, a reminder of why it’s we’re visiting within the first place. Guided excursions are on supply if you happen to’re eager to deepen your data of French culinary historical past.
Who precisely was Chef Auguste Escoffier?
Each skilled French chef is aware of the title of the person who roughly invented the kitchen brigade. So do 1000’s who love good meals and have an interest within the historical past of French gastronomy…
So right here goes: you might say Georges Auguste Escoffier was a French culinary large whose genius straddled two centuries, and who put French delicacies on the map. He’s additionally broadly considered one of many fathers of recent French delicacies, though this being France, there’ll all the time be some kind of argument about who was finest, or first (see the blue field beneath).
In the event you’ve ever eaten from a fixed-price menu, admired the precision of a restaurant kitchen, or watched a chef in a starched white toque command a brigade of cooks, you are seeing one thing created by Escoffier.
He wished to be a sculptor however his father positioned him as an apprentice in a restaurant. He started cooking at age 12, and his profession was launched.
Escoffier was famously often known as “the king of cooks and the chef of kings” (le roi des cuisiniers et le cuisinier des rois). The title might have been bestowed by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, impressed by Escoffier’s culinary prowess throughout a royal banquet.
His speedy rise was interrupted by the Franco-Prussian Struggle, nevertheless it wasn’t time wasted. He headed a number of military kitchens, and discovered preservation strategies in addition to tips on how to use each final little bit of meals.
Escoffier met César Ritz in 1884 on the Grand Hôtel in Monte-Carlo, the place Ritz was supervisor and Escoffier head chef; collectively, they pioneered a brand new mannequin of grand luxurious hospitality. Rail journey inspired the opening of huged luxurious motels whose eating rooms redefined fantastic delicacies and have become a trendy house, even for girls.
Escoffier would rise by means of the ranks to develop into chef on the Savoy Resort in London, and later the Ritz in Paris (not with no few scandals, which I am going to inform you about in a second). There, he served monarchs, magnates and opera stars, shaping the grand eating type of the Belle Époque.
Ritz Paris Backyard, a portray by Pierre-Georges Jeanniot, 1904. That is the period over which Escoffier and Ritz reignedWHO WAS THE REAL FATHER OF FRENCH CUISINE?
After all there’s Escoffier, to whom this text is devoted. However there are different contenders…
Marie-Antoine Carême (1784–1833)
He was maybe the primary true movie star chef, and elevated cooking to a excessive artwork beneath Napoleon (what a waste – Napoleon wasn’t explicit to meals…) He designed elaborate meals sculptures (pièces montées) and codified the early “mom sauces”. He additionally wrote a number of the first encyclopedic cookbooks. His delicacies was extravagant – Escoffier would simplify it.
Fernand Level (1897–1955)
He can declare to having skilled a number of the twentieth century’s legendary cooks, together with Paul Bocuse and the Troisgros brothers. His restaurant, La Pyramide in Vienne, was well-known for its class and precision and emphasised seasonal substances and lighter sauces. He helped lighten Escoffier’s formality.
Paul Bocuse (1926–2018)
He was the general public face of nouvelle delicacies, which you’ll love or detest. He promoter a lighter and extra trendy tackle French meals, and have become a media character, serving to elevate the occupation to stardom. He helped French delicacies transfer into the tv period, and turned it into a world aspiration.
What’s cooking contained in the museum?
The Escoffier Museum of Culinary Arts – the Musée Escoffier de l’Artwork Culinaire – is a small museum, solely eight rooms, however every walks you thru a special side of Escoffier’s world.
Whenever you first stroll in, it seems like a home. The tiled flooring are a bit uneven, and also you nearly count on a chook or two to land on the windowsill.
You’ll go by means of a reconstructed Nineteenth-century kitchen, full with conventional range and gleaming copper pans. In one other room, copper utensils line the partitions.
Additional in, you’ll discover the Salon d’Auguste, his private lounge recreated with interval furnishings, and a small library of greater than 3000 culinary works, together with uncommon historic cookbooks.
Presumably one among my favourite rooms is the one devoted to pastry, stuffed with delicate sugar and chocolate sculptures from which a definite odor of cocoa rises. Imagine me, you may comprehend it along with your eyes closed.
From the patisserie roomIn different rooms, you’ll discover menus from royal banquets (together with the coronation of King Edward VII), early editions of his famed Information Culinaire, pictures of the cooks he skilled, even letters and medals.
In 2010, the museum was awarded the “Maison des Illustres” label of excellence, awarded by the Ministry of Tradition to the preserved properties of illustrious Frenchmen and girls.
NOTE ➠ The museum is positioned in Villeneuve-Loubet Village, which isn’t the identical as the trendy seaside space (plage) of the identical title, proper subsequent to it. Take a look at a map otherwise you would possibly find yourself driving in circles round a large car parking zone, as I did. Reaching the museum is best by automobile however there are many buses from Good (#650 in direction of Grasse) and Cannes.
How Escoffier modified the kitchen without end
It is one factor to be an awesome chef – it is one other to revolutionize a complete occupation. But that is what Escoffier did:
- he eradicated chaos within the kitchen and simplified what occurred there
- he created (or definitely institutionalized) the brigade system, assigning every sub-chef a definite function
- he modernized menus and standardized recipes so dishes would style the identical every time they have been served
- he banned smoking and consuming within the kitchen and formalized the chef’s uniform, together with the white toque
- he emphasised seasonal substances
- he elevated the chef’s standing from tradesman to artist.
For now, this can do, though he did a lot extra. Beneath Escoffier, the kitchen turned knowledgeable office and its staff worthy of respect.
A number of offbeat details about Escoffier
We’re conscious of his prowess and innovation, however there are different sides to this culinary genius.
He fought waste
Lengthy earlier than it was trendy, Escoffier was acutely aware of meals waste. Maybe due to his humble origins or experiences cooking within the military, Escoffier demonstrated extraordinary administration expertise, storing for a wet day and ensuring he had options for no matter items is likely to be scarce, like salt or sugar.
He invented dishes
You are in all probability conversant in Peach Melba, the dessert (peaches, raspberry sauce and vanilla ice cream) he created for the Australian soprano Nellie Melba.
He additionally created one other peach dessert, Peach Mistral, in honor of the well-known Provençal poet and Nobel Prize winner Frédéric Mistral. On this recipe, white peeled peaches are flippantly powdered with sugar and coated in a strawberry purée, all of it smothered in vanilla-flavored whipped cream. Hungry but?
He can also be accountable (none of that is confirmed) for Sarah Bernhardt strawberries (involving pineapple and Curaçao sherbet), Réjane Salad (Gabrielle Réjane was a French actress of the interval) and even Tournedos Rossini, in honor of the Italian composer. All in all, he’s credited with having created some 5000 recipes.
He had a robust social conscience
In 1910, he printed the Projet d’help mutuelle pour l’éradication du paupérisme, a forward-thinking plan to finance pensions by replicating the military’s mutual-assistance mannequin.
His plan included pooling deposits on the start of every little one to construct a group fund, utilizing taxes to finance a authorities reserve fund, and even a solidarity lottery and native charity festivals.
His purpose was to construct a social security internet that might remove poverty and finish avenue begging. He additionally lobbied for common retirement, years earlier than the creation of recent welfare programs.
Way more than a easy chef…
Escoffier’s workplace
The kitchenScandal within the kitchen
Auguste Escoffier may need been a stickler for order, however working with society’s luminaries left a little bit of a mark.
In 1898, he and César Ritz have been abruptly dismissed from the Savoy Resort in London on prices of monetary misconduct, together with accepting kickbacks from suppliers and diverting luxurious items. These allegations by no means made it to trial, however the dismissals have been public and damaging
Inside two years, the 2 males had opened the Ritz Paris, adopted by the Carlton in London. Removed from ruining them, the scandal appeared to have burnished their stars. In the event you have been anybody in society and in search of luxurious, you wished to hobnob with Escoffier and Ritz.
The Ritz turned the eating room of these whose characters may not be fully above reproach – scandal-ridden financiers, exiled monarchs, colonial profiteers, and all their mistresses. These embroiled in different scandals of the time (the Panama Canal scandal or the Baccarat Affair) discovered their technique to the Ritz eating room.
It’s possible you’ll not discover a lot about this facet of Escoffier’s character within the museum, which strives to indicate off his artistry and legacy. However irrespective of. He innovated a lot that on the subject of French delicacies, a whiff of scandal definitely did him little hurt.
Earlier than you go…
Because of Escoffier, and lengthy earlier than Michelin stars or High Chef have been a factor, being a chef turned a standing image. It was, nevertheless, a logo that was solely male.
Ladies might have dominated the home kitchen, however when it got here to the general public accolades, they have been nowhere to be seen. Examine how that is altering in my Substack submit entitled “The Chef and the Cook dinner: Gender, Energy, and the French Kitchen.”
FAQ
Escoffier is most famously identified for revolutionizing French delicacies by introducing the brigade system, codifying recipes, and elevating the standing of the skilled chef.
Auguste Escoffier is thought for refined, classical French delicacies, emphasizing structured menus, elegant presentation, and wealthy, elaborate sauces.
Auguste Escoffier loved an extended and celebrated profession as a chef, writer, and culinary reformer; regardless of a scandal that led to his dismissal from the Savoy Resort in 1898, he continued to form haute delicacies by means of his partnership with César Ritz and retired with widespread acclaim, passing away peacefully in 1935 on the age of 88.
Auguste Escoffier didn’t personal eating places himself; as an alternative, he labored as head chef in prestigious motels just like the Savoy in London and the Ritz in Paris, the place he created legendary menus and helped outline the posh eating expertise.
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