When was escoffier born

After three years in this position, he rose to the level of head chef, donning the esteemed chef's hat. A small man, Escoffier was said to have taken to wearing platform shoes in order to better work the restaurant's stoves. Escoffier remained in Paris, leaving his position briefly for military training, until , when he was called for army duty at the onset of the Franco-Prussian War.

Appointed Chef de Cuisine, he applied his talents to the daily fare of the French army. Faced with the challenge of creating meals that would preserve well, Escoffier was one of the first chefs to seriously study the techniques for canning meats, vegetables, and sauces. After the war he returned to Le Petit Moulin Rouge, where he remained head chef until Among Escoffier's subsequent endeavors in Paris was his management of the Maison Chevet, a restaurant at the Palais Royal that specialized in banquet dinners, often prepared for officials and dignitaries.

But perhaps Escoffier's most notable achievement during this period was his marriage in to Delphine Daffis, the daughter of a publisher. Their marriage would last 55 years, and they would bring into the world two sons and a daughter.

In their early years together, the couple spent their summers in Lucerne, Switzerland, where Escoffier managed the kitchens at the Hotel National, and their winters in Monte Carlo, where he served as Director of Cuisine of the Grand Hotel. It was in Lucerne that Escoffier met the Swiss hotelier Cesar Ritz, who would figure prominently in his life, and with whom he would enter into a celebrated partnership. Ritz, who came from a small village in the Swiss Valais, had started his career as a hotel groom and had risen through the ranks, from headwaiter to hotel manager.

It was Ritz who hired Escoffier as chef at the Hotel National, and the two would continue to combine their talents throughout their remarkable careers. Among Escoffier and Ritz's first successes was their joint venture at the Savoy Hotel in London, the first modern luxury hotel, where from to Escoffier served as Head of Restaurant Services and Ritz took the position of General Manager. When Ritz opened his own hotel in Paris, the ultra-modern Hotel Ritz, Escoffier brought his culinary expertise.

But he soon returned to London to make a legend of the posh Carlton Hotel, where patrons included such luminaries as the Prince of Wales. It was here, where Escoffier presided over the kitchens for more than twenty years, that the French chef gained worldwide attention for his superior haute cuisine.

It was also at the Carlton that, on the day the hotel opened in , Escoffier unveiled a new dessert, Peach Melba, created and named in honor of the Australian opera singer—and former Savoy Hotel resident—Nellie Melba. Also during this time the French chef introduced and perfected some of his many innovations to cookery, restaurant service, and kitchen organization.

Departing from the style of previous chefs, Escoffier strove to simplify the art of cooking, doing away with excessive garnishes, heavy sauces, and elaborate presentations. As the most prominent French chef of his day, he succeeded the culinary artist Marie Antoine Careme , and he sought to modernize his predecessor's complex approach to cooking, in effect altering the standards of his national cuisine. Escoffier's preference for simplicity also extended to restaurant menus; here, he reduced the number of courses served, and took credit for introducing, at the Carlton, the first a la carte menu.

At large banquet-style meals, Escoffier abandoned a practice called service a la francaise service in the French style , in which collections of dishes of all kinds were served at table simultaneously; instead, the French chef chose to standardize service a la russe service in the Russian style , in which each course is presented in the order that it appears on the menu.

Together, the two were able to bring significant changes to the hotel industry, constantly improving and raising the bar on regarding hospitality and quality service.

In , the two were contacted to work at the Savoy Hotel in London; here, Escoffier crafted one of his most well renowned recipes, the Peach Melba, a delicious dessert of peaches, raspberries, and creamy decadent vanilla ice cream. The dessert was inspired and in honor of Nellie Melba, an Austrian singer who was a guest at the hotel. Later on, Ritz opened up several hotels from the experiences, the most famous of which is the Carlton in London, which took on Escoffier as one of the head chefs and kitchen managers.

The reason for Ritz detaching from the Savoy Hotel was rooted in a few disagreements with the Savoy Hotel hierarchy, but the decision was so successful that many high-end clientele were soon found to replace Savoy Hotel with Ritz new hotel establishments. His ingenious and elegantly simplistic way of cooking drove mass attention to his culinary craft.

The house where he was born was transformed into a museum of culinary art in , at the suggestion of one of his cooks. Footnotes :. At the beginning of Escoffier's career, cooking was not a profession held in high esteem. This was due partly to the laxity which could so easily creep in and also to the rigorous conditions of work. The cook spends the greater part of his time around the stove in overwhelming heat and in the midst of the smell of cooking, which, when concentrated, is sometimes almost unbearable.

He works continuously without a moment's respite. For these reasons, in the mid-nineteenth century drinking was inevitably rife in the kitchen.

Escoffier was quick to realise the risks in giving way to such excesses. The cuisine suffered, the atmosphere in the kitchen suffered and the appearance of certain old cooks, undermined by years of work in such conditions and by their intemperance, gave him food for thought.

He, with his small stature, was destined to suffer even more than others from the heat of the stoves. However, he never allowed himself to drink or smoke. He made it a point of honour to preserve his impeccable taste. Later, when he had become a chef, he called upon a famous doctor to invent a pleasant and healthy drink which would relieve the discomfort of cooks working in such conditions. Thus in all the hotel kitchens which he planned, there was always a vast kettle containing a barley drink.

This allowed Escoffier to prohibit the drinking of alcohol in the kitchen. Intemperance also provoked vulgarity. There was swearing and shouting, and young apprentices were often brutally treated. Escoffier fought from the first against professional slang and vulgarity of speech. Oaths and vulgar display of temper were no longer allowed. On his insistance there were to be no swearing and brutality to apprentices as was the norm and more thirst quenching drinks non-alcoholic were made available to combat the heat beer and wine.

He himself would leave the kitchen rather than lose his temper with the staff. Escoffier also insisted on the cleanliness of his employees during working hours, and also encouraged them to dress and behave better outside. He was concerned too, with his employee's educational status, and advised them to acquire the culture which their professional training, often begun at a very early age, had prevented them from attaining.

The kitchen brigade as we know it of Chef de Parties, was a system devised and implemented by Escoffier. Kitchens had for centuries been seperated into sections, but it was August who devised an organised system, to ensure there was no doubling up of work and that things were properly organised.

Escoffier's kitchens were said to be well run and organised. Escoffier introduced the genuine frying-pan into English Life. My friend had chosen this domain so that he could go there from time to time, far from the irritations of a too active life.

It was the beginning of November, a period when the shooting offers particularly attractive sport, especially in these rather wild districts. About ten guests were assembled on the Thursday evening, and it was decided that at dawn the following morning we should all set out, dispersing as chance directed, in search of a few coveys of partridge. Our meal, that evening, was composed of a cream of pumpkin soup with little croutons fried in butter, a young turkey roasted on the spit accompanied by a large country sausage and a salad of potatoes, dandelions and beetroot, and followed by a big bowl of pears cooked in red wine and served with whipped cream.

Next morning at the agreed hour, we were all ready, and furnished with the necessary provisions and accompanied by local guides, we climbed the rocky paths, real goat tracks, without too much difficulty and before long the fusillade began.

It was those members of the party who had gone ahead who were opening the shoot by bagging two hares; the day promised to be fairly fruitful. And indeed so it turned out, since we were back at the house by about four o'clock, somewhat tired, but proud to count out: three hares, a very young chamois, eleven partridges, three capercailzies, six young rabbits, and a quantity of small birds.

After a light collation, we patiently awaited dinner contemplating the while the admirable panorama which lay before us. The game which we had shot was reserved for the next day's meals. Our dinner that evening consisted of a cabbage, potato, and kohl rabi soup, augmented with three young chickens, an enormous piece of lean bacon, and a big farmhouse sausage. The broth, with some of the mashed vegetables, was poured over slices of toast, which made an excellent rustic soup.

What remained of the vegetables were arranged on a large dish around the chickens, the bacon, and the sausage; here was the wherewithal to comfort the most robust of stomachs, and each of us did due honour to this good family dish. Then, a surprise - but one which was not entirely unexpected from our host, who had an excellent cook - an immense, hermetically sealed terrine, which, placed in the middle of the table, gave out, when it was uncovered, a marvelous scent of truffles, partridges, and aromatic herbs.

This terrine contained eight young partridges, amply truffled and cased in fat bacon, a little bouquet of mountain herbs and several glasses of fine champagne cognac.

All had been lengthily and gently cooked in hot embers. At the same time was served a celery salad. As for the wines, we had first the excellent local wine, then Burgundy, and finally a famous brand of champagne. The dinner ended with beautiful local fruit, and fine liqueurs. The next day's luncheon was composed partly of the trophies of the previous day's shooting; the pure mountain air had advantageously taken the place of any aperitif; nor did we have any hors-d'oeuvre but instead, some char from the lac du Bourget, cooked and left to get cold in white wine from our host's own vineyards.