Pages of the Past

Georges Auguste Escoffier: The King of Chefs and the Chef of Kings

Auguste Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire, published in 1903, is a timeless culinary masterpiece that continues to hold significant value in the gastronomic world. It wasn’t until 1907 that the first official English translation, A Guide to Modern Cookery, was published. It is a comprehensive culinary guide that stands as a testament to the author's profound knowledge and passion for cooking. Auguste Escoffier is the most influential French chef of the 20^th century.  A Guide to Modern Cookery details professionalism, organization, seasonality, menu planning, techniques, elegance, and innovation. Escoffier stresses that a deep respect for ingredients leads to a more extraordinary passion for cooking, resulting in dishes prepared to the best of one's ability. Chef Escoffier was the Maître Chef for grand European hotels such as The Savoy in London, The Ritz in Paris, and eventually in the United States at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. His consumers were often the new aristocrats and the bourgeoisie of the late 19^th century and early 20^th century.

Elite Guests with Luxurious Appetites

The new aristocrats of the 19^th century had made fortunes from railroads, shipping, and industrialization. The robber barons also used leisure, including public eating in restaurants, to show their status, wealth, and good taste. Chef Escoffier also cooked extravagant dinners for actresses and socialites like Sarah Bernhardt and Lili Langtry, Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba, and even the Prince of Wales, Edward VII. Marie Louis Ritz, wife of César Ritz, arguably the most famous hotelier of all time, captured one event that Maître Chef Escoffier and her husband hosted:

The hush that descends upon the waiters as they gather like acolytes around the blue flame, the deft gesture of the sacerdotal maître d’hôtel as he pours the rich liqueur into the copper dish, the aromatic smoke which rises suddenly, fills the onlooker, the prospective diner, with a feeling of proper respect, and he tastes the first mouthful with something like religious fever. In the matter of wine, the same thing holds good. The shape and size and fineness of the glass, the manner of the waiter as he pours wine, all contribute to the ultimate enjoyment of the taste.

French Brigade

What separated Auguste Escoffier from the other French Chefs of the 20^th century was his standard for culinary excellence. The French Brigade system, inspired by Escoffier’s military experience in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, became the organizational standard in professional kitchens. The kitchen bridgaid is led by the Chef de Cuisine or executive chef, who oversees all operations. The Sous Chef assists the Chef de Cuisine, and the Chefs de Partie manage specific stations based on a cooking method, such as grill or sauté. The Commis are assistant chefs who work alongside the kitchen staff and apprentices. Additionally, the pastry chef and selection create desserts, pastries, and baked goods. With this system, responsibilities are distributed appropriately, and the flow of the kitchen is smooth, and allowed for a new method of ordering food, a la carte.

A Chef as Connoisseur

In A Guide to Modern Cookery, Escoffier extensively explored the complexities of developing a perfect menu. Escoffier believed that designing a menu was one of the most challenging tasks in the culinary arts, requiring skill, knowledge, and creativity. He emphasized the importance of achieving perfection in menu planning, which he considered a rare feat. For chefs and cooks, satisfying guests begins with the promises made by the menu. Therefore, it is crucial to consider various factors, such as taste preferences, flavor profiles, nutritional balance, and luxury ingredients, to ensure that the menu exceeds the guests' expectations. This extended to the dining room where the ambiance was an integral part of the dining experience.

Sources

Escoffier, Auguste. Le Guide Culinaire. 1903.

Rawson, Katie, and Elliott Shore. “Elite Eating and the Democratized Restaurant.” Dining out: A Global History of Restaurants, Reaktion Books, London, 2020, pp. 51–86.

Veit, Helen Zoe. “Seeing the Gilded Age Through Its Recipes.” Food in the American Gilded Age, Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, pp. 30–41.