por Who was Auguste Escoffier?
auguste escoffier (1846-1935) was a 19th-century French chef responsible for designing a practical system that turned restaurants around 180 degrees. His innovation turned restaurants into pleasant, efficient, healthy and productive spaces.
Escoffier was a character who marked a milestone in history for his passion for the world of gastronomy. His perfectionism and his dedication to systematizing the structure and rules of the kitchen managed to mark a before and after in the gastronomic field.
The kitchen before Escoffier
The image of restaurants with their white-uniformed cooks hygienically preparing meals at their workplace is taken for granted these days.
So much so that few dare to eat in a place where the kitchen does not look impeccable. But this idea of a kitchen in a restaurant was far removed from reality before the 19th century.
In ages past, the ostentatious banquets were prepared by cooks dressed haphazardly. They did not wash their hands, they drank alcohol and smoked as a common habit while preparing food in order to withstand the arduous and long day, in addition to the proliferation of rodents and crawling animals.
It was Auguste Escoffier who turned the ordinary and routine food preparation into a true culinary art. He was in charge of establishing the regulations to be followed by anyone who wanted to be a good cook. Likewise, he established the care that should be observed in the work area.
Escoffier developed new techniques for the preparation and presentation of dishes. He bequeathed the knowledge gained during his vast career publishing manuals, magazines and books.
Biography of Auguste Escoffier
Birth and early years
Auguste Escoffier was born on October 28, 1846 in Villeneuve-Loubet, in southeastern France. His father was a blacksmith and he wanted to be a sculptor, but at the age of 13, necessity led him to work.
His first job was at Le Restaurant Français, a place belonging to his aunt. There, in addition to preparing food, she learned the other tasks related to cooking. Among these new functions was the organization of the service or the selection and acquisition of ingredients.
He worked as a kitchen assistant in a few other restaurants. Then, in 1870, at age 24, he was drafted as an army cook during the Franco-Prussian War, which led him to study canning food.
Eight years later, after the war had come to an end, Escoffier opened his own restaurant in Cannes, called Le Faisan d’Or (The Golden Pheasant). This place became a renowned place, where the French and international elite came to enjoy its exquisite dishes and good service.
prestigious jobs
He married Delphine Daffis in 1880, with whom he had a daughter and two sons. After a while he met Cesar Ritz in Switzerland, with whom he became associated to later run the kitchen of what was the most luxurious hotel at the time, the Ritz.
Its first headquarters opened its doors in France in 1898. This association marked an important advance in the world of tourism, since it combined comfortable accommodation with first-class gastronomic service.
In addition, he was in charge of the kitchens of prestigious hotels, such as the Grand Hotel, the Hotel National, the Hotel Savoy and the Hotel Carlton. He has also cooked in important restaurants such as Maison Chevet and La Maison Maire.
At the age of 73, he temporarily moved away from kitchens, but because he liked preparing dishes so much, he continued to work in small hotels and restaurants close to his home.
After 62 productive years of culinary career -the longest known-, he retired permanently in 1921.
Death
A few days after the death of his life partner, Auguste Escoffier died at the age of 89 at his home in Monte Carlo.
He is currently remembered as one of the most illustrious chefs due to his contributions and discoveries that forever changed the world of cooking.
Escoffier’s contributions
High kitchen
Escoffier made haute cuisine, known in Spanish as haute cuisine, a trend created by Antoine Carême also in the 19th century, more efficient, simplified and improved in many ways.
His style was characterized by efficiency and simplicity. This characteristic was present in the preparation of dishes, by changing the elaborate garnishes for other preparations based on vegetables and simple plating.
Kitchen equipment structure
Likewise, he had an influence on the structure of the kitchen staff, since he organized it into crews, each led by a boss, which made food preparation a much faster and more effective process.
Said reorganization of the staff led to a positive change in the operation of the kitchen. Today it is still being put into practice, since the dishes reach the table more quickly without losing their quality.
It added a new and dynamic touch to the service, in which the waiter completed the preparation of the dish at the diner’s own table, either by chopping, flambéing or pouring the sauces.
paradigm shift
The number of dishes that normally made up a menu decreased. Instead of sticking with the traditional “French service”, he opted for the “Russian service”. Thus, the food arrived at the table in its order of appearance on the menu and each dish was served one after the other.
In his preparations he did not seek the excessive use of multiple ingredients, but rather the balance between the flavors chosen for the preparation of the dish.
kitchen rules
Concerned with hygiene, he made kitchens stop being located in underground places and developed meticulous rules for the handling and preparation of food.
In addition, it prohibited the intake of alcohol and the use of tobacco in the facilities, and provided its staff with uniforms, promoting punctuality and good coexistence among them.
To replace spirits, he supplied his kitchens with a pleasant barley-based concoction, which he created with medical advice to relieve the heat of the staff in the sweltering kitchen.
Appearance
Along with enhancing appearance, he preferred crockery, cutlery, glassware, and fine linens when presenting his dishes. Escoffier believed that all of this greatly enhanced the dining experience and the taste of food and wine.
kitchen design
He designed the kitchens of the Hamburg-Amerika Lines cruise ships. These, later, again required his support to inaugurate the imperial kitchens and he elaborated the menu for the tragically famous Titanic.
teaching
He also taught more than 2,000 apprentices in various parts of the world. Over time, those students have transferred Escoffier’s knowledge to the present day, leaving the name of the famous chef high by directing restaurants awarded with Michelin stars.
Plays
Escoffier founded the magazine L’Art Culinaire in 1873, together with some friends. His first book was Treatise on the art of working with wax flowers, published in 1886.
However, the publication with which he was successful was the culinary guide. This book was written in collaboration with Émile Fetu and Philéas Gilbert, and it was published in 1902 with the help of his wife, who was a publicist.
With 5,000 recipes, today it continues to be the main benchmark for classic French cuisine due to its great contributions.
In this publication are compiled traditional recipes with some personal modifications. They are also explained step by step, currently being a referential source for chefs in training.
He wrote six other books, including Epicure card and My kitchen, where he exposes another 2,000 delicious recipes. A peculiar publication was his memoirs, where he talks about his beginnings in the kitchen and his experiences leading important gastronomic establishments.
He also collaborated in the writing of the prestigious larousse gastronomy in 1934.
Acknowledgments
Escoffier changed the vision of gastronomy with his outstanding contributions, and for this he received numerous awards.
In 1920 he received the «Legion of Honor», the most important of the French recognitions. This is awarded to those who leave the name of the country high. In this way, he became the first chef to receive it.
Likewise, he was the first honoree of this branch with the appointment of «Officer of the Legion» in 1928 at the Palais d’Orsay.
Due to his visionary culinary reform and fame among high society, Auguste Escoffier became known as “the king of chefs and the chef of kings”, even receiving praise from Emperor Wilhelm II himself.
He spread the culinary art both with the publication of books and magazines and with the training of new chefs, who would be the future of French cuisine.
He created a monetary support program for retired cooks and social assistance for poor people. To help cooks who were in trouble, he also published in 1910 the Mutual Assistance Project for the Extinction of Pauperism.
His philanthropic nature endeared him to many, especially the inhabitants of his hometown of Villeneuve-Loubet. There, they erected a monument in his honor.
The home in which he was born became a museum in 1957 and it exhibits more than a thousand menus, books, images, recipes, medals and other vestiges of his long and fruitful career.
featured recipes
Escoffier was characterized by his selfless vocation. For her most distinguished and regular clients, she created personalized menus, with which she could please even the most refined palate.
Melba Peaches
In this way, some of his original dishes were named after diners or friends. Such is the case of its famous dessert «Melba peaches», made with peaches resting on vanilla ice cream and bathed in raspberry sauce.
This dessert was named in honor of Nelli Melba, a renowned soprano singer of the time, whom she heard in numerous performances.
Others
Other dishes with which he honored his most loyal customers were:
The Olga consommé (broth of aromatic herbs, beef, port and scallops).
The Chicken Jeannette (tasty seasoned chicken breasts).
The Réjane salad (made of potatoes, asparagus and truffles bathed in vinaigrette).
The Lili filet mignon (beef medallions accompanied by vegetables and covered with a delicious wine-based sauce).
Derby chicken (stuffed with rice, foie gras, truffles and cooked on the grill).
The crepes Suzettes (dribbled with a citrusy orange syrup and liqueur).
Most of his creations had a female name, since his inspiration came from women. He himself admitted that his best creations were made for them.
Along with the invention of new dishes, he was in charge of modifying the already existing classic recipes, both French and international, marking them with his personal stamp: simplicity and balance.
He got rid of the ingredients he considered to be…