Great French Chefs from the past
Cuisine is part of our heritage and culture. Here are the great names who have shaped French gastronomy and played a major role in our history..
Guillaume Tirel, dit Taillevent
(1310-1395) Cook
He was a cook for the French nobility in the Middle Ages, notably Charles V and Charles VI. He is best known as the author of Le Viandier, considered to be one of the first books on cooking, in which the term « Viande » (meat) is used in its original Latin meaning « food ». The book is a compilation of recipes from that era.
François Pierre de la Varenne
(1618-1678) Cook
He was a cook for the French nobility, most notably the Marquis d’Uxelles. His book “Le cuisinier françois” made a lasting impression. Published in 1651, this book marked a break with medieval cuisine. He banished exotic spices to refocus on fine local herbs, and invented the bouquet garni. He eliminated sugar from dishes, reserving it for desserts, replaced lard with butter, and introduced vegetables such as cauliflower and peas.
François Vatel
(1631-1671) Cook et butler
He was successively in the service of Nicolas Fouquet (Louis XIV’s Superintendent of Finances) and Prince Louis II de Bourbon-Condé. Vatel was an exceptional creator of sumptuous feasts and parties. He is remembered for the 3-day feast he organized for Louis XIV. It was this feast that prompted him to commit suicide. When his order of fish didn’t arrive, he thought his meal had been spoiled and his honor trampled. Ironically, the fish arrived just hours after his death.
Jean Anthelme Brillat Savarin
(1755-1826) Gourmet and writer
Although he was not a professional in the culinary arts, he was nevertheless an illustrious figure on the French gastronomic scene. His most famous publication is Physiology of Taste. The aim of this book was to turn the art of cooking into a genuine science, by providing an in-depth analysis of the mechanics of taste. A cheese and a pastry were named in his honor.
Alexandre Baltazar dit Grimod de la Reynière
(1758-1837) Food journalist
French lawyer, journalist, newspaper columnist and writer who gained fame under Napoleon I for his witty and sometimes acerbic criticism, his mystifications and his love of gastronomy. Considered to be one of the founding fathers of modern Western gastronomy. He had the idea of publishing a guide to cafés, restaurants and stores. The result was the Almanach des gourmands, a huge success.
Marie Antoine Carême
(1784-1833) Chef and pastry chef
Nicknamed “the king of chefs and the chef of kings”, he was the first to bear the title of “chef” and to achieve international renown. Under the influence of Catherine de Médicis and Talleyrand, he sought to return to more authentic flavors with lighter sauces. Convinced that culinary art is a branch of architecture, he was the creator of some formidable pièces montées. He was at the origin of a radiant new French cuisine.
Jules Gouffé
(1807-1877) Chef and pastry chef
He trained with Marie Antoine Carême and inspires many of today’s chefs. His work has also been used extensively in molecular gastronomy. In 1840, after some fifteen years in the shadow of Antonin Carême, Gouffé opened a pastry shop on rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré. He was renowned for his pastry decorations.
Georges Auguste Escoffier
(1846-1935) Chef and culinary author
Auguste Escoffier modernized and codified the refined cuisine of Marie-Antoine and continued to spread the culture of French cuisine around the world. He established the image of a modern chef, calm and meticulous down to the smallest detail. He also pioneered the brigade organization of kitchens. This great chef was the first chef to be made an Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Maurice Edmont dit Curnonsky
(1872-1956) Gourmet and culinary author
After studying to become a journalist, he chose the pseudonym Curnonsky in honor of the Franco-Russian friendship. He sought to promote bourgeois and regional cuisine, as opposed to the over-sophisticated Parisian restaurant cuisine that was hardly representative of the French, notably through his magazine “le bon gîte et la bonne table”. In 1930, he founded the Académie des Gastronomes, which earned him the nickname “the Prince of Gastronomes”.
Eugène Brazier
(1895-1977) Woman cheffe in Lyon
She was one of the first group of chefs to win 3 Michelin stars in 1933 for her two restaurants in Lyon and at Col de la Luère in Pollionnay. This made her the first woman to win 3 Michelin stars simultaneously. She is considered the boss of the Bouchons Lyonnais restaurant types.
Raymond Olivier
(1909-1990) Chef and TV host
Raymond Olivier began his career as a commis garde-manger at the Hôtel Chambord in Paris, where he learned the basics of the trade. He went on to become owner and chef of the Paris institution Le Grand Véfour. The Michelin guide awarded him three stars, which he kept for thirty years. From 1953, he hosted the TV show “Art et Magie de la cuisine” (Arts and magic of the cuisine).