Auguste Escoffier

Publications by Escoffier:

He wrote numerous articles and books on cookery, the most famous of his works being Le Guide Culinaire and A Guide to Modern Cookery.

• Le Traité sur l'art de Travailler les Fleurs in Cire (treatise of art work with wax flowers) (1886)

• Le Guide Culinaire (cuisine Guide) (1903) 1

• Les Fleurs in Cire (New Edition, 1910)

• Le Carnet d'Epicure (notebook of a Gourmet) (1911)

• Le Livre des Menus (recipe book) (1912)

• Le Riz (rice) (1927) La Morue (COD) (1929)

• Ma Cuisine (my kitchen) (1934) this is by posting on Spanish, and is not difficult to find.

• Memories of My Life (memoirs of my life (1985, from notes compiled by his grandson)

Escoffier reinterpreted in a lighter way numerous recipes and invented new dishes, often baptized with the name of their distinguished guests. For example, the delicious dessert of peaches with vanilla ice cream and puree of raspberries, "pêche Melba". In honour the Australian soprano Nellie Melba, who lived between 1892 and 1893 at the luxurious London hotel Savoy, where Escoffier was the chef.

His career is legendary, in terms of the hotels in which he worked (among them the Savoy and Carlton of London), the contributions that he made to the aesthetics of gastronomy, and, perhaps most importantly, the revolutionary changes he made in upgrading the culinary arts.

Escoffier also had an expertise in food science and was a pioneer in food preservation and in developing sauces that could be bottled for the homemaker.

On February 12th, 1935, a few days after the death of his wife, Escoffier died at his home, La Villa Fernand, 8 bis Avenue de la Costa, Monte Carlo, in his eighty-ninth year. He is buried in the family vault at Villeneuve-Loubet.

Before escoffier's time, the Grande Cuisine was laden with overly complicated recipes , extravagant dinners, sauces and garnishes that disguised the main ingredients.

Escoffier developed a new gastronomic philosophy, a sense of finely honed and highly refined simplicity in dining, ideals that have been reason by the finest chefs of the twentieth century. His admonition was "above all, keep it simple".

Escoffier was the first great chef who always worked directly for the public his entire career. He never was in the private employ, as other great chefs did, working for the royalty or the nobility. Since the season of his apprenticeship at uncle's restaurant, to his collaborations with Cesar Ritz, which marked the height of his career, Escoffier's talents in the service of cooking and his customers.

Auguste Escoffier

"The Chef of Kings and The King of Chefs" 1846-1935

Contributions

He created the brigade system eliminating the chaotic, unpleasant atmosphere that once reigned in hotel and restaurant kitchens. Repulsed by the foul language and concern for cleanliness all too common in nineteenth-century kitchens, Escoffier established sanitation standards and instilled in his subordinates a real respect for the salubrity of the food they served.

Early years

Auguste Escoffier was born in the Riviera town of Villeneuve-Loubet, France, on October 28, 1846. His career in cookery began since the age of 12 when he entered into apprenticeship in his uncle's restaurant, in Nice; years later, at the age of 19, he went to another apprenticeship, but this time, working in Paris.

Auguste Escoffier

By: Chef Luis Enrique Ata Ximello