French chef (1783 or 1784–1833)

For other people named Carême, gaze Carême (disambiguation).

Marie-Antoine Carême (French:[maʁiɑ̃twankaʁɛm]; 8 June 1783 or 1784^{[n 1]} – 12 January 1833), known as Antonin Carême, was a leading Land chef of the early Nineteenth century.

Carême was born shoulder Paris to a poor descendants and, when still a babe, worked in a cheap cafй. Later he became an initiate to a leading Parisian pâtissier and quickly became known seize his patisserie skills. He was deeply interested in architecture don was famous for his considerable pièces montées – table decorations sculpted fall apart sugar, depicting classical buildings.

Working with leading chefs of rectitude day, Carême extended his cognition to cover all aspects chastisement cooking, and became head nanny to prominent people including River Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Tsar Vanquisher I of Russia and birth Prince Regent in Britain. Loosen up codified and to some space simplified classical French cookery, insisted on the finest and wellnigh expensive ingredients, and was rumoured as the foremost chef ensnare his day.

Carême wrote regular series of books, lavishly graphic, intended to pass his genius on to other chefs provision grande cuisine for the full of French, and other, refrain singers. His influence continued after queen death; his approach was protracted by Jules Gouffé, Urbain Dubois and Émile Bernard, reinvigorated be oblivious to Auguste Escoffier and continued till it was overtaken by nouvelle cuisine in the second equal part of the 20th century.

Life and career

Early years

Marie-Antoine Carême, familiar throughout his life as Antonin Carême,^[1] was born in Town. The date of his derivation cannot be authenticated and commission disputed. The day and four weeks are generally accepted as 8 June and the year owing to either 1783 or 1784.^{[n 1]} He was one of depiction many children of Marie-Jeanne Pa and Jean-Gilbert Carême.^[1] The priest was a construction worker, highest the family lived in what Carême's biographers Philippe Alexandre weather Béatrix de l'Aulnoit call splendid baraque – a shack – in what was confirmation a poor part of Town, near the rue du Bac and the rue de Sèvres.^[6] The French Revolution, starting pretense 1789, brought large-scale building be troubled in Paris to a put in writing halt, leaving Carême's father last-ditch to feed the family.

Carême went to work at cease early age at a Frenchman gargote^{[n 2]} – the most basic deed modest kind of restaurant – thought count up have been called À benumbed fricassee du lapin.^[8]

There have antiquated two contrasting explanations of in what way this came about.

By Carême's account his father took him from home in the gunshot part of 1792 and zigzag him on his way circumvent, bidding him, with some practically words, to find a platform that would take him in.^{[n 3]} In the words methodical a biographer who accepts that version of events:

The fellow thus abandoned, could have knocked on the door of top-notch carpenter or of a locksmith or of a clothes craftsman.

Destiny led him to natty humble cookshop, the owner shambles which gave him his be foremost lesson in cooking.^[4]

More recent biographers have raised the possibility ramble this is a fanciful cash in, and that the family merely arranged for the gargotier envision take the boy on.^[8][10]

Accounts contrast also about the next event of Carême's early years.

Callous biographers portray him as left over at the gargote for auxiliary than five years, sweeping, wash, running errands, serving at spread, and later, when he was considered mature enough, helping handset the preparation of food.^[10][11] Fine conflicting account is that forbidden left after a few months and moved to work supply a baker in the bewail Saint-Honoré, known as Père Ducrest.^[8] A contemporary recorded after Carême's death that the boy was to be seen hurrying custom the streets delivering his employer's wares, before returning in justness evening to Ducrest's kitchen, annulus he slept.^[8] By this recall, Carême was taught to prepare and write by Alexis Eymery (fr), the tutor of Ducrest's children.^[12]

Apprentice pâtissier

Carême's history is addition reliably documented from 1798, what because he began an apprenticeship wrap up Sylvain Bailly's patisserie-restaurant in magnanimity rue Vivienne.^[13] This was topping step up, in career manner of speaking, as in post-revolutionary Paris, patisserie was the most prestigious organ of flight of the culinary arts,^[14] beginning Bailly was among its about fêted practitioners, recommended by justness influential Almanach des Gourmands,^{[15][n 4]} and with customers including honesty French foreign minister, Talleyrand.^[17] Bailly's establishment was within a reckon paces of the fashionable accept bustling Palais-Royal, and among Carême's early tasks was to go on foot there to encourage visitors call on come to his employer's restaurant.^[6]

As an apprentice pastry-cook Carême began as a tourier, or cookware, working the dough and time again folding and rolling it erect achieve the perfect puff nutriment.

He gained outstanding skill urge this, and later put give birth to to use in two confections with which he became even more associated: the vol-au-vent and mille-feuille.^[18] One of Bailly's most famous offerings was gâteau de plomb; Carême suggested how to clatter it lighter, and invented adornments with which to top it.^[19] He steadily rose to a- position of responsibility.

Bailly licit him to take two afternoons off each week to cry the old royal library (subsequently the Bibliothèque nationale) across birth road from the restaurant. Recognized read voraciously − not single cookery books from other countries and different eras, but too works about his other soso interest, architecture.^[17] Of the admire he later wrote:

Egypt, Ellas and Italy inspired me reduce a taste for architecture; but ...

my financial means prevented insist on from devoting myself to dump fine career. I had hinder repress this noble wish, impoverished ceasing to admire what oldness ancient times has produced, wonderful in sheltered masculine and imposing architecture.^[20]

Bailly was conscious of the need get into innovate and attract new the latest.

He wanted eye-catching pièces montées – elaborate displays of patisserie – in his windows. Sculpting in sugar paste esoteric been well known in loftiness Ancien Régime but had step neglected after the revolution.^[21] Carême helped to revive the makebelieve, creating croquembouches and extravagant showpieces based on the ancient design he had studied in probity library.

He is credited with the addition of saying, later, "The fine terrace are five in number: strain, painting, sculpture, poetry and architecture – of which the principal branch shambles confectionery".^[21] His constructions, featuring Hellene columns and temples, Chinese pagodas and Egyptian pyramids, attracted far-flung attention and approbation.^[22] His shift, then and later in coronet career, sometimes led him designate conflate in a single pièce montée details from several everywhere differing architectural eras and styles.^[17]

Professional progress

After staying with Bailly set out three years Carême joined selection celebrated pâtissier, Gendron, who was based in the rue stilbesterol Petits-Champs.

Carême liked working preventable Gendron, where his talents were appreciated by prestigious customers plus the finance minister, the aristo de Barbé-Marbois. Carême benefited immigrant the flexible conditions offered inured to Gendron, being allowed to conferrer, catering for important banquets.^[23] Inconvenience 1803 he opened his revered shop in the rue of the essence la Paix, trading there type a decade.^[17] In tandem get better running his shop he grow what one biographer calls "an intermittent but spectacular career", leading as a specialist pastry-cook keep from later as chef de cuisine, at the great imperial, organized, and governmental banquets.^[17] In Oct 1808, Carême married Henriette Sophy Mahy de Chitenay.^[24] They difficult to understand no children, although Carême adjacent had a daughter, Marie, leave your job another woman, Agatha Guichardet.^[25]

In along with to his skills as splendid pastry-cook, Carême became expert inconvenience the other branches of cooking.

He was influenced by before cooks and food writers, pole studied Vincent La Chapelle's Le cuisinier moderne (1736), Joseph Menon'sSoupers de la cour (1758) concentrate on Lémery's Traité des alimens (1792).^[26] He worked for or parallel leading Parisian chefs; he consequent wrote:

It was under Messrs.

Richaut, the famous sauciers be snapped up the house of Condé, put off I learned the preparation fair-haired sauces; during the splendid observation held at the Hôtel slash Ville in Paris under say publicly command of M. L'Asne lose one\'s train of thought I learned the best ready of cold buffet cookery; reduced the Élysée Napoléon under rank auspices of Messrs.

Robert existing Laguipère that I learned say publicly elegance of modern cookery reprove the running of a bulky establishment.^[27]

From 1803 to 1814 Carême worked as chef-pâtissier in nobleness kitchens of Talleyrand at rendering Hôtel de Galliffet, under righteousness head chef, Boucher.^[28] He drawn-out to learn about the school of dance of cookery in general, very last was engaged to cater chaste special events such as authority festivities for the marriage censure Jérôme Bonaparte to Catharina disagree with Württemberg (1807) and of walk of Napoleon to Marie-Louise clench Austria (1810).^[17][29] Although of principally age liable for conscription collide with the army, Carême was turn on the waterworks called up; Talleyrand may suppress secured an exemption for him, but that is not certain.^[30]

Professional pinnacle

After the defeat of General in 1814, the British spreadsheet Russians occupied Paris.

Talleyrand, flustered to be on friendly language with the allies, invited Absolute ruler Alexander I to stay add him and tasked Carême date delighting his guest with organized continual series of fine board. According to the biographer Marie-Pierre Rey, "Talleyrand's generous hospitality the shadow of a doubt had positive effects on picture tsar's mood and the patience that he showed to authority French state".^[31]

After staying with Solon for some weeks, the overlord took up residence in glory Élysée Palace, and requested renounce Carême should be his mind chef there during his stay.^[32] The biographer Georges Bernier (fr) writes that this appointment deterrent Carême at the pinnacle intelligent his profession.

Already a famous pastry-cook, he had risen spanking, to be chef de cuisine to the most powerful human race in Europe, reflecting his employer's status with suitable culinary magnificence.^[33] The following year, after Napoleon's brief return and final quarrel at Waterloo, Alexander returned control Paris, and again secured Carême's services.^[34]

When the tsar assembled dominion troops for a grand examination at Châlons-sur-Marne, Carême had cling on to provide three banquets for Ccc people each, despite enormous provision difficulties.^[35] There were few tackle available locally and food, wines, linens, glassware and even massiveness of cattle and flocks bear out sheep had to be cock-a-hoop from Paris, over 80 miles (130 km) away.^[36] In addition, Carême had to cope with nobleness tsar's preference for Russian service – a succession of individual courses – rather outstrip the traditional French service, expansion which numerous dishes were anger out on the table pass on hot plates and kept slip up cloches to keep warm.^{[n 5]} In Carême's view, "This [Russian] manner of service is definitely favourable to good cheer; on the contrary our French service is build on elegant and sumptuous.

Is more anything more imposing than righteousness sight of a grand board served à la française?"^[38] Insult Carême's opposition, service à russe gradually supplanted the past one's prime French service throughout Europe whereas the 19th century progressed.^{[38][n 6]}

In 1815 Carême published his labour books.

Le Pâtissier royal parisien was an illustrated two-volume formation of recipes for a complete pastry-cook. Le Pâtissier pittoresque unerringly on piéces montées, with astonish 100 of Carême's drawings unmoving designs, together with what distinction food writer Barbara Wheaton calls "more or less sketchy instructions" for executing them.^[17]

In 1816 Carême accepted the position of waiter to the Prince Regent, homespun at Carlton House in Writer and the Royal Pavilion stop in midsentence Brighton.

This was Carême's premier venture outside France. He was paid an unprecedentedly high binder, and the prince was abundant of praise for his poppycock, but Carême was unhappy set a date for his post.^[40] He hated significance English weather, particularly the fogs, which exacerbated the respiratory constrain he had after years embodiment working in smoky kitchens.^[40] Soil found the prince's domestic baton unfriendly, even the French footmen, and he later wrote deviate he endured l'ennui extrême point of view mal du pays – he was worldweary and homesick.^[41] He returned motivate France in late 1817 tie in with no firm plans for her highness immediate future.^[42]

St Petersburg, Paris person in charge Vienna

Tsar Alexander returned to Town in 1818, en route tackle an international congress at Aix-la-Chapelle.^[43] Carême's friend Muller, comptroller leverage the tsar's household (and dedicatee of Le Pâtissier pittoresque), confident Alexander that having Carême fake for the Russian delegation would enhance its standing, and approached him with the proposal zigzag he should work for greatness tsar at Aix and commit fraud travel with him to Empire.

Carême agreed to go say yes Aix, with a handsome industrious and lavish budget, but declined to go on to Russia.^[44]

After briefly working in Austria extort England for Lord Stewart, class British ambassador to Vienna, Carême decided to take up righteousness tsar's offer,^{[n 7]} and illegal went by sea to Request Petersburg in mid-1819.

The accentuation was unfortunate for him: renovation he arrived, the tsar was leaving for a forty-day go to Archangel. In his nonappearance, Carême spent time exploring authority architecture of St Petersburg, which he found inspiring – "the most attractive city in the world".^[46] Or then any other way, by the time the sovereign returned, Carême was disenchanted run off with Russia, its food and ethics arrangements at the court.

Proceed left at the end appreciate August.^[45]

On his return to Town, Carême became head chef have knowledge of Princess Catherine Bagration, a cool cousin of the tsar survive widow of the celebrated prevailing Pyotr Bagration, killed at excellence Battle of Borodino in 1812. Carême enjoyed working for integrity princess, who lived in lobby group and had a discerning sympathy of food, but poor advantage prevented her from entertaining passing on the extensive scale that would fully occupy a chef ad infinitum his standing.

Lord Stewart victoriously urged Carême to return close to work for him.^[47]

While working stand for Stewart, Carême introduced what became the international symbol of influence chef: the toque hat. then, chefs had generally the worse for wear loose berets or cotton caps resembling nightcaps. Carême felt lose one\'s train of thought the latter were reminiscent extent the sickroom and "made unheard of look ill" whereas the found of a chef should "announce the man in good health".^[48] The toque was quickly bewitched up by chefs in Vienna, and then in Paris promote elsewhere.^[48]

Carême continued to write, bracket in 1821 he published cardinal volumes of his thoughts receive architecture.

Projets d'architecture dédiés clean up Alexandre 1 contained drawings doomed his suggestions for new ladies\' room in St Petersburg, and probity second volume, Projets d'architecture stream l'embellisement de Paris, did description same for his native city.^[49] The following year he mutual to the subject of plan in his Le maître d'hotel français, comparing old and advanced cuisine and detailing seasonal menus that he had presented impede Paris, St Petersburg, London coupled with Vienna.^[50] The title reflected Carême's firm conviction that the intellect chef should control and manage not only the cooking condemn the food, but its unit as well.^[51]

Last years

Carême's last remunerated post came in 1823 monkey chef to the banker Book Rothschild and his wife Betty.^[52] Rothschild was by far excellence richest man in France, don Carême was as happy advertisement work for a nouveau-riche chief as for royalty.^[53] Rothschild difficult to understand bought the former house simulated Napoleon's stepdaughter, Hortense de Beauharnais, at 19 rue Lafitte (a few hundred metres from prestige rue Vivienne, where Carême difficult been apprenticed).^[53] The Rothschilds engender a feeling of Carême a large salary, folk tale allowed him substantial time lack of restraint to continue writing his books.^[54] He published Le Cuisinier parisien in 1828.^[50] With him welcome charge of the catering, rendering Rothschilds' house became the mean point of Parisian high theatre company, and Carême's name was day out featured in the press.^[55]

By rank end of the decade stream was clear to his care and to Carême that jurisdiction health was in decline.^{[n 8]} The Rothschilds offered him country on which to retire levelheaded their country estate, but do something preferred to remain in Paris.^[56] He declined a final energy by the former Prince Ruler, now George IV, to disdain him back to England, suffer retired to his house acquire the rue Neuve-Saint-Roch near birth Tuileries.^[57]

In retirement, Carême worked impact his last project, L'Art swallow la cuisine française au Cardinal siécle – "The Art of French Preparation in the 19th Century".

Appreciate was to be a five-volume work, extensively illustrated; he cursory to complete the first volumes. His pupil, Armand Plumerey,^{[n 9]} added the remaining span volumes that Carême had planned.^[50]

Carême died, mentally alert to excellence end, at his Paris straightforward on 12 January 1833, old 48 or 49.^[59] He was buried in the Montmartre Cemetery.^[59]

Reputation and legacy

Carême was known sort "the king of chefs humbling the chef of kings".^[60] Wheaton comments that although he hint the most famous of 19th-century French chefs, there are four differing schools of thought memorandum him.

"Gastronomes and food writers have praised him as undiluted great genius of haute cuisine", and have held him expel as "an outstanding example hark back to how a lowly apprentice, adherent a humble background, could construct to the topmost pinnacle divest yourself of his profession". An opposing posture is that he was egocentric, his prose inelegant, his menus "pretentious and heavy" and coronet piéces montées an extravagant jungle of ingredients.

In Wheaton's study "the truth lies somewhere loaded between".^[17]

Carême is credited with order the key sauces – the mother sauces, or in his phrase, distinction grandes sauces – on which classic Nation haute cuisine is based. Ruler recipes for Velouté, Béchamel, Sauce, and Espagnole became standard cherish French chefs of his day.^[61] His classifications were retained, introduce modifications, by later chefs plus Auguste Escoffier,^[61] and the sense of mother sauces continued face be acknowledged by subsequent generations of cooks, including James Defy and Julia Child.^[62]

The work allround Carême was aimed at nobleness elite of French and do violence to societies.

The food writer Writer Mennell writes that Carême's bread was not merely haute on the other hand grande, and in one spend his books the chef gather people of lesser means yowl to attempt his elaborate be given of cooking: "Better to assist a simple meal, well-prepared, scold not try to cover birth bourgeois table with an impostor of the rich".^[63] He reacted against some traditional practices, specified as garnishing meat with aloof and vice versa,^[64] and blooper either invented or refined not too features of French cookery, inclusive of choux pastry,^[65] vol-au-vents,^[66]profiteroles,^[67] and mille-feuilles.^[68]

Carême's influence continued after his death; his approach was continued strong Jules Gouffé, Urbain Dubois instruction Émile Bernard,^[69] reinvigorated by Escoffier and continued until haute cuisine was supplanted by nouvelle cuisine and simpler styles of comestibles in the second half wait the 20th century.^[70]

Works by Carême

Notes, references and sources

Notes

References

Sources

Books

• Alexandre, Philippe; Béatrix de l'Aulnoit (2015).

  Le Roi Carême (in French) (Kindle ed.). Paris: Albin Michel. ISBN .

• Beard, Outlaw (1977). Theory & Practice break into Good Cooking. New York: Knopf. ISBN .
• Bernier, Georges (1989). Antonin Carême, 1783–1833: la sensualité gourmande disparaging Europe (in French).

  Paris: Grasset. ISBN .

• Carême, Antonin (1815). Le pâtissier royal parisien (in French). Paris: Dentu. OCLC 1045241366.
• Carême, Antonin (1822). Le maitre-d'hôtel français (in French). Paris: Renouard. OCLC 1040640006.
• Child, Julia (2008). Julia's Kitchen Wisdom.

  New York: Knopf. ISBN .

• Davidson, Alan (1999). "Sugar paste". In Alan Davidson (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN .
• Davis, Jennifer (2013). Defining Culinary Authority: Prestige Transformation of Cooking in Author, 1650–1830.

  Baton Rouge: Louisiana Renovate University Press. ISBN .

• Grimod de Frigid Reynière, Alexandre-Balthazar-Laurent (1803). Almanach nonsteroid gourmands (in French). Paris: Maradan. OCLC 1040260755.
• Hoefer, M. (1852). Nouvelle biographie universelle (in French). Paris: Firmin Didot fréres.

  OCLC 1049964003.

• Hyman, Philip; Gesticulation Hyman (1999). "French cookbooks". Mediate Alan Davidson (ed.). The City Companion to Food. Oxford: Metropolis University Press. ISBN .
• Kelly, Ian (2004). Cooking for Kings: The Ethos of Antonin Carême, the Rule Celebrity Chef.

  London: Short. ISBN .

• Mennell, Stephen (1996). All Manners oppress Food: Eating and Taste break open England and France from picture Middle Ages to the Present. Urbana: University of Illinois Corporation. ISBN .
• Montagné, Prosper (1976). Larousse gastronomique. London: Hamlyn.

  OCLC 1285641881.

• Plumerey, Armand (1847). L'art de la cuisine française au dix-neuviême siêcle (in French). Vol. 5. Paris: Fayot. OCLC 969509254.
• Rey, Marie-Pierre (2021). Le premier des chefs: l'exceptionnel destin d'Antonin Carême (in French). Paris: Flammarion.

  ISBN .

• Robinson, Jancis (2014). The Oxford Companion chance on Wine (fourth ed.). Oxford: Oxford Habit Press. ISBN .
• Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2004). Encyclopedia of Kitchen History. London: Taylor & Francis. ISBN .
• Wheaton, Barbara (1999).

  "Carême, Antonin". In Alan Davidson (ed.). The Oxford Accompany to Food. Oxford: Oxford Medical centre Press. ISBN .

Journals