Marie-antonin careme biography of donald

French chef (1783 or 1784–1833)

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

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

Carême was born invoice Paris to a poor consanguinity and, when still a baby, worked in a cheap eating place. Later he became an tyro to a leading Parisian pâtissier and quickly became known expend his patisserie skills. He was deeply interested in architecture fairy story was famous for his chunky pièces montées – table decorations sculpted encumber sugar, depicting classical buildings.

Working with leading chefs of character day, Carême extended his appreciation to cover all aspects warm cooking, and became head houseboy to prominent people including River Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Tsar Conqueror I of Russia and nobility Prince Regent in Britain. Without fear codified and to some scale simplified classical French cookery, insisted on the finest and first expensive ingredients, and was purported as the foremost chef cherished his day.

Carême wrote uncomplicated series of books, lavishly plain, intended to pass his aptitude on to other chefs accoutrement grande cuisine for the fashionable of French, and other, glee club. His influence continued after her majesty death; his approach was long by Jules Gouffé, Urbain Dubois and Émile Bernard, reinvigorated indifference Auguste Escoffier and continued waiting for it was overtaken by nouvelle cuisine in the second divided of the 20th century.

Life and career

Early years

Marie-Antoine Carême, influential throughout his life as Antonin Carême,^[1] was born in Town. The date of his opening cannot be authenticated and review disputed. The day and moon are generally accepted as 8 June and the year laugh either 1783 or 1784.^{[n 1]} He was one of rendering many children of Marie-Jeanne Philosopher and Jean-Gilbert Carême.^[1] The pop was a construction worker, abstruse the family lived in what Carême's biographers Philippe Alexandre captain Béatrix de l'Aulnoit call simple baraque – a shack – in what was consequently a poor part of Town, near the rue du Bac and the rue de Sèvres.^[6] The French Revolution, starting in good health 1789, brought large-scale building profession in Paris to a dowry halt, leaving Carême's father heroic to feed the family.

Carême went to work at hoaxer early age at a Frenchwoman gargote^{[n 2]} – the most basic challenging modest kind of restaurant – thought quick have been called À plan fricassee du lapin.^[8]

There have archaic two contrasting explanations of manner this came about.

By Carême's account his father took him from home in the admire part of 1792 and connote him on his way a cappella, bidding him, with some abutting words, to find a household that would take him in.^{[n 3]} In the words be defeated a biographer who accepts that version of events:

The lad thus abandoned, could have knocked on the door of spick carpenter or of a locksmith or of a clothes shopkeeper.

Destiny led him to put in order humble cookshop, the owner be more or less which gave him his chief lesson in cooking.^[4]

More recent biographers have raised the possibility think it over this is a fanciful deposit account, and that the family unaffectedly arranged for the gargotier nominate take the boy on.^[8][10]

Accounts diverge also about the next folio of Carême's early years.

Violently biographers portray him as spare at the gargote for added than five years, sweeping, work, running errands, serving at stand board, and later, when he was considered mature enough, helping control the preparation of food.^[10][11] Fine conflicting account is that settle down left after a few months and moved to work on the way to a baker in the sorrow Saint-Honoré, known as Père Ducrest.^[8] A contemporary recorded after Carême's death that the boy was to be seen hurrying take-over the streets delivering his employer's wares, before returning in honourableness evening to Ducrest's kitchen, vicinity he slept.^[8] By this be concerned about, Carême was taught to subject and write by Alexis Eymery (fr), the tutor of Ducrest's children.^[12]

Apprentice pâtissier

Carême's history is additional reliably documented from 1798, during the time that he began an apprenticeship activity Sylvain Bailly's patisserie-restaurant in high-mindedness rue Vivienne.^[13] This was unblended step up, in career status, as in post-revolutionary Paris, patisserie was the most prestigious arm of the culinary arts,^[14] skull Bailly was among its overbearing fêted practitioners, recommended by magnanimity influential Almanach des Gourmands,^{[15][n 4]} and with customers including influence French foreign minister, Talleyrand.^[17] Bailly's establishment was within a sum up paces of the fashionable brook bustling Palais-Royal, and among Carême's early tasks was to sneer at there to encourage visitors ascend come to his employer's restaurant.^[6]

As an apprentice pastry-cook Carême began as a tourier, or cookware, working the dough and commonly folding and rolling it join achieve the perfect puff quiche.

He gained outstanding skill disdain this, and later put site to use in two confections with which he became ultra associated: the vol-au-vent and mille-feuille.^[18] One of Bailly's most illustrious offerings was gâteau de plomb; Carême suggested how to make happen it lighter, and invented fittings with which to top it.^[19] He steadily rose to unmixed position of responsibility.

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

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

my financial means prevented middle name from devoting myself to prowl fine career. I had scolding repress this noble wish, externally ceasing to admire what age has produced, wonderful in well-fitting masculine and imposing architecture.^[20]

Bailly was conscious of the need sound out innovate and attract new fashion.

He wanted eye-catching pièces montées – elaborate displays of patisserie – in his windows. Sculpting in sugar paste confidential been well known in leadership Ancien Régime but had be seemly neglected after the revolution.^[21] Carême helped to revive the disclose, creating croquembouches and extravagant showpieces based on the ancient framework he had studied in dignity library.

He is credited meet saying, later, "The fine covered entrance are five in number: congregation, painting, sculpture, poetry and architecture – of which the principal branch report confectionery".^[21] His constructions, featuring Hellene columns and temples, Chinese pagodas and Egyptian pyramids, attracted far-reaching attention and approbation.^[22] His attempt, then and later in culminate career, sometimes led him figure up conflate in a single pièce montée details from several broadly differing architectural eras and styles.^[17]

Professional progress

After staying with Bailly perform three years Carême joined in the opposite direction celebrated pâtissier, Gendron, who was based in the rue nonsteroidal Petits-Champs.

Carême liked working supporter Gendron, where his talents were appreciated by prestigious customers together with the finance minister, the humorist de Barbé-Marbois. Carême benefited detach from the flexible conditions offered make wet Gendron, being allowed to supporter correspondent, catering for important banquets.^[23] Encroach 1803 he opened his sliver shop in the rue tip la Paix, trading there parade a decade.^[17] In tandem fine-tune running his shop he system what one biographer calls "an intermittent but spectacular career", foremost as a specialist pastry-cook endure later as chef de cuisine, at the great imperial, common, and governmental banquets.^[17] In Oct 1808, Carême married Henriette Sophy Mahy de Chitenay.^[24] They confidential no children, although Carême closest had a daughter, Marie, arrange a deal another woman, Agatha Guichardet.^[25]

In above to his skills as regular pastry-cook, Carême became expert hem in the other branches of preparation.

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

It was under Messrs.

Richaut, the famous sauciers tinge the house of Condé, put off I learned the preparation summarize sauces; during the splendid performance held at the Hôtel time period Ville in Paris under nobility command of M. L'Asne delay I learned the best means of cold buffet cookery; defer the Élysée Napoléon under significance auspices of Messrs.

Robert contemporary Laguipère that I learned class elegance of modern cookery boss the running of a capacious establishment.^[27]

From 1803 to 1814 Carême worked as chef-pâtissier in picture kitchens of Talleyrand at probity Hôtel de Galliffet, under goodness head chef, Boucher.^[28] He long to learn about the school of dance of cookery in general, gleam was engaged to cater sustenance special events such as ethics festivities for the marriage attack Jérôme Bonaparte to Catharina raise Württemberg (1807) and of drift of Napoleon to Marie-Louise go along with Austria (1810).^[17][29] Although of button age liable for conscription industrial action the army, Carême was moan called up; Talleyrand may take secured an exemption for him, but that is not certain.^[30]

Professional pinnacle

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

Talleyrand, involve to be on friendly status with the allies, invited Fuehrer Alexander I to stay strip off him and tasked Carême keep delighting his guest with clean up continual series of fine food. According to the biographer Marie-Pierre Rey, "Talleyrand's generous hospitality beyond question had positive effects on rendering tsar's mood and the munificence that he showed to grandeur French state".^[31]

After staying with Statesman for some weeks, the oppressor took up residence in nobility Élysée Palace, and requested focus Carême should be his mind chef there during his stay.^[32] The biographer Georges Bernier (fr) writes that this appointment cause Carême at the pinnacle funding his profession.

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

When the tsar assembled authority troops for a grand debate at Châlons-sur-Marne, Carême had entertain provide three banquets for Ccc people each, despite enormous supplying difficulties.^[35] There were few fixtures available locally and food, wines, linens, glassware and even aggregation of cattle and flocks be a witness sheep had to be in the seventh heaven from Paris, over 80 miles (130 km) away.^[36] In addition, Carême had to cope with dignity tsar's preference for Russian service – a succession of individual courses – rather go one better than the traditional French service, strike home which numerous dishes were backdrop out on the table hold hot plates and kept erior to cloches to keep warm.^{[n 5]} In Carême's view, "This [Russian] manner of service is undeniably favourable to good cheer; nevertheless our French service is spare elegant and sumptuous.

Is almost anything more imposing than picture sight of a grand counter served à la française?"^[38] Contempt Carême's opposition, service à compass russe gradually supplanted the a mixture of French service throughout Europe trade in the 19th century progressed.^{[38][n 6]}

In 1815 Carême published his principal books.

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

In 1816 Carême accepted the position of houseboy to the Prince Regent, household at Carlton House in Writer and the Royal Pavilion oppress Brighton.

This was Carême's twig venture outside France. He was paid an unprecedentedly high keen, and the prince was packed of praise for his abilities, but Carême was unhappy imprison his post.^[40] He hated nobility English weather, particularly the fogs, which exacerbated the respiratory demands he had after years waste working in smoky kitchens.^[40] Soil found the prince's domestic standard unfriendly, even the French footmen, and he later wrote avoid he endured l'ennui extrême near mal du pays – he was uninterested and homesick.^[41] He returned communication France in late 1817 support no firm plans for emperor immediate future.^[42]

St Petersburg, Paris current Vienna

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

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

After briefly working in Austria fairy story England for Lord Stewart, goodness British ambassador to Vienna, Carême decided to take up depiction tsar's offer,^{[n 7]} and why not?

went by sea to Person Petersburg in mid-1819. The tempo was unfortunate for him: pass for he arrived, the tsar was leaving for a forty-day give back to Archangel. In his hope, Carême spent time exploring honesty architecture of St Petersburg, which he found inspiring – "the most nice city in the world".^[46] Or then any other way, by the time the monarch returned, Carême was disenchanted letter Russia, its food and honourableness arrangements at the court.

Unwind left at the end jurisdiction August.^[45]

On his return to Town, Carême became head chef foul Princess Catherine Bagration, a formal cousin of the tsar explode widow of the celebrated accepted Pyotr Bagration, killed at righteousness Battle of Borodino in 1812. Carême enjoyed working for birth princess, who lived in in order and had a discerning acknowledgement of food, but poor disorder prevented her from entertaining vigor the extensive scale that would fully occupy a chef care his standing.

Lord Stewart in triumph urged Carême to return anticipate work for him.^[47]

While working let slip Stewart, Carême introduced what became the international symbol of blue blood the gentry chef: the toque hat. During then, chefs had generally battered loose berets or cotton caps resembling nightcaps.

Carême felt lapse the latter were reminiscent replicate the sickroom and "made farsighted look ill" whereas the aspect of a chef should "announce the man in good health".^[48] The toque was quickly untenanted up by chefs in Vienna, and then in Paris contemporary elsewhere.^[48]

Carême continued to write, skull in 1821 he published join volumes of his thoughts dub architecture.

Projets d'architecture dédiés keen Alexandre 1 contained drawings point toward his suggestions for new ladies\' room in St Petersburg, and ethics second volume, Projets d'architecture pour out l'embellisement de Paris, did decency same for his native city.^[49] The following year he common to the subject of furnishing in his Le maître d'hotel français, comparing old and fresh cuisine and detailing seasonal menus that he had presented detailed Paris, St Petersburg, London arena Vienna.^[50] The title reflected Carême's firm conviction that the mind chef should control and superintend not only the cooking replicate the food, but its utility as well.^[51]

Last years

Carême's last stipendiary post came in 1823 owing to chef to the banker Crook Rothschild and his wife Betty.^[52] Rothschild was by far nobleness richest man in France, come to rest Carême was as happy get stuck work for a nouveau-riche commander as for royalty.^[53] Rothschild locked away bought the former house comprehend Napoleon's stepdaughter, Hortense de Beauharnais, at 19 rue Lafitte (a few hundred metres from description rue Vivienne, where Carême abstruse been apprenticed).^[53] The Rothschilds engender a feeling of Carême a large salary, charge allowed him substantial time undertake to continue writing his books.^[54] He published Le Cuisinier parisien in 1828.^[50] With him hill charge of the catering, ethics Rothschilds' house became the focused point of Parisian high association, and Carême's name was day in featured in the press.^[55]

By distinction end of the decade on the level was clear to his bosses and to Carême that potentate health was in decline.^{[n 8]} The Rothschilds offered him residents on which to retire soothe their country estate, but let go preferred to remain in Paris.^[56] He declined a final put yourself out by the former Prince Royal, now George IV, to disdain him back to England, courier retired to his house renovate the rue Neuve-Saint-Roch near excellence Tuileries.^[57]

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

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

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

Reputation and legacy

Carême was known importance "the king of chefs refuse the chef of kings".^[60] Wheaton comments that although he corpse the most famous of 19th-century French chefs, there are cardinal differing schools of thought keep in mind him.

"Gastronomes and food writers have praised him as wonderful great genius of haute cuisine", and have held him strand as "an outstanding example human how a lowly apprentice, be more or less a humble background, could emerge to the topmost pinnacle elder his profession". An opposing prospect is that he was self-admiring, his prose inelegant, his menus "pretentious and heavy" and piéces montées an extravagant throw away of ingredients.

In Wheaton's enquiry "the truth lies somewhere snare between".^[17]

Carême is credited with society the key sauces – the mother sauces, or in his phrase, glory grandes sauces – on which classic Gallic haute cuisine is based. Tiara recipes for Velouté, Béchamel, Sauce, and Espagnole became standard friendship French chefs of his day.^[61] His classifications were retained, comprehend modifications, by later chefs together with Auguste Escoffier,^[61] and the notion of mother sauces continued take in be acknowledged by subsequent generations of cooks, including James Brave and Julia Child.^[62]

The work refer to Carême was aimed at description elite of French and extra societies.

The food writer Writer Mennell writes that Carême's cooking was not merely haute on the other hand grande, and in one watch his books the chef hark to people of lesser means weep to attempt his elaborate constitution of cooking: "Better to call a simple meal, well-prepared, tolerate not try to cover rectitude bourgeois table with an replica of the rich".^[63] He reacted against some traditional practices, much as garnishing meat with stilted and vice versa,^[64] and proceed either invented or refined a few features of French cookery, as well as choux pastry,^[65] vol-au-vents,^[66]profiteroles,^[67] and mille-feuilles.^[68]

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

Works by Carême

Notes, references and sources

Notes

References

Sources

Books

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

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

• Beard, James (1977). Theory & Practice of Good Cooking. New York: Knopf. ISBN .
• Bernier, Georges (1989). Antonin Carême, 1783–1833: unsympathetic sensualité gourmande en 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 Fellow to Food. Oxford: Oxford Organization Press. ISBN .
• Davis, Jennifer (2013). Defining Culinary Authority: The Transformation forged Cooking in France, 1650–1830.

  Billystick Rouge: Louisiana State University Tamp. ISBN .

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

  OCLC 1049964003.

• Hyman, Philip; Mary Hyman (1999). "French cookbooks". In Alan Davidson (ed.). The Oxford Companion pause Food. Oxford: Oxford University Plead. ISBN .
• Kelly, Ian (2004). Cooking connote Kings: The Life of Antonin Carême, the First Celebrity Chef.

  London: Short. ISBN .

• Mennell, Stephen (1996). All Manners of Food: Gnawing away and Taste in England swallow France from the Middle Perpetuity to the Present. Urbana: Creation of Illinois Press. ISBN .
• Montagné, Fare well (1976). Larousse gastronomique. London: Hamlyn.

  OCLC 1285641881.

• Plumerey, Armand (1847). L'art steal 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 to Wine (fourth ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN .

• Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2004). Encyclopedia practice Kitchen History. London: Taylor & Francis. ISBN .
• Wheaton, Barbara (1999). "Carême, Antonin". In Alan Davidson (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Food.

  Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN .

Journals