Auguste Escoffier died over sixty years ago, but his influence and recipes live on. One of the most enduring is his famous crepes suzette, says Simon Hopkinson. Photographs by William Reavell.
Notwithstanding the antics of a few chefs de nos jours, the most famous of all remains a dead one. You might say this is no great surprise - playwrights, novelists, poets, and artists continue to inspire long after their lives have ended. But as far as chefs are concerned, I believe only one will run and run.
That chef is, of course, Auguste Escoffier. A French chef, naturellement. I mean, mon Dieu! - famous chefs will always be French. Well, certainly within most of our lifetimes. After all, what other nation has really and truly worked at it? For one thing, France has the necessary love of eating to produce great chefs. And the chefs themselves have the belief, determination, and skill learnt through years of tradition to perpetuate this love. They have simply siezed on a healthy habit and cooked it up better than anyone else.
The British have also produced cooks and cookery writers of great repute, such as Hannah Glasse, Eliza Acton, Elizabeth Marshall, Mrs Beeton, John Fothergill, Philip Harben, Elizabeth David, Jane Grigson, Fanny Cradock and Margaret Costa. We should also feel proud of home-grown chefs like William Heptinstall, George Perry-Smith, Francis Coulson, Kenneth Bell, Jimmy Last, Mary Shaw, Keith Knight, Malcolm Reid and Colin Long, Joyce Molyneux and Shaun Hill, to name just a few.
But when it comes to sheer professionalism and a staggering output of recipes, we cannot hold up a julienne of carrot to the likes of Escoffier.
Auguste Escoffier was born in Villeneuve-Loubet in the South of France in 1846. He began his cooking career at the tender age of 13 in his uncle's restaurant in Nice. His early years as a chef are not well documented, but we must imagine that they were tough, and also remarkable, because by 1890, Auguste had been appointed chef de cuisine at the newly opened Savoy Hotel in London.
Escoffier remained in the kitchens of this distinguished hotel until 1898. During his time there, he created a perfect peach dessert and some delicious pieces of thin curly toast, both named after the Australian diva, Dame Nellie Melba. Marie Rose's identity remains a mystery, but prawns will forever be swathed in pink mayonnaise because of Escoffier. It has also never been confirmed who Suzette might have been, but pancakes bathed in orange sauce were soon on every menu. This recipe is associated in the popular imagination with waiterly theatrics at the table, rickety trolleys and leaping flames, but the original recipe makes no mention of fire. It simply calls for pancakes to be finished at the table with a sauce made from butter, caster sugar, Curacao and the juice of one tangerine. For the boozier, saucier version, turn to the recipe section.
He created many other dishes, but these in particular have become culinary classics, and I bet they will still be served up somewhere in the world 200 years after their creation. Their longevity causes one to ponder over how many present day 'signature dishes' will still be around come the year 2100.
Escoffier went on to run the kitchens of the Carlton Hotel after leaving the Savoy, but also spent some time in charge of the imperial kitchens on the steam ship Imperator, of the Hamburg-America line. On one occasion, Emperor William II, during a congratulatory conversation with his chef, said: 'I am the Emperor of Germany, but you are the Emperor of chefs.'
In 1920, Escoffier was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour and, in 1928, Officer of the Legion. For many of us, however, he will be remembered most because of his writing. Le Guide Culinaire was published in 1903, and its far-sightedness, intelligence and the modernity of its thinking make it a timeless classic. It could have been written yesterday, if only there was anyone of his calibre around to do so. Reading it, I find myself deeply humbled. This scholarly work, comprising 2,973 recipes, was compiled with the professional cook in mind, yet, in essence, it is simply all about learning how to cook.
The finest cookery textbook you could own, Le Guide Culinaire needs to be thoroughly read. It assumes that you are interested in learning how to cook really well, and there are no pictures. But it is written by the most famous chef of all time, and reading it will make you wish that the great man himself were still around to pass on his expertise in person.