Celebrating Classic Cooking, Antonin Careme

“When we no longer have good cooking in the world, we will have no literature, nor high and sharp intelligence, nor friendly gathering, nor social harmony.”

Antonin Careme

A predecessor of my most recent column honoree, Julia Child, is a lesser-known name in most households but a culinary force that influenced the industry. Chef Antonin Careme (1784–1833), known as the “King of Chefs and the Chef of Kings,” is internationally renowned for his elaborate style of French cooking known as haute cuisine. He spent his early years as an apprentice in pastry shops but quickly achieved amazing success, becoming one of the first celebrity chefs.

Careme’s talent and love of architecture lead to some of his most exquisite and elaborate creations. He conceived and fashioned centerpieces representing architectural buildings including pyramids, temples and ancient ruins from ingredients such as almond paste, sugar and pastries. These works of art were designed for King George IV, Napoleon, and Czar Alexander.

Careme is credited for publishing five cookbooks, most notably “Cooking for Kings,” which offers a chef’s tour of the pleasure palaces of Britain and Europe. Known for inventing the four original mother sauces (tomato sauce, béchamel, sauce veloute and brown sauce), he created over 100 variations based on these four mother sauces. Careme also created the standard chef hat and is credited for a new way of serving food, which we still use today. Careme served his meal in separate courses, versus bringing out all the dishes at once.

Many accounts state that the dessert Charlotte Russe, also known as the “ice box cake,” was invented by Careme, who named it in honor of his one-time Russian employer Czar Alexander I. (Russe is the French word for “Russian.”) Instructions from the early 19^th century are quite different from today’s detailed recipes. We are including a modern-day version of Careme’s Charlotte Russe on our website blog, http://www.butlerspantry.com. I hope you enjoy.

Continue cooking, making creations from scratch and mastering the classics!