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Visiting Escoffierby Jeri Quinzio
Today, his birthplace is the Musee de l'Art Culinaire. A sunny yellow house with a still life of grapes, melons and eggplant painted on an outer wall, it's a must-see if you love food and want to learn more about one of the world's greatest chefs. Escoffier is generally credited with being the founder of modern culinary art. He created peche Melba, strawberries Romanoff and, famously, according to his obituary in a British newspaper "put frogs' legs on the West End menu." As a young boy, he apprenticed with his uncle in nearby Nice, then worked in top kitchens in Paris, Lucerne, Monte Carlo and London. In 1898, he was named chef de cuisine at the London Carlton. He retired to Monte Carlo when he was in his seventies, and died on February 12, 1935. He was 81. Escoffier's books are still in use, especially among professionals. His titles include: Le Guide Culinaire, Livres des Menus and Ma Cuisine.
It does have many photographs of Escoffier and such chefs as Jules Gouffe, Fernand Point, Prosper Salles, Prosper Montagne and Paul Bocuse. A photograph of the Australian opera star Nellie Melba is signed: "A Monsieur Escoffier avec mes remerciements pour la creation Peche Melba," and dated 1914. Another photo shows Escoffier tasting a Christmas pudding prepared for World War I soldiers. The museum has menus from his days at the Carlton and at London's Savoy Hotel, as well as menus for the coronation dinner honoring King George V. You'll see Escoffier's Cross of the Legion of Honor, the stamp the French issued in his honor in 1979, and bottles of Sauce Robert and Sauce Diable with Escoffier's name and image on the labels. One of the museum's eight exhibit rooms features the fireplace and spit used by the Escoffier family. Another room reproduces the provincial dining room of the family of Joseph Donon, a student of Escoffier's and founder of the museum. The table is set with Canton porcelain, Bohemian crystal and a silver service -- as if an elegant dinner party is about to take place. The museum is not perfect. Some items are incompletely identified. Some captions are in French; others, in English. Few are in both languages. Often it's not clear whether an item has any relationship to Escoffier or is simply there for its curiosity value. A case in point is a 1928 menu made of wood for a lumberman's dinner held in Boston. Chances are Escoffier was not in attendance, but it's not clear. Nevertheless, the museum is a wonderful place to visit. It's not grand or imposing; it's warm and welcoming. It seems appropriate that the king of chefs grew up in a place where the scents of lavender and rosemary fill the air and the simplest meals are full of flavor. Musee
de l'Art Culinaire Photographs by Shirley Moskow |
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Escoffier was the king of chefs and the chef
of kings. But he was born, in 1846, in the humble village of Villeneuve-Loubet
on France's Cote d'Azur, where every little breeze whispers rosemary, lavender
and thyme.
The
museum is a charming hodgepodge of professional memorabilia, family souvenirs, photographs,
portraits and mementos of a long, successful career. You'll spot something fascinating
on every wall and in every corner. There are kitchen utensils and cake molds;
porcelain dishes and pottery bowls, a reproduction of a train created entirely
from sugar, a picture of a tiger executed in rice and much more. The museum has
1,500 menus, hundreds of news clippings and more than a thousand books and magazines
in many different languages. Even the stairwell is interesting. It holds news
clippings testifying to Escoffier's interest in helping cooks who were poor,
ill or addicted to alcohol. According to Pierrette Boissier, the museum's assistant
curator, Escoffier wrote a book on poverty. It is rare and the museum does not
have a copy.