Escoffier: The King of Chefs

by Kenneth James

Hambledon and London Press, 320 pp., $29.95

In this day of intense public interest in the lives and personalities of celebrity chefs, Kenneth James brings us an imminently readable biography of Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935), one of the first international stars of modern cooking.

Born in modest circumstances near Nice, Escoffier was apprenticed at 13 (his stature too slight for the family ironworking business), and he never looked back. Consumed with ambition to become the best, he moved steadily upward in his assigned trade. “I had already realized the importance of cooking and the role a conscientious cook could play in life.”

Working in partnership with hotelier César Ritz, Escoffier’s long career included revising the reigning chaotic system into the efficient kitchen brigade, and developing and documenting literally thousands of recipes for Le Guide Culiniere (1903, the bible for professional cooks) and Ma Cuisine (1934, for home cooks). His clientele included heads of state and stars, such as England’s Edward VII, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Sarah Bernhardt. Less well-known was his concern for kitchen employees’ welfare and his lifelong humanist activities. Just before World War I, when Kaiser Wilhelm thanked him for an exquisite meal, Escoffier took the opportunity to plead for peace.

The author, knowledgeably passionate about food and history, chronicles Escoffier’s life and times with lively wit, interspersing the chapters of biography with quirky “Interludes” about such diverse subjects as the history of coffee, the joys of eggs, and the uses of the poêle, the French slope-sided frying pan. — MM P.

This article appears in December 12 • 2003.

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Mick Vann is a retired Austin chef who is a food writer and restaurant critic, cookbook author, restaurant consultant, and recipe developer. He moonlights as a University of Texas horticulturist with a propensity for ethnic eats and international food, particularly of the Asian persuasion, but he also knows his way around a plate of soul food or barbecue.

Mexico City native Claudia Alarcón has made Austin home since 1984. She worked her way through college in the local restaurant industry, graduating from the University of Texas in 1999. She has been a Chronicle contributor for 15 years and presents lectures and workshops on topics related to the foodways of Mexico, both locally and internationally.

MM Pack is a food writer/historian and private chef who divides her time between Austin and San Francisco. A regular contributor to The Austin Chronicle and Edible Austin, she’s been published in Gastronomica, The San Francisco Chronicle, Oxford Encyclopedia of Food & Drink in America, Nation’s Restaurant News, Scribner's Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, The Dictionary of Culinary Biography, and Southern Foodways Alliance’s Cornbread Nation 1.

Wes Marshall is the author of What's a Wine Lover To Do? (Artisan) and The Wine Roads of Texas (Maverick), as well as the Executive Producer of the PBS television series of the same name. Wes has written for The Austin Chronicle since 1999, covering wine, cocktails, food, and travel.

Rachel Feit is an archaeologist by trade who worked her way through college in kitchens in Chicago and Austin before discovering that dishing up words was more satisfying that dishing up meals. She has been writing about food and restaurants for The Austin Chronicle for more than a decade, but still loves to cook.