The French have been the leaders and are recognized as the innovators in the culinary arts scene since the beginning of time, and most of the famous chefs in history are French. The well known and famous chefs that are not French, nevertheless, are trained in the art of cooking with the classical French style.
Antoine Careme well known as the “King of Chefs and the Chef of Kings,” and who began as an abandoned child. It was Paris, in the 18th century, where Antoine Careme was left alone at the door step of a restrauteur, and became the father of “haute cuisine” in the 19th century which is the high art of French cooking. French statesman and Diplomat Talleyrand-Perigord, the future King George IV, Czar Alexander I, and James Rothschild a powerful banker, Careme was the Chef to these world leaders and aristocrats. Careme is well known for his famous writings on the art of cooking, included in the writings is the famed “The Art of French Cooking” or L’Art de la Cuisine Francaise. The masterpiece contains five volumes of information and knowledge on the history of French cooking, table settings, menu planning, recipes in the hundreds, and much more.
George Auguste Escoffier, who is also French, in the late 19th and early 20th century modernized Careme’s elaborate style of cuisine by his ingenious simplification of the food. With partner Cesar Ritz, and as a chef George Auguste Escoffier lent his culinary skills and talents to open the Carlton and Ritz hotels, and on the German Passenger Liner (Imperator) , 1913, went on to impress passengers such as Kaiser William II of Germany who was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia. The Peach Melba is a classic dessert, invented in 1892 or 1893 by chef Auguste Escoffier, and Escoffier created this famous treat for Australian singer Nellie Melba. Escoffier is well known for such famous treats as Peach Melba. Escoffier wrote volumes on the art of cooking, but within the commercial kitchens, Escoffier was largely responsible as the mover and shaker in the improvement of the working conditions. Escoffier was a stickler for cleanliness, and Escoffier demanded the same cleanliness from the working staff. Escoffier was also against any type of swearing or violence from his workers and all these types of behaviour was forbidden, and at the time swearing or violence was common in the kitchens among apprentices and older cooking staff.