Born into a poor family in Paris at the end of the 18th century, Carême was thrown out of his home at age of 12. The resourceful boy soon found a job as an apprentice in a modest Parisian kitchen. From these humble beginnings, Carême's star rose rapidly. He worked his way into kitchens that served some of the surviving aristocrats. By working under one great chef and then another, he mastered all branches of cooking - pastry, sauces, cold foods, hot foods. He became the most sought-after chef in Europe. Chef to the rich and famous including the brilliant diplomat Talleyrand, King George IV of England, Czar Alexander of Russia, Napoleon and the Baron de Rothschild, history credits him as "the father of haute cuisine." Revered for his tireless dedication to his profession and unwillingness to compromise his high standards, Carême is an inspiration. It is said that Talleyrand’s dinner table was responsible for setting the peace of Europe after the Napoleonic Wars.
But Carême was also busy writing books, often working all day in the kitchen, then staying up nights to study and write. He considered it his life’s work to pass to the world his intimate knowledge of every phase of the chef’s art and of classical cuisine. A passage from one of his books conveys a strong impression of his intensity and dedication, as well as a clear picture of Talleyrand’s kitchen: Imagine yourself in a large kitchen at the moment of a great dinner. There you see twenty chefs at their urgent occupations, coming, going, and moving with speed in this cauldron of heat. Looking at a great mass of live charcoal, a cubic metre for the cooking of the entrees, and another mass on the ovens for the cooking of the soups, sauces, ragouts, frying and bains-marie. Then add a heap of burning wood in front of which four spits are turning, one bears sixty pounds of sirloin, another bearing forty-five pounds of veal and the last two bearing wild fowl and game.
In this furnace everyone moves with speed; not a sound is heard; only the chef has the right to make himself heard, and at the sound of his voice, everyone obeys. Finally, to add to sufferings, for about half an hour the doors and windows are closed so that the air doesn’t cool the dishes as they’re being dished up. And in this way we pass the days of our lives. But honour commands. We must obey although physical strength fails. But the burning charcoal kills the cooks.
