CHEF OF KINGS AND KING OF CHEFS.

MARIE-ANTONIN CAREME,[JUNE 8,1784 - JAN 12 1833], well known as the first celebrity chef.

Born in Paris and abandoned there by destitute parents in 1792 at the height of chaos of the French revolution, he worked as a kitchen boy at a cheap Parisian chophouse in exchange for room and board. In 1798, he was formally apprentice to Sylvain bailly, a famous patsies with a shop near the PALAIS-ROYAL[is a palace and garden located opposite the north wing of THE LOUVRE MUSEUM. The Palaise -Royal today houses offices for French national government and ministry of culture]. Careme did freelance work creating centerpieces for the French diplomat and gourmet-CHARLES MAURICE DE TALLEYRAND, but also other members of Parisian high society, including Napoleon. Napoleon was famously indifferent to food, but he understood the importants of social relations in the world of diplomacy. In 1804, Napoleon gave money to Talleyrand [his prime minister] to purchase CHATEAU DE VALENCAY, a large estate outside of Paris. The Chateau was intended to act as a kind of diplomatic gathering place. When Talleyrand moved there, he took Careme with him. Careme was set a test by Talleyrand, to create whole year's worth menus, without repetition, and using only seasonal produce. Careme passed the test and completed his training in Talleyrand's kitchens. After the fall of Napoleon, Careme went to London for a time and served as chef de cuisine to the prince regent, later George IV. Returning to the continent he served Tsar Alexander I in st.Petersburg, before returning to Paris, where he was chef to banker JAMES MAYER ROTHSCHILD. He died in Paris at the age of 48, and is remembered as the founder of 'THE HAUTE CUISINE' concept.
He is credited with creating the standard chef's hat, the toque.

He wrote a number of cookbooks and recipes.
Here is a picture of a large kitchen in his words [early 1800's]

"Imagine a large kitchen at the moment of a great dinner. See twenty chefs coming and going in a cauldron of heat. Picture a great mass of charcoal, a cubic meter in size, for the cooking of entrees, and yet another mass for making the soups, the sauces, and the ragouts, and yet another for frying and for the water baths. Add to that a heap of burning wood for four spits, each one turning, one bearing a sirloin weighing forty-five to sixty pounds, another with a piece of veal weighing thirty-five to forty-five pounds, and another two for the fowl and game. In this furnace, everyone moves with speed; not a sound is heard: only the chef has a right to speak and at the sound of my voice everyone obeys. Finally the last straw: all the windows are closed so that the air does not cool the dishes as they are being served. Thus, we spend the best years of our lives. we must obey even when our strengths fails us, but it is the burning charcoal that kills us. Does it matter? The shorter the life, the greater the glory.''