Marie-Antoine Carême

Marie-Antoine Carême (born June 8, 1784, Paris, France—died January 12, 1833, Paris) was a French chef who served the royalty of Europe, wrote several classic works on cuisine, and advanced the notion of cuisine as both an art and a science. He is often cited as the founder of French gastronomy and was a pioneer of grande cuisine.

Carême was born into a poor family. He began his career at age 15 as a kitchen helper in a Parisian restaurant but soon moved to employment in a fashionable pastry shop, or pâtisserie, frequented by Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand. Carême’s elaborately sculptured confections reached the table of Napoleon himself. Carême thereafter became the chef of Talleyrand (12 years), of the prince regent (the future George IV) of Great Britain (2 years), and briefly, in succession, of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, the court of Vienna, the British embassy in Paris, the prince of Württemberg, the marquess of Londonderry, and Princess Bagration. He then spent seven years with the baron de Rothschild at his Ferrières estate.

Carême’s cuisine was famous for its decorative and elaborate display, approaching the grandiose, fitting for the old society of Europe. His chief works include Le Cuisinier parisien; ou, l’art de la cuisine française au dix-neuvième siècle (1828; “The Parisian Cook; or, The Art of French Cooking in the 19th Century”), Le Pâtissier royal parisien (1828; “The Royal Parisian Pastry Chef”), Le Pâtissier pittoresque (1842; “The Picturesque Pastry Chef”), and Le Maitre d’hotel français: traité des menus à servir à Paris, à Saint-Pétersbourg, à Londres, et à Vienne (1820; “The French Head Waiter: A Selection of Menus to Serve in Paris, St. Petersburg, London, and Vienna”).

Carême’s ideas—which included an emphasis on the artful presentation of dishes and on the use of fresh ingredients—caught on in restaurants throughout Europe, especially in France, where the French Revolution contributed to the development of restaurants, as cooks of the deposed aristocracy looked for work. Carême helped create a new culinary ethic befitting the new France.