Misplaced Pages

#103896

93-519: Marie-Antoine Carême ( French: [maʁi ɑ̃twan kaʁɛm] ; 8 June 1783 or 1784 – 12 January 1833), known as Antonin Carême , was a leading French chef of the early 19th century. Carême was born in Paris to a poor family and, when still a child, worked in a cheap restaurant. Later he became an apprentice to a leading Parisian pâtissier and quickly became known for his patisserie skills. He

186-400: A Grande Galerie along the rue de Richelieu for his famous Orleans Collection of paintings, which was easily accessible to the public. Designed by the architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart , it was constructed around 1698–1700 and painted with Virgilian subjects by Coypel . The cost of this reconstruction totaled about 400,000 livres . Hardouin-Mansart's assistant, François d'Orbay , prepared

279-563: A balustrade and a view of the sky. The General Assembly chamber was first a chapel, then, under Price Napoleon, a gallery of paintings. It has been changed more than any of the other rooms in the Council. At one end is a long table, with a seat in the center for the Vice President of the Assembly, who chairs the meetings, and the six presidents of the sections of Council. The decoration of the room

372-489: A daughter, Marie, with another woman, Agatha Guichardet. In addition to his skills as a pastry-cook, Carême became expert in the other branches of cookery. He was influenced by earlier cooks and food writers, and studied Vincent La Chapelle 's Le cuisinier moderne (1736), Joseph Menon's Soupers de la cour (1758) and Lémery 's Traité des alimens (1792). He worked for or alongside leading Parisian chefs; he later wrote: From 1803 to 1814 Carême worked as chef-pâtissier in

465-439: A discerning appreciation of food, but poor health prevented her from entertaining on the extensive scale that would fully occupy a chef of his standing. Lord Stewart successfully urged Carême to return to work for him. While working for Stewart, Carême introduced what became the international symbol of the chef: the toque hat. Until then, chefs had generally worn loose berets or cotton caps resembling nightcaps . Carême felt that

558-663: A general site plan, showing the Palais-Royal before these alterations were made. When the Duke of Orléans died in 1701, his son became the head of the House of Orléans . The new Duke and Duchess of Orléans took up residence at the Palais-Royal. Two of their daughters, Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans , later the Duchess of Modena , and Louise Diane d'Orléans , later the Princess of Conti , were born there. At

651-487: A house that would take him in. In the words of a biographer who accepts this version of events: More recent biographers have raised the possibility that this is a fanciful account, and that the family simply arranged for the gargotier to take the boy on. Accounts differ also about the next stage of Carême's early years. Some biographers portray him as remaining at the gargote for more than five years, sweeping, washing, running errands, serving at table, and later, when he

744-529: A legitimised daughter of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, the King deeded the Palais-Royal to his brother. The new couple did not occupy the northeast wing, where Anne of Austria had originally lived, but instead chose to reside in the Palais Brion. For the convenience of the bride, new apartments were built and furnished in the wing facing east on the rue de Richelieu . It was at this time that Philippe commissioned

837-454: A position of responsibility. Bailly allowed him to take two afternoons off each week to visit the old royal library (subsequently the Bibliothèque nationale ) across the road from the restaurant. He read voraciously − not only cookery books from other countries and different eras, but also works about his other great interest, architecture. Of the latter he later wrote: Bailly was conscious of

930-409: A simple meal, well-prepared, and not try to cover the bourgeois table with an imitation of the rich". He reacted against some traditional practices, such as garnishing meat with fish and vice versa , and he either invented or refined several features of French cookery, including choux pastry , vol-au-vents, profiteroles , and mille-feuilles. Carême's influence continued after his death; his approach

1023-415: A single pièce montée details from several widely differing architectural eras and styles. After staying with Bailly for three years Carême joined another celebrated pâtissier, Gendron, who was based in the rue des Petits-Champs . Carême liked working for Gendron, where his talents were appreciated by prestigious customers including the finance minister, the marquis de Barbé-Marbois . Carême benefited from

SECTION 10

#1732844584104

1116-496: A temporary halt, leaving Carême's father struggling to feed the family. Carême went to work at an early age at a Parisian gargote  – the most basic and modest kind of restaurant – thought to have been called À la fricassee du lapin . There have been two contrasting explanations of how this came about. By Carême's account his father took him from home in the latter part of 1792 and sent him on his way alone, bidding him, with some touching words, to find

1209-599: Is a former French royal palace located on Rue Saint-Honoré in the 1st arrondissement of Paris . The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre . Originally called the Palais-Cardinal , it was built for Cardinal Richelieu from about 1633 to 1639 by architect Jacques Lemercier . Richelieu bequeathed it to Louis XIII , before Louis XIV gave it to his younger brother, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans . As

1302-445: Is another small square, Place André Malraux. The Council of State , created by Napoleon in 1799, inherited many of the functions of the earlier Royal Council , acting both as a consultant to the government and a kind of Supreme Court. It was installed in the Palais-Royal in 1875. The Conseil has its own courtyard, facing out onto the Place du Palais-Royal and the Rue de Rivoli. Inside is

1395-404: Is credited with codifying the key sauces – the mother sauces , or in his phrase, the grandes sauces  – on which classic French haute cuisine is based. His recipes for Velouté , Béchamel , Allemande , and Espagnole became standard for French chefs of his day. His classifications were retained, with modifications, by later chefs including Auguste Escoffier , and

1488-785: Is still there. In 1786, a noon cannon was set up by a philosophical amateur, set on the Paris meridian , in which the sun's noon rays, passing through a lens, lit the cannon's fuse. The noon cannon is still fired at the Palais-Royal, though most of the ladies for sale have disappeared, those who inspired the Abbé Delille 's lines: Dans ce jardin on ne rencontre Ni prés, ni bois, ni fruits, ni fleurs. Et si l'on y dérègle ses mœurs, Au moins on y règle sa montre. ("In this garden one encounters neither meadows, nor woods, nor fruits, nor flowers. And, if one upsets one's morality, at least one may reset one's watch.") The Cirque du Palais-Royal, constructed in

1581-529: The House of Orléans , Philippe Charles d'Orléans known as the Duke of Chartres . The Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture occupied the Palais Brion from 1661 to 1691 and shared it with the Académie Royale d'Architecture from 1672. The royal collection of antiquities was installed there under the care of the art critic and official court historian André Félibien , who was appointed in 1673. About 1674

1674-532: The Paris Opera at that time). The Opera's theatre was destroyed by fire in 1763, but was rebuilt to the designs of architect Pierre-Louis Moreau Desproux on a site slightly further to the east (where the rue de Valois is located today) and reopened in 1770. This second theatre continued to be used by the Opera until 1781, when it was also destroyed by fire, but this time it was not rebuilt. Moreau Desproux also designed

1767-539: The Prince Regent in Britain. He codified and to some extent simplified classical French cookery, insisted on the finest and most expensive ingredients, and was regarded as the foremost chef of his day. Carême wrote a series of books, lavishly illustrated, intended to pass his skills on to other chefs providing grande cuisine for the elite of French, and other, society. His influence continued after his death; his approach

1860-563: The Théâtre des Variétés-Amusantes , formerly on the boulevard du Temple but since 1 January 1785 playing in a temporary theatre in the gardens of the Palais-Royal. This company changed its name to Théâtre du Palais-Royal on 15 December 1789, and later moved into the new theatre upon its completion, where they opened on 15 May 1790. On 25 April 1791 the anti-royalist faction of the Comédie-Française , led by Talma , left that company's theatre on

1953-411: The palace was the personal residence of Cardinal Richelieu . The architect Jacques Lemercier began his design in 1629; Construction commenced in 1633 and was completed in 1639. The gardens were begun in 1629 by Jean Le Nôtre (father of André Le Nôtre ), Simon Bouchard, and Pierre I Desgots , to a design created by Jacques Boyceau . Upon Richelieu's death in 1642 the palace became the property of

SECTION 20

#1732844584104

2046-665: The rue Saint-Honoré (on a site just to the west of what is now the rue de Valois ). It was built from 1637 to 1641 to designs by Lemercier and was initially known as the Great Hall of the Palais-Cardinal . This theatre was later used by the troupe of Molière beginning in 1660, by which time it had become known as the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. After Molière 's death in 1673 the theatre was taken over by Jean-Baptiste Lully , who used it for his Académie Royale de Musique (the official name of

2139-514: The 19th Century". It was to be a five-volume work, extensively illustrated; he lived to complete the first three volumes. His pupil, Armand Plumerey, added the remaining two volumes that Carême had planned. Carême died, mentally alert to the end, at his Paris home on 12 January 1833, aged 48 or 49. He was buried in the Montmartre Cemetery . Carême was known as "the king of chefs and the chef of kings". Wheaton comments that although he remains

2232-461: The British ambassador to Vienna, Carême decided to take up the tsar's offer, and he went by sea to St Petersburg in mid-1819. The timing was unfortunate for him: as he arrived, the tsar was leaving for a forty-day visit to Archangel . In his absence, Carême spent time exploring the architecture of St Petersburg, which he found inspiring – "the most beautiful city in the world". Otherwise, by

2325-518: The Council is the Hall of the Tribunal of Conflicts, a kind of courtroom installed in the former dining room of Duchess of Orleans, built by the architect Pierre Contant d'Ivry in 1753. It still preserves much of its original decoration, with pilasters and columns, and decorative medallions of putti representing the four seasons and the four elements. The ceiling has a trompe l'oeil painting from 1852 depicting

2418-692: The Cour d'Honneur and the Palais-Royal Garden. Following the July Revolution of 1830 when the Duke of Orléans ascended the throne as Louis-Phillipe I, the palace remained the principal residence of the new monarch. In the Revolution of 1848 , a Paris mob attacked and looted the royal residence Palais-Royal, particularly the art collection of King Louis-Philippe. During the Second French Republic ,

2511-414: The Duke of Orléans had André Le Nôtre redesign the gardens of the Palais-Royal. After the dismissal of Madame de Montespan and the arrival of her successor, Madame de Maintenon , who forbade any lavish entertainment at Versailles , the Palais-Royal was again a social highlight. In 1692, on the occasion of the marriage of the duke of Chartres to Françoise Marie de Bourbon , Mademoiselle de Blois ,

2604-525: The Duke's father. Fontaine's most significant work included the western wing of the Cour d'Honneur, the Aile Montpensier, and with Charles Percier , what was probably the most famous of Paris's covered arcades, the Galerie d'Orléans, enclosing the Cour d'Honneur on its north side. Both were completed in 1830. The Galerie d'Orléans was demolished in the 1930s, but its flanking rows of columns still stand between

2697-650: The English weather, particularly the fogs, which exacerbated the respiratory problems he had after years of working in smoky kitchens. He found the prince's domestic staff unfriendly, even the French footmen, and he later wrote that he endured l'ennui extrême and mal du pays  – he was bored and homesick. He returned to France in late 1817 with no firm plans for his immediate future. Tsar Alexander returned to Paris in 1818, en route to an international congress at Aix-la-Chapelle . Carême's friend Muller, comptroller of

2790-594: The Grande Galerie along the rue de Richelieu (1719–20; visible on the 1739 Turgot map of Paris ). All of this work was lost, when the Palais Brion was demolished in 1784 for the construction of the Salle Richelieu , now hosting the Comédie-Française . After the Regency, the social life of the palace became much more subdued. Louis XV moved the court back to Versailles and Paris was again ignored. The same happened with

2883-516: The King and acquired the new name Palais-Royal . After Louis XIII died the following year, it became the home of the Queen Mother Anne of Austria and her young sons Louis XIV and Philippe, duke of Anjou , along with her advisor Cardinal Mazarin . From 1649, the palace was the residence of the exiled Henrietta Maria and Henrietta Anne Stuart , wife and daughter of the deposed King Charles I of England . The two had escaped England in

Marie-Antoine Carême - Misplaced Pages Continue

2976-415: The King, in 1663 and 1665; Françoise-Athénaïs, marquise de Montespan , who supplanted Louise; and Angélique de Fontanges , who was in service to the second Duchess of Orléans. The court gatherings at the Palais-Royal were famed all around the capital as well as all of France. It was at these parties that the crème de la crème of French society came to see and be seen. Guests included the main members of

3069-692: The Ministry of Culture and Communication. The two wings of the building have triangular fronts filled with sculpture, inspired by classical architecture and typical of the Louis XIV style . On the west side of the Council building is Place Colette , and the Salle Richelieu of the Comédie Française . Behind that are the offices of the Constitutional Council. On the left side of the Salle Richelieu

3162-425: The Palais-Royal became one of the first of the new style of shopping arcades and became a popular venue for the wealthy to congregate, socialise and enjoy their leisure time. The redesigned palace complex became one of the most important marketplaces in Paris. It was frequented by the aristocracy, the middle classes, and the lower orders. It had a reputation as being a site of sophisticated conversation (revolving around

3255-564: The Palais-Royal face south to the Place du Palais-Royal and the Louvre across the Rue de Rivoli . The central part of the palace is occupied by the Conseil-d'État, or State Council. It has three floors, and is topped by a low cupola and a rounded pediment filled with sculpture. Two arched passages under the central building lead to the Courtyard of Honor behind. In the east wing, to the right, are offices of

3348-524: The Palais-Royal. Louis d'Orléans succeeded his father as the new duke of Orléans in 1723. He and his son Louis Philippe lived at the other family residence in Saint-Cloud, which had been empty since the death of the Princess Palatine in 1722. Claude Desgots redesigned the gardens of the Palais-Royal in 1729. In 1752 Louis Philippe I succeeded his father as the duke of Orléans. The Palais-Royal

3441-413: The adjacent surviving entrance façades of the Palais-Royal. At the request of Louis Philippe II two new theatres were constructed in the Palais-Royal complex shortly after the fire. Both of these new theatres were designed by Victor Louis , the architect who also designed the shopping galleries facing the garden (see below). The first theatre, which opened on 23 October 1784, was a small puppet theatre in

3534-606: The apartments of the Duchess on the ground floor in 1716 and to decorate the Grand Appartement of the Palais Brion in the light and lively style Régence that foreshadowed the Rococo , as well as the Regent's more intimate petits appartements . Oppenord also made changes to the Grande Galerie of the Palais Brion and created a distinctive Salon d'Angle, which connected the Grand Appartement to

3627-496: The army, Carême was not called up; Talleyrand may have secured an exemption for him, but that is not certain. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, the British and Russians occupied Paris. Talleyrand, anxious to be on friendly terms with the allies, invited Tsar Alexander I to stay with him and tasked Carême with delighting his guest with a continual series of fine meals. According to the biographer Marie-Pierre Rey, "Talleyrand's generous hospitality undoubtedly had positive effects on

3720-401: The center of the garden, has been described as "a huge half-subterranean spectacle space of food, entertainments, boutiques, and gaming that ran the length of the park and was the talk of the capital." It was destroyed by fire on 15 December 1798. Inspired by the souks of Arabia, the Galerie de Bois, a series of wooden shops linking the ends of the Palais-Royal and enclosing the south end of

3813-489: The chaos that characterised the noisy, dirty streets; a warm, dry space away from the elements; and a safe-haven where people could socialise and spend their leisure time. Promenading in the arcades became a popular eighteenth century pastime for the emerging middle classes. From the 1780s to 1837, the palace was once again the centre of Parisian political and social intrigue and the site of the most popular cafés. The historic restaurant " Le Grand Véfour ", which opened in 1784,

Marie-Antoine Carême - Misplaced Pages Continue

3906-585: The chemical reactions that occur when making fine pastries. Precise timing and temperatures are critically important. It is generally preferred to weigh the ingredients (i.e., with a kitchen scale ) as opposed to measuring by volume (e.g., with a measuring cup ), as weighing inherently offers far more consistent baking results. In larger kitchens, the pastry chef may have a number of other chefs working in their station, each responsible for specific types of pastries: Job requirements Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal ( French: [pa.lɛ ʁwa.jal] )

3999-439: The concept of mother sauces continued to be acknowledged by subsequent generations of cooks, including James Beard and Julia Child . The work of Carême was aimed at the elite of French and other societies. The food writer Stephen Mennell writes that Carême's cuisine was not merely haute but grande , and in one of his books the chef advised people of lesser means not to attempt his elaborate style of cooking: "Better to serve

4092-471: The cooking of the food, but its service as well. Carême's last salaried post came in 1823 as chef to the banker James Rothschild and his wife Betty . Rothschild was by far the richest man in France, and Carême was as happy to work for a nouveau-riche employer as for royalty. Rothschild had bought the former house of Napoleon's stepdaughter, Hortense de Beauharnais , at 19 rue Lafitte (a few hundred metres from

4185-511: The creation and execution of dessert courses, as well as the menu's overall presentation. Pastry chefs must have a solid grasp of flavor profiles, baking processes, and food styling in order to create desserts that are both delicious and aesthetically pleasing. In addition to their technical abilities, pastry chefs must be able to work swiftly and effectively under pressure, as they are sometimes required to meet strict deadlines. Pastry chefs are also expected to fully understand their ingredients and

4278-469: The death of Louis XIV in 1715, his five-year-old great-grandson succeeded him. The Duke of Orléans became Regent for the young Louis XV , setting up the country's government at the Palais-Royal, while the young king lived at the nearby Tuileries Palace . The Palais-Royal housed the magnificent Orleans Collection of some 500 paintings, which was arranged for public viewing until it was sold abroad in 1791. He commissioned Gilles-Marie Oppenord to redesign

4371-519: The death of Louise Henriette, her husband secretly married his mistress, the witty marquise de Montesson , and the couple lived at the Château de Sainte-Assise where he died in 1785. Just before his death, he completed the sale of the Château de Saint-Cloud to Queen Marie Antoinette . Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans was born at Saint-Cloud and later moved to the Palais-Royal and lived there with his wife,

4464-423: The dough and repeatedly folding and rolling it to achieve the perfect puff pastry . He gained outstanding skill at this, and later put it to use in two confections with which he became particularly associated: the vol-au-vent and mille-feuille . One of Bailly's most celebrated offerings was gâteau de plomb ; Carême suggested how to make it lighter, and invented decorations with which to top it. He steadily rose to

4557-537: The flexible conditions offered by Gendron, being allowed to freelance, catering for important banquets. In 1803 he opened his own shop in the rue de la Paix , trading there for a decade. In tandem with running his shop he built what one biographer calls "an intermittent but spectacular career", first as a specialist pastry-cook and later as chef de cuisine , at the great imperial , social, and governmental banquets. In October 1808, Carême married Henriette Sophy Mahy de Chitenay. They had no children, although Carême later had

4650-586: The food writer Barbara Wheaton calls "more or less sketchy instructions" for executing them. In 1816 Carême accepted the position of chef to the Prince Regent , based at Carlton House in London and the Royal Pavilion in Brighton . This was Carême's first venture outside France. He was paid an unprecedentedly high salary, and the prince was full of praise for his creations, but Carême was unhappy in his post. He hated

4743-557: The garden, was first opened in 1786. For Parisians, who lived in the virtual absence of pavements, the streets were dangerous and dirty; the arcade was a welcome addition to the streetscape as it afforded a safe place where Parisians could window shop and socialise. Thus, the Palais-Royal began what architectural historian Bertrand Lemoine  [ fr ] describes as "l’Ère des passages couverts" (the Arcade Era), which transformed European shopping habits between 1786 and 1935. During

SECTION 50

#1732844584104

4836-516: The garden: the rue de Montpensier on the west, rue de Beaujolais to the north, and rue de Valois on the east. He commercialised the new complex by letting out the area under the colonnades to retailers and service-providers and in 1784 the shopping and entertainment complex opened to the public. Over a decade or so, sections of the Palais were transformed into shopping arcades that became the centre of 18th-century Parisian economic and social life. Though

4929-464: The grand horseshoe stairway of honor, which curves upward along the walls to the landing on the first floor. It is decorated with theatrical effects, including ionic columns, and blind arches giving the illusion of bays. A trompe-l'oeil painting in an archway appears to give a view of a classical statue, above which putti hold wreathes around a bust of Cardinal Richelieu . The stairway was made by Pierre Contant d'Ivry in 1765. The most lavish room of

5022-400: The influential Almanach des Gourmands , and with customers including the French foreign minister, Talleyrand . Bailly's establishment was within a hundred paces of the fashionable and bustling Palais-Royal , and among Carême's early tasks was to go there to encourage visitors to come to his employer's restaurant. As an apprentice pastry-cook Carême began as a tourier , or turner, working

5115-447: The kitchens of Talleyrand at the Hôtel de Galliffet , under the head chef, Boucher. He continued to learn about the arts of cookery in general, and was engaged to cater for special events such as the festivities for the marriage of Jérôme Bonaparte to Catharina of Württemberg (1807) and of that of Napoleon to Marie-Louise of Austria (1810). Although of an age liable for conscription into

5208-554: The latter were reminiscent of the sickroom and "made us look ill" whereas the appearance of a chef should "announce the man in good health". The toque was quickly taken up by chefs in Vienna, and then in Paris and elsewhere. Carême continued to write, and in 1821 he published two volumes of his thoughts on architecture. Projets d'architecture dédiés a Alexandre 1 contained drawings of his suggestions for new buildings in St Petersburg, and

5301-572: The left bank (at that time known as the Théâtre de la Nation, but today as the Odéon ), and joined the company on the rue de Richelieu, which promptly changed its name to Théâtre Français de la rue de Richelieu. With the founding of the French Republic in September 1792 the theatre's name was changed again, to Théâtre de la République. In 1799 the players of the split company reunited at the Palais-Royal, and

5394-424: The library. He is credited with saying, later, "The fine arts are five in number: music, painting, sculpture, poetry and architecture – of which the principal branch is confectionery". His constructions, featuring Greek columns and temples, Chinese pagodas and Egyptian pyramids, attracted widespread attention and approbation. His enthusiasm, then and later in his career, sometimes led him to conflate in

5487-472: The main part of the palace ( corps de logis ) remained the private Orléans seat, the arcades surrounding its public gardens had 145 boutiques, cafés, salons, hair salons, bookshops, museums, and countless refreshment kiosks. These retail outlets sold luxury goods such as fine jewelry, furs, paintings and furniture to the wealthy elite. Stores were fitted with long glass windows which allowed the emerging middle-classes to window shop and indulge in fantasies. Thus,

5580-495: The midst of the English Civil War and were sheltered by Henrietta Maria's nephew, King Louis XIV. The Palais Brion, a separate section near the rue de Richelieu to the west of the Palais-Royal, was purchased by Louis XIV from the heirs of Cardinal Richelieu. Louis had it connected to the Palais-Royal. It was at the Palais Brion that Louis had his mistress Louise de La Vallière stay while his affair with Madame de Montespan

5673-572: The most famous of 19th-century French chefs, there are two differing schools of thought about him. "Gastronomes and food writers have praised him as a great genius of haute cuisine ", and have held him up as "an outstanding example of how a lowly apprentice, of a humble background, could rise to the topmost pinnacle of his profession". An opposing view is that he was conceited, his prose inelegant, his menus "pretentious and heavy" and his piéces montées an extravagant waste of ingredients. In Wheaton's judgement "the truth lies somewhere in between". Carême

SECTION 60

#1732844584104

5766-707: The most powerful man in Europe, reflecting his employer's status with suitable culinary magnificence. The following year, after Napoleon's brief return and final defeat at Waterloo , Alexander returned to Paris, and again secured Carême's services. When the tsar assembled his troops for a grand review at Châlons-sur-Marne , Carême had to provide three banquets for 300 people each, despite enormous logistical difficulties. There were few supplies available locally and food, wines, linens, glassware and even herds of cattle and flocks of sheep had to be transported from Paris, over 80 miles (130 km) away. In addition, Carême had to cope with

5859-479: The need to innovate and attract new custom. He wanted eye-catching pièces montées  – elaborate displays of patisserie – in his windows. Sculpting in sugar paste had been well known in the Ancien Régime but had become neglected after the revolution. Carême helped to revive the art, creating croquembouches and extravagant showpieces based on the ancient architecture he had studied in

5952-471: The night lingered, and smart gambling casinos were lodged in second-floor quarters. The Marquis de Sade referred to the grounds in front of the palace in his Philosophy in the Bedroom (1795) as a place where progressive pamphlets were sold. Upon the execution of the Duke, the palace's ownership lapsed to the state, whence it was called Palais du Tribunat. The Comédie-Française , the state theatre company,

6045-515: The northwest corner of the gardens at the intersection of the Galerie de Montpensier and the Galerie de Beaujolais . Initially it was known as the Théâtre des Beaujolais, then as the Théâtre Montansier, after which Victor Louis enlarged it for the performance of plays and operas. Later, beginning with the political turmoil of the Revolution , this theatre was known by a variety of other names. It

6138-676: The palace was briefly renamed the "Palais-National". During the Second French Empire of Napoleon III , the Palais-Royal became home to the cadet branch of the Bonaparte family, represented by Prince Napoléon-Jérôme Bonaparte , Napoleon III's cousin. A lavish dining room was constructed in the Second Empire style , and is now known as the Salle Napoleon of the Council of State. During the final days of Paris Commune , on May 24, 1871,

6231-640: The palace, seen as a symbol of aristocracy, was set afire by the Communards, but suffered less damage than other government buildings. As a result, it became the temporary (and later permanent) home of several state institutions, including the Conseil d'Etat , or State Council. Today, the Palais-Royal is the home of the Conseil d'État , the Constitutional Council , and the Ministry of Culture . The buildings of

6324-415: The palace, which were said to be among the most beautiful in Paris. Under the new ducal couple, the Palais-Royal would become the social center of the capital. The palace was redecorated and new apartments were created for the Duchess's maids and staff. Several of the women who later came to be favourites to King Louis XIV were from her household: Louise de La Vallière , who gave birth there to two sons of

6417-546: The pastry chef to research recipe concepts and develop and test new recipes. Usually, the pastry chef does all the necessary preparation of the various desserts in advance, before dinner seating begins. The actual plating of the desserts is often done by another station chef, usually the garde manger , at the time of order. The pastry chef is often in charge of the dessert menu, which, besides traditional desserts, could include dessert wines , specialty dessert beverages, and gourmet cheese platters. They are responsible for

6510-421: The revolutionary period, Philippe d'Orléans became known as Philippe Égalité and ruled at the Palais de l'Égalité, as it was known during the more radical phase of the Revolution . He had made himself popular in Paris when he opened the gardens of the palace to all Parisians. In one of the shops around the garden Charlotte Corday bought the knife she used to stab Jean-Paul Marat . Along the galeries , ladies of

6603-565: The royal family like the Queen Mother, Anne of Austria ; Anne, Duchess of Montpensier , the Princes of Condé and of Conti . Philippe's favourites were also frequent visitors. After Henrietta Anne died in 1670 the Duke took a second wife, the Princess Palatine , who preferred to live in the Château de Saint-Cloud . Saint-Cloud thus became the main residence of her eldest son and the heir to

6696-460: The rue Vivienne, where Carême had been apprenticed). The Rothschilds paid Carême a large salary, and allowed him substantial time off to continue writing his books. He published Le Cuisinier parisien in 1828. With him in charge of the catering, the Rothschilds' house became the focal point of Parisian high society, and Carême's name was continually featured in the press. By the end of the decade it

6789-437: The salons, cafés, and bookshops), shameless debauchery (it was a favorite haunt of local prostitutes), as well as a hotbed of Freemasonic activity . Designed to attract the genteel middle class, the Palais-Royal sold luxury goods at relatively high prices. However, prices were never a deterrent, as these new arcades came to be the place to shop and to be seen. Arcades offered shoppers the promise of an enclosed space away from

6882-430: The second volume, Projets d'architecture pour l'embellisement de Paris , did the same for his native city. The following year he returned to the subject of catering in his Le maître d'hotel français , comparing old and new cuisine and detailing seasonal menus that he had presented in Paris, St Petersburg, London and Vienna. The title reflected Carême's firm conviction that the head chef should control and supervise not only

6975-473: The sight of a grand table served à la française ?" Despite Carême's opposition, service à la russe gradually supplanted the old French service throughout Europe as the 19th century progressed. In 1815 Carême published his first books. Le Pâtissier royal parisien was an illustrated two-volume compilation of recipes for a skilled pastry-cook. Le Pâtissier pittoresque focused on piéces montées , with over 100 of Carême's drawings of designs, together with what

7068-404: The succeeding Dukes of Orléans made such extensive alterations over the years, almost nothing remains of Lemercier's original design. The Palais-Royal is now the seat of the Ministry of Culture , the Conseil d'État and the Constitutional Council . The central Palais-Royal Garden (Jardin du Palais-Royal) serves as a public park; its arcade houses shops. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal,

7161-544: The theatre officially became the Comédie-Française, also commonly known as the Théâtre-Français, names which it retains to this day. Louis Philippe II also had Victor Louis build six-story apartment buildings with ground-floor colonnades facing the three sides of the palace garden between 1781 and 1784. On the outside of these wings three new streets were constructed in front of the houses that had formerly overlooked

7254-467: The time the tsar returned, Carême was disenchanted with Russia, its food and the arrangements at the court. He left at the end of August. On his return to Paris, Carême became head chef to Princess Catherine Bagration , a distant cousin of the tsar and widow of the celebrated general Pyotr Bagration , killed at the Battle of Borodino in 1812. Carême enjoyed working for the princess, who lived in style and had

7347-549: The tsar's household (and dedicatee of Le Pâtissier pittoresque ), convinced Alexander that having Carême cook for the Russian delegation would enhance its standing, and approached him with the proposal that he should work for the tsar at Aix and then travel with him to Russia. Carême agreed to go to Aix, with a handsome salary and lavish budget, but declined to go on to Russia. After briefly working in Austria and England for Lord Stewart ,

7440-437: The tsar's mood and the magnanimity that he showed to the French state". After staying with Talleyrand for some weeks, the tsar took up residence in the Élysée Palace, and requested that Carême should be his head chef there during his stay. The biographer Georges Bernier ( fr ) writes that this appointment put Carême at the pinnacle of his profession. Already a renowned pastry-cook, he had risen further, to be chef de cuisine to

7533-446: The tsar's preference for Russian service  – a succession of individual courses – rather than the traditional French service , in which numerous dishes were set out on the table on hot plates and kept under cloches to keep warm. In Carême's view, "This [Russian] manner of service is assuredly favourable to good cheer; but our French service is more elegant and sumptuous. Is there anything more imposing than

7626-448: The wealthy Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon whom he had married in 1769. The duke controlled the Palais-Royal from 1780 onward. The couple's eldest son, Louis-Philippe III d'Orléans , was born there in 1773. Louis Philippe II succeeded his father as the head of the House of Orléans in 1785. The Palais-Royal had contained one of the most important public theatres in Paris, in the east wing on

7719-479: The year as either 1783 or 1784. He was one of the many children of Marie-Jeanne Pascal and Jean-Gilbert Carême. The father was a construction worker, and the family lived in what Carême's biographers Philippe Alexandre and Béatrix de l'Aulnoit call a baraque  – a shack – in what was then a poor part of Paris, near the rue du Bac and the rue de Sèvres. The French Revolution , starting in 1789, brought large-scale building work in Paris to

7812-558: Was clear to his employers and to Carême that his health was in decline. The Rothschilds offered him land on which to retire on their country estate, but he preferred to remain in Paris. He declined a final effort by the former Prince Regent, now George IV, to tempt him back to England, and retired to his house in the rue Neuve-Saint-Roch near the Tuileries . In retirement, Carême worked on his last project, L'Art de la cuisine française au XIX siécle  – "The Art of French Cookery in

7905-431: Was considered mature enough, helping in the preparation of food. A conflicting account is that he left after a few months and moved to work for a baker in the rue Saint-Honoré , known as Père Ducrest. A contemporary recorded after Carême's death that the boy was to be seen hurrying through the streets delivering his employer's wares, before returning in the evening to Ducrest's kitchen, where he slept. By this account, Carême

7998-463: Was continued by Jules Gouffé , Urbain Dubois and Émile Bernard , reinvigorated by Auguste Escoffier and continued until it was overtaken by nouvelle cuisine in the second half of the 20th century. Marie-Antoine Carême, known throughout his life as Antonin Carême, was born in Paris. The date of his birth cannot be authenticated and is disputed. The day and month are generally accepted as 8 June and

8091-451: Was continued by Jules Gouffé , Urbain Dubois and Émile Bernard , reinvigorated by Escoffier and continued until haute cuisine was supplanted by nouvelle cuisine and simpler styles of cooking in the second half of the 20th century. Pastry chef The pastry chef is a member of the classic brigade de cuisine in a professional kitchen and is the station chef of the pastry department. Day-to-day operations can also require

8184-405: Was converted to a café with shows in 1812, but reopened as a theatre in 1831, when it acquired the name Théâtre du Palais-Royal , by which it is still known today. Louis Philippe II's second theatre was larger and located near the southwest corner of the complex, on the rue de Richelieu . He originally intended it for the Opera, but that company refused to move into it. Instead he offered it to

8277-399: Was deeply interested in architecture and was famous for his large pièces montées  – table decorations sculpted in sugar, depicting classical buildings. Working with leading chefs of the day, Carême extended his knowledge to cover all aspects of cooking, and became head chef to prominent people including Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord , Tsar Alexander I of Russia and

8370-581: Was reorganised by Napoleon in the décret de Moscou on 15 October 1812, which contains 87 articles. After the Restoration of the Bourbons , at the Palais-Royal the young Alexandre Dumas obtained employment in the office of the powerful Duke of Orléans , who regained control of the palace during the Restoration. The Duke had Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine draw up plans to complete work left unfinished by

8463-506: Was soon the scene of the notorious debaucheries of Louise Henriette de Bourbon who had married to Louis Philippe in 1743. New apartments (located in what is now the northern section of the Rue-de-Valois wing) were added for her in the early 1750s by the architect Pierre Contant d'Ivry . She died at the age of thirty-two in 1759. She was the mother of Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans , later known as Philippe Égalité . A few years after

8556-417: Was still an official secret. Henrietta Anne was married to Louis' younger brother, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans in the palace chapel on 31 March 1661. After their marriage, Louis XIV allowed his brother and wife to use the Palais-Royal as their main Paris residence. The following year the new duchess gave birth to a daughter, Marie Louise d'Orléans , inside the palace. She created the ornamental gardens of

8649-490: Was taught to read and write by Alexis Eymery ( fr ), the tutor of Ducrest's children. Carême's history is more reliably documented from 1798, when he began an apprenticeship at Sylvain Bailly's patisserie -restaurant in the rue Vivienne. This was a step up, in career terms, as in post-revolutionary Paris, patisserie was the most prestigious branch of the culinary arts, and Bailly was among its most fêted practitioners, recommended by

#103896