François Pierre de la Varenne (, 1615–1678 in

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

), Burgundian by birth, was the author of ''Le Cuisinier françois'' (1651), one of the most influential cookbooks in early modern

French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the re ...

. La Varenne broke with the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

traditions that had revolutionised

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

French cookery in the 16th century and early 17th century.

Historical context

La Varenne was the foremost member of a group of French chefs, writing for a professional audience, who codified

in the age of King

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

. The others were Nicolas Bonnefon, ''Le Jardinier françois'' (1651) and ''Les Délices de la campagne'' (1654), and

François Massialot François Massialot (1660, in Limoges – 1733, in Paris) was a French chef who served as ''chef de cuisine'' (''officier de bouche'') to various illustrious personages, including Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the brother of Louis XIV, and his so ...

, ''Le Cuisinier royal et bourgeois'' (1691), which was still being edited and modernised in the mid-18th century. The cookbook was still used in France until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. The seventeenth century saw a culinary revolution which transported French gastronomy into the modern era. The heavily spiced flavours inherited from the cuisine of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

were abandoned in favour of the natural flavours of foods. Exotic and costly

spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spice ...

s (

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in ...

, cinnamon, cumin, ginger,

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are r ...

nigella ''Nigella'' is a genus of 18 species of annual plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native to Southern Europe, North Africa, South Asia, Southwest Asia and Middle East. Common names applied to members of this genus are nigella, devil-in-a-bush o ...

, seeds of paradise) were, with the exception of

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

, replaced by local herbs ( parsley,

thyme Thyme () is the herb (dried aerial parts) of some members of the genus '' Thymus'' of aromatic perennial evergreen herbs in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are relatives of the oregano genus ''Origanum'', with both plants being mostly indigen ...

, bayleaf,

chervil Chervil (; ''Anthriscus cerefolium''), sometimes called French parsley or garden chervil (to distinguish it from similar plants also called chervil), is a delicate annual herb related to parsley. It was formerly called myrhis due to its volati ...

, sage,

tarragon Tarragon (''Artemisia dracunculus''), also known as estragon, is a species of perennial herb in the family Asteraceae. It is widespread in the wild across much of Eurasia and North America and is cultivated for culinary and medicinal purposes ...

). New vegetables like cauliflower,

asparagus Asparagus, or garden asparagus, folk name sparrow grass, scientific name ''Asparagus officinalis'', is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus '' Asparagus''. Its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. It was once classified in ...

peas The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

, cucumber and

artichoke The globe artichoke ('' Cynara cardunculus'' var. ''scolymus'' ),Rottenberg, A., and D. Zohary, 1996: "The wild ancestry of the cultivated artichoke." Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 43, 53–58. also known by the names French artichoke and green artich ...

were introduced. Special care was given to the cooking of meat in order to conserve maximum flavour.

Vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

s had to be fresh and tender.

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

, with the improvement of transportation, had to be impeccably fresh. Preparation had to respect the gustatory and visual integrity of the ingredients instead of masking them as had been the practice previously. Finally, a rigorous separation between salted and sweet dishes was introduced, the former served before the latter, banishing the Italian Renaissance taste for mixing sweet and salted ingredients in the same dish or in the same part of the meal.

Works

''Le Cuisinier françois'' (1651)

La Varenne's work was the first to set down in writing the considerable culinary innovations achieved in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in the seventeenth century, while codifying food preparation in a systematic manner, according to rules and principles. He introduced the first bisque and

Béchamel sauce Bechamel sauce ( ) is a sauce traditionally made from a white roux (butter and flour in a 1:1 mixture by weight) and milk. Bechamel may also be referred to as besciamella (Italy), besamel (Greece), or white sauce (U.S.). French, Italian and Gree ...

. He replaced crumbled bread with

roux Roux () is a mixture of flour and fat cooked together and used to thicken sauces. Roux is typically made from equal parts of flour and fat by weight. The flour is added to the melted fat or oil on the stove top, blended until smooth, and cook ...

as the base for sauces, and lard with

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...

. Here one finds the first usage of the terms

bouquet garni The ''bouquet garni'' (French for "garnished bouquet"; ) is a bundle of herbs usually tied with string and mainly used to prepare soup, stock, casseroles and various stews. The bouquet is cooked with the other ingredients and removed prior t ...

, '' fonds de cuisine'' (stocks) and reductions, and the use of egg-whites for clarification.Recipe for "Asparagus in Fragrant Sauce"
from La Varenne's, ''Le Cuisinier françois'' (1651) quoted in Harold McGee's ''On Food and Cooking'' (2004) It also contains the earliest recipe in print for

mille-feuille A (, "thousand-sheets"),The name is also written as and . also known by the names Napoleon, vanilla slice, and custard slice, is a dessert made of puff pastry layered with pastry cream. Its modern form was influenced by improvements made by M ...

. The cooking of vegetables is addressed, an unusual departure. In a fragrant sauce for asparagus there is evidence of an early form of hollandaise sauce: "make a sauce with good fresh butter, a little vinegar, salt, and nutmeg, and an egg yolk to bind the sauce; take care that it doesn't curdle..." La Varenne preceded his book with a text on ''confitures''—jams, jellies and preserves—that included recipes for syrups, compotes and a great variety of fruit drinks, as well as a section on salads (1650).

''Le Pâtissier françois'' (1653)

La Varenne followed his groundbreaking work with a second book, ''Le Pâtissier françois'' (Paris 1653), which is generally credited with being the first comprehensive French work on

pastry Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" sugges ...

-making. In 1662 appeared the first of the combined editions that presented all three works together. All the early editions of La Varenne's works—''Le Cuisinier françois'' ran through thirty editions in seventy-five years—are extremely rare; like children's books, they too were worn to pieces, in the kitchen, and simply used up. Pirated editions of ''Le Cuisinier françois'' were printed in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

(1653) and

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

(1654–56). Soon there were imitators: ''Le Cuisinier françois méthodique'' was published anonymously in Paris, 1660. The English translation, ''The French Cook'' (London 1653) was the first French cookbook translated into English. It introduced professional terms like ''à la mode'', ''au bleu'' (very rare), and ''au naturel'' which are now standard culinary expressions. Its success can be gauged from the fact that over 250,000 copies were printed in about 250 editions and it remained in print until 1815. It is said that La Varenne's first training was in the kitchens of the queen Marie de' Medici. At the time his books were published, La Varenne had ten years' experience as ''chef de cuisine'' to Nicolas Chalon du Blé, Marquis of Uxelles (''marquis d'Uxelles'' in French), to whom he dedicated his publications and whom he immortalised in ''

duxelles Duxelles () is a finely chopped (minced) mixture of mushrooms or mushroom stems, onions or shallots, herbs such as thyme or parsley, and black pepper, sautéed in butter and reduced to a paste. Cream is sometimes used as well, and some recipes ...

'', finely-minced mushrooms seasoned with herbs and shallots, which is still a favourite flavouring for fish and vegetables. The Marquis of Uxelles was the royal governor of Chalon-sur-Saône, thought by some to be the birthplace of La Varenne. ''Le Cuisinier françois'' was reprinted in 1983, published by Editions Montalba and edited by Jean-Marie Flandrin, Philip Hyman and Mary Hyman with a comprehensive introductory essay.This venture, under the general direction of Daniel Roche, is an attempt to bring those popular editions of French printed culture, sold in cheap blue paperback by traveling peddlers—the ''

bibliothèque bleue ' ("blue library" in French) is a type of ephemera and popular literature published in Early Modern France (between and ), comparable to the English chapbook and the German '. As was the case in England and Germany, that literary format appealed ...

''—within reach of

social historians Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

Notes

External links