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François Massialot (1660, in Massialot's crème brûlée recipe and modern adaptations
/ref> Massialot's works, translated into English as ''The Court and Country Cook'' (1702) and often reprinted, were used by professional chefs until the middle of the 18th century.
François Massialot (1660, in Limoges
Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...
– 1733, in Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
) was a French chef who served as '' chef de cuisine'' (''officier de bouche'') to various illustrious personages, including Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
''Monsieur'' Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (21 September 1640 – 9 June 1701) was the younger son of King Louis XIII of France and Anne of Austria, and the younger brother of King Louis XIV. He was the founder of the House of Orléans, a ...
, the brother of Louis XIV, and his son Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (Philippe Charles; 2 August 1674 – 2 December 1723), who was known as the Regent, was a French prince, soldier, and statesman who served as Regent of the Kingdom of France from 1715 to 1723. He is referred to i ...
, who was first duc de Chartres then the Regent, as well as the duc d'Aumont, the Cardinal d’Estrées, and the marquis de Louvois. His first appeared, anonymously, as a single volume in 1691, and was expanded to two (1712) then three volumes, in the revised edition of 1733–34. His lesser cookbook, , (Paris, Charles de Sercy), appeared, also anonymously, in 1692.
Massialot describes himself in his preface
__NOTOC__
A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literature, literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a ''foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface o ...
as "a cook who dares to qualify himself royal, and it is not without cause, for the meals which he describes...have all been served at court or in the houses of princes, and of people of the first rank." Places where Massialot served banquets included the Château de Sceaux
The Château de Sceaux () is a grand Château, country house in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, approximately south-southwest of the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. Situated in a large park laid out by André Le Nôtre, partly in Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, ...
, the Château de Meudon
Château de Meudon (), also known as the Royal Castle of Meudon or Imperial Palace of Meudon, is a French castle in Meudon, Hauts-de-Seine. At the edge of a wooded plateau, the castle offers views of Paris and the Seine, as well as of the Chalais ...
, and Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
. An innovation in Massialot's book was the alphabetisation of recipes, "a step toward the first culinary dictionary" Barbara Wheaton observes; Wheaton has compared the changes made in the various editions of Massialot: a glass of white wine in a fish stock makes a surprisingly late appearance, in 1703. Meringue
Meringue ( , ) is a type of dessert or candy, of French cuisine, French origin, traditionally made from Whisk, whipped egg whites and sugar, and occasionally an acid, acidic ingredient such as lemon, vinegar, or potassium bitartrate, cream of t ...
s make their first appearance under their familiar name in Massialot, who is also credited with crème brûlée
''Crème brûlée'' (; ), also known as burnt cream, Cambridge burnt cream, or Trinity cream, and virtually identical to '' crema catalana'', is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hardened caramelized sugar. It ...
, in which the sugar topping was melted and burnt with a red-hot fire shovel./ref> Massialot's works, translated into English as ''The Court and Country Cook'' (1702) and often reprinted, were used by professional chefs until the middle of the 18th century.
Notes
References
Further reading
* Patrick Rambourg, ''Histoire de la cuisine et de la gastronomie françaises'', Paris, Ed. Perrin (coll. tempus n° 359), 2010, 381 pages.External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Massialot, Francois 1660 births 1733 deaths French chefs French male chefs French food writers French cookbook writers 18th-century French writers 18th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers