TAKING STOCK We might consider Escoffier the first truly ‘modern’ chef. Certainly he was the one who modernised the restaurant kitchen, its practices, and its food. And it is often forgotten that it was Escoffier who collaborated with one Julius Maggi in the development of the famous Maggi bouillon Kub, as it was originally known, a process of ‘deconstructing’ food as dramatic then as anything done in the kitchens of elBulli, The Fat Duck or Restaurant Arzak today. By the time that the books of the Old Testament came to be written it was already being said that there is nothing new under the sun. Early in the 21st century, a number of chefs are proving that this is not necessarily true by pushing the boundaries of what food should look, feel and taste like and
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incorporating into their work ideas that come from the worlds of science, art and philosophy. And it is important to remember that, new and radical as their creations may be, they result from a tradition of innovation that is as old as cooking itself. We have already seen that Escoffier was not a tall man: when he played billiards against his friend Paul Daffis (incidentally the father of Escoffier’s future wife), Daffis complained that Escoffier had the advantage because he did not have to bend over to sight the cue! But as Isaac Newtown famously said of his own achievements, ‘If we see further, it is because we are standing on the shoulders of giants.’ It is equally true the achievements of today’s chefs may come about only because they stand on the shoulders of Auguste Escoffier.
GREAT, GR AND & FAMOUS CHEFS AND THEIR SIGNATURE DISHES