Two Legendary Culinarians

Marie Antoine Carême was one of the two who revolutionized the culinary world for ever. Born to a poor family of at least 25 children in 1784, he was kicked out by his parents at the young age of 10 so that he could fend for himself. Being that around this time the French Revolution was going on, many chefs were finding themselves without kings and nobility to work for, so they began to open restaurants, which was also a new concept because most people commoners had to cook for themselves since chefs were usually for the rich. Carême went to work in one of these restaurants. He dedicated his life to learning refining and organizing culinary techniques. Before Carême, most meals were more like unorganized banquets, concentrating more on amount of food and not quality of presentation. What ever dish was infront of you and you could reach, that's what you were eating that meal. Meals consisted of different roasted animals, breads, cakes, vegetables, and a whole mix of what ever the chef could fit onto the table.

 Some of Careme's food designs 

http://www.lemaze-studio.com/cgi-bin/webdata_pro.pl?_cgifunction=search&_layout=canvas&products.canvas=yes&products.artist3=Careme,%20Marie%20Antoine

Carême became chef for many kings and nobiltiy such as George IV of England, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Baron James de Rothschild as noted at FoodRefernce.com (http://www.foodreference.com/html/wmarieantoinecareme.html). He became famous for taking the ordinary platters of food and turning them into masterpieces. He is given credit for elaborate centerpieces, the creator of our modern day wedding cakes,and ice and sugar sculptures. As stated in the book Professional Cooking: Fifth Edtition written by Wayne Gisslen (pg4), "Carême's practical and theoretical work as an author and chef that was responsible for bringing cooking out of the Middle Ages and into the modern period." To this day we still follow his work for our elaborate centerpieces and elegant display of dishes. Chef Carême died January 12, 1883.

The second revolutionizing chefs was Auguste Escoffier. Born in 1847, at age 13 his father took him to a restaurant to begin his apprenticeship at his uncle's restaurant. Learning and loving his work, he worked in many famous restaurants and hotels in Paris. In 1870, he was called to be the Chef de Cuisine in the Franco-Prussian War. During this time, he realized the need for preserving food better and worked on the first in depth  food canning techniques. After the war he went back to work in Paris and quickly moved up the culinary ladder. While in Monte Carlo,Escoffier met Cesar Ritz. Between the two they opened many hotels that are still famous today; Hotel Ritz in Paris and the Carlton in London. While working in the hotel, Escoffier became famous for simplifying cuisine even more than Carême. He took the all you can eat buffets and turning them into multi course meals. Every dish had it's order. He also came up with the fist a la carte menu. He planned his meals and menus so that the dishes complimented each and not, what he called "general confusion". Escoffier took away elaborate garnishes and concentrates more on clean flavors and seasonal products.

Escoffier's second biggest achievement was the reorganization of the kitchen. He invented new kitchen equipment, and constructed a kitchen layout that would allow for simplified dishes to be executed. His layouts, ideas, guidelines, and recipes are still used to this day. Escoffier died in 1935 and we are still taught about these two great Chefs today in culinary schools. We are encouraged to read their books and feel the passion that they had during their lives. They are not only given credit with revolutioninzing our culinary world, but also with turning culinary arts from just a job to a true artisans work of art.

 Older Ecoffier

http://www.culinarysherpas.com/?p=695

Resources:
book: Professional Cooking: Fifth Edtition written by Wayne Gisslen
published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 
IBSN 0-471-39711-3

web: foodreferneces.com 
http://www.foodreference.com/html/wmarieantoinecareme.html
and
http://www.foodreference.com/html/wgeorgesaugusteescoffier.html

web: Culinary School LeNôtre (Information and Pictures of Carême and Escoffier from this source)
http://www.culinaryinstitute.edu/about-us/master-chefs