King of cooks, cook of kings: Who is George Auguste Escoffier?

There are important great chefs of French cuisine and the world. One of them is George Auguste Escoffier, one of the most important chefs of French cuisine.

Escoffier was born on October 28, 1846. When he was young, he worked as a busboy in his family's restaurant, while also going to school in the evenings and taking lessons in culinary art. Thanks to this ambitious personality, he soon became the assistant chef at Le Petit Moulin Rouge, a well-known restaurant in Paris, when he was 19 years old. Due to his great successes while working, he became the kitchen chef within three years. In 1882, he met Caesar Ritz, the major hotel entrepreneur of the period. This was one of the turning points in his life and in the world hotel industry. They started to run the Savoy Hotel in London, which is still considered one of the best hotels in the world, together with Caesar Ritz, and during this period when he became the hotel's chef, his fame spread all over the world.

Georges Auguste Escoffier (28 October 1846 – 12 February 1935) was a French chef, restaurateur, and culinary writer who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods. Much of Escoffier's technique was based on that of Marie-Antoine Carême, one of the codifiers of French haute cuisine; Escoffier's achievement was to simplify and modernize Carême's elaborate and ornate style. In particular, he codified the recipes for the five mother sauces. 

In 1920, France's famous Legion of Honor was presented to him by the President of France for his contributions to French Cuisine and its reputation in the world. This award is given to those who best represent France in certain fields, and Escoffier is the first person to receive it as a conductor. Escoffier's fame is so great that it is known that the King of Prussia, Kaiser William II, addressed him as "I am the king of Prussia, but you are the king of world cuisines."

In 1898, Ritz and Escoffier were dismissed from their jobs due to tax lawsuits at the Savoy Hotel. Escoffier and his team of 18 French chefs were also fired. In the same year, Escoffier and Ceasar Ritz founded the Ritz Hotel company. Their hotel was so successful that they attracted most of the Savoy Hotel's customers at the time. The Ritz Carlton Hotel is still one of the luxury hotels where the best chefs in the world are trained.

Of course, there are some reasons why Escoffier is such a famous and good chef. The most important of these is that it created a brigade system. The brigade system refers to the ranking in kitchens. This system is still used in kitchens today. The person at the highest level is called Executive Chef. The assistant chef is called Sous Chef. The order continues as Chef de Partie, Demi Chef, Commis Chef. This system also creates areas in the kitchen where everyone is responsible.

Another important information about Escoffier is that it added Hollandaise sauce to the four main sauces pioneered by Careme, thus increasing the number of sauces accepted in world cuisines to five. Escoffier was also a chef who gave great importance to meticulousness in the kitchen. He designed the first kitchen on ships and transatlantic. He also prepared the cuisine and menu of the famous ship Titanic. Escoffier's books and recipes remain important reference works for professional chefs. He wrote many famous books such as Le Guide Culinaire. This book contains 200 types of sauces and 500 types of food recipes.