My eyes have read the words and discovered the early 20th century equivalent to Gordon Ramsay: Fernand Point! The guy was the ultimate perfectionist. It is no wonder he is one of the most famous chefs who ever lived. While he may have been a total pain in the ass to work for, the man had a serious relationship with his food. He was the first one to assert that one could spend his whole life learning how to fry an egg perfectly.
He started out in a train station kitchen with his parents and they recognized early on that he was more than a mere cook. They helped nurture Fernand's interest and opened a new restaurant just for him. Fernand excelled and eventually opened his own restaurant with his lovely wife. The restaurant was called La Pyramide.
Really, the thing to note about Fernand was the way he thought about food. He believed in high quality ingredients and eventually established a relationship with top merchants and suppliers. His daily menu would change based on what was the highest quality food available. He charged a flat price (instead of a la carte) and created the "whole dining experience" for guests. He was a stickler for details. He got up at 4:30 every morning and worked until 11pm every night. No detail of the kitchen or dining room was too insignificant to overlook...even the dust on the curtains. He was very strict about the number of guests that could be served at once: only 50. Even if the Queen of England herself was guest number 51, she would not be allowed in.
Fernand also rejected the kitchen brigade established by Careme and Escoffier. While Escoffier simplified Careme with cuisine and kitchen staff, Fernand went further to simplify all that Escoffier taught.
Now, I haven't studied Careme and Escoffier and Fernand in depth to understand all the details that were simplified but I can tell you that what all three of these men have in common is that they made cuisine their own. They broke rules. (Hannah Glasse of Colonial America also rejected standard French cooking rules). Fernand Point believed one should make cuisine their very own, studying and using the pallette of basic food rules to deliver creativity and personality in your food. There are a lot of wonderful quotes by Fernand, which gives more of a look into his character, my favorite being, "
If the divine creator has taken pains to give us delicious and exquisite things to eat, the least we can do is prepare them well and serve them with ceremony."
I think this quote speaks to the foodie and future chef in all of us. Also, be a rule breaker! Do to food what YOU love to do with it. Who knows, someone may even write a book about you.
Now, off on a mission to get a copy of Ma Gastronomie and make it a part of my teriyaki stained cookbook shelf.
To learn more about Fernand Point, I recommend reading this
Fernand Point Biography and this
Historic Chefs: Fernand Point
