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In the eighteenth-century French household, the servant cook held a special place of importance, providing daily meals and managing the kitchen and its finances. In this scrupulously researched and witty history, Sean Takats examines the lives of these cooks as they sought to improve their position in society and reinvent themselves as expert, skilled professionals. Much has been written about the cuisine of the period, but Takats takes readers down into the kitchen and introduces them to the men and women behind the food. It is only in that way, Takats argues, that we can fully recover the scientific and cultural significance of the meals they created, and, more important, the contributions of ordinary workers to eighteenth-century intellectual life. He shows how cooks, along with decorators, architects, and fashion merchants, drove France's consumer revolution, and how cooks' knowledge about a healthy diet and the medicinal properties of food advanced their professional status by capitalizing on the Enlightenment's new concern for bodily and material happiness. The Expert Cook in Enlightenment France explores a unique intersection of cultural history, labor history, and the history of science and medicine. Relying on an unprecedented range of sources, from printed cookbooks and medical texts to building plans and commercial advertisements, Takats reconstructs the evolving role of the cook in Enlightenment France. Academics and students alike will enjoy this fascinating study of the invention of the professional chef, of how ordinary workers influenced emerging trends of scientific knowledge, culture-creation, and taste in eighteenth-century France.

Extrait : \"POTAGE AUX MARRONS - Prenez cinquante ou soixante marrons, epluchez-les, faites-les cuire a l'eau de sel, retirez-en la derniere peau et mettez-les dans un mortier. Trempez dans du bouillon un morceau de mie de pain egal en quantite au quart de la quantite des marrons, ajoutez-le aux marrons et pilez le tout ensemble.\"

Background Meal planning could be a potential tool to offset time scarcity and therefore encourage home meal preparation, which has been linked with an improved diet quality. However, to date, meal planning has received little attention in the scientific literature. The aim of our cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between meal planning and diet quality, including adherence to nutritional guidelines and food variety, as well as weight status. Methods Meal planning, i.e. planning ahead the foods that will be eaten for the next few days, was assessed in 40,554 participants of the web-based observational NutriNet-Santé study. Dietary measurements included intakes of energy, nutrients, food groups, and adherence to the French nutritional guidelines (mPNNS-GS) estimated through repeated 24-h dietary records. A food variety score was also calculated using Food Frequency Questionnaire. Weight and height were self-reported. Association between meal planning and dietary intakes were assessed using ANCOVAs, while associations with quartiles of mPNNS-GS scores, quartiles of food variety score and weight status categories (overweight, obesity) were evaluated using logistic regression models. Results A total of 57% of the participants declared to plan meals at least occasionally. Meal planners were more likely to have a higher mPNNS-GS (OR quartile 4 vs . 1 = 1.13, 95% CI: [1.07–1.20]), higher overall food variety (OR quartile 4 vs . 1 = 1.25, 95% CI: [1.18–1.32]). In women, meal planning was associated with lower odds of being overweight (OR = 0.92 [0.87–0.98]) and obese (OR = 0.79 [0.73–0.86]). In men, the association was significant for obesity only (OR = 0.81 [0.69–0.94]). Conclusions Meal planning was associated with a healthier diet and less obesity. Although no causality can be inferred from the reported associations, these data suggest that meal planning could potentially be relevant for obesity prevention.

An internationally renowned chemist, popular television personality, and bestselling author, Hervé This heads the first laboratory devoted to molecular gastronomy-the scientific exploration of cooking and eating. By testing recipes that have guided cooks for centuries, and the various dictums and maxims on which they depend, Hervé This unites the head with the hand in order to defend and transform culinary practice. With this new book, Hervé This's scientific project enters an exciting new phase. Considering the preparation of six bistro favorites-hard-boiled egg with mayonnaise, simple consommé, leg of lamb with green beans, steak with French fries, lemon meringue pie, and chocolate mousse-he isolates the exact chemical properties that tickle our senses and stimulate our appetites. More important, he connects the mind and the stomach, identifying methods of culinary construction that appeal to our memories, intelligence, and creativity. By showing that the creation of a meal is as satisfying as its consumption, Herve This recalibrates the balance between food and our imaginations. The result is a revolutionary perspective that will tempt even the most casual cooks to greater flights of experimentation.

The aim of this article is to present Johann Rottenhöfer’s French-German cookbook, his French inspirations and his ideas of political gastronomy from the court of King Maximilian II of Bavaria. Next, a cookbook in Hungarian from 1881 is presented : it is almost identical to Rottenhöfer’s, but published under the name of József C. Dobos, then republished in 1883 under the name of Károly Duby.

In this program we'll get acquainted with the unique story of self-taught René and Maxime Meilleur, father and son running a three-star Michelin restaurant in Saint-Martin-de-Belleville in the Savoy region. As they put incredible focus in their craft, they have elevated home cooking to exceptional levels, while at the same time building their luxury hotel all by themselves. We'll also meet the only producer in the region that still holds up the old tradition of producing sheep's cheese.

In today's program we will visit the star-chef Pascal Barbot, who became independent at age twenty-seven. Reservations at his 2 star Michelin-awarded restaurant Astrance are booked months ahead. Pascal is truly passionate about cooking and puts emphasis on perfection in everything that he and his team does. He loves surprises, and also offers his customers this delight, with his surprise menu. In this program we'll get to know Barbot and the values that permeate his work and relation with his producers and learn his secrets on how to cook like a star!