Francois pierre de la varenne biography

François Pierre La Varenne

François Pierre de la Varenne (Burgundy, 1615 – Dijon 1678) was the author of Le Cuisinier françois (1651), the founding text of modern French cuisine.

La Varenne, in the 17th century, broke with the Italian traditions that had revolutionized mediaeval French cookery in the 16th century. La Varenne wrote for professional chefs, and codified French cuisine for the age of Louis XIV.

The seventeenth century saw French cooking come into the modern era. The heavily spiced flavours of the Middle Ages were abandoned in favour of the natural flavours of French foods. Exotic spices (saffron, cinnamon, cumin, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, nigella, seeds of paradise) were, with the exception of pepper, replaced by local herbs (parsley, thyme, bayleaf, chervil, sage, tarragon). New vegetables like cauliflower, asparagus, peas, cucumber and artichoke were introduced. Special care was given to the cooking of meat in order to conserve maximum flavour. Vegetables had to be fresh and tender. Fish, with the improvement of transportation, had to be impeccably fresh. Preparation had to respect the taste and visual look of the ingredients instead of masking them as had been done before.

La Varenne introduced the first bisque and Béchamel sauce. He replaced crumbled bread with roux as the base for sauces, and lard with butter. Here one finds the first use of the terms bouquet garni, fonds de cuisine (stocks) and reductions, and the use of egg-whites for clarification. It also has the earliest recipe in print for mille-feuille. The cooking of vegetables is discussed, a novelty. In a fragrant sauce for asparagus there is evidence of an early form of hollandaise sauce:

make a sauce with good fresh butter, a little vinegar, salt, and nutmeg, and an egg yolk to bind the sauce; take care that it doesn't curdle...

— [1]

La Varenne had earlier (1650) written a book on confitures—jams, jellies and preserves. That included reci

François Pierre de La Verenne

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(1618-1678)


La Varenne was one of the great chefs and culinary writers of the 17th century. It is believed that he learned to cook in the kitchens of Marie de Medicis, wife of Henry IV of France.

While in charge of the kitchens of the Marquis d'Uxelles, he created mushroom duxelles, wrote one of the first systematically planned books on cooking, with recipes listed in alphabetical order, 'La Cuisinier François'(1651). It also included many recipes for vegetables, some of the first written instructions on vegetable cooking.

One of the basic tenets of French cuisine was established: the purpose of cooking and the use of spices and seasonings was to bring out and enhance the natural flavors of foods, not to disguise their flavor. 

Instead of using bread as a thickener for sauces, roux made from flour and butter (or other animal fat) took its place. 

He also wrote'Le Patissier François'and'Le Confiseur François.' His books have been used for centuries, especially 'Le Cuisinier François'and many of his recipes are still being used today.

 

 

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François Pierre La Varenne

French chef (1615–1678)

François Pierre de la Varenne (French pronunciation:[fʁɑ̃swapjɛʁdəlavaʁɛn], 1615–1678 in Dijon), Burgundian by birth, was the author of Le Cuisinier françois (1651), one of the most influential cookbooks in early modern French cuisine. La Varenne broke with the traditions that had revolutionised medieval and Renaissance French cookery in the 16th century and early 17th century.

Historical context

La Varenne was the foremost member of a group of French chefs, writing for a professional audience, who codified French cuisine in the age of King Louis XIV. The others were Nicolas Bonnefon, Le Jardinier françois (1651) and Les Délices de la campagne (1654), and François Massialot, Le Cuisinier royal et bourgeois (1691), which was still being edited and modernised in the mid-18th century. The cookbook was still used in France until the French Revolution.

The seventeenth century saw a culinary revolution which transported French gastronomy into the modern era. The heavily spiced flavours inherited from the cuisine of the Middle Ages were abandoned in favour of the natural flavours of foods. Exotic and costly spices (saffron, cinnamon, cumin, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, nigella, seeds of paradise) were, with the exception of pepper, replaced by local herbs (parsley, thyme, bayleaf, chervil, sage, tarragon). New vegetables like cauliflower, asparagus, peas, cucumber and artichoke were introduced.

Special care was given to the cooking of meat in order to conserve maximum flavour. Vegetables had to be fresh and tender. Fish, with the improvement of transportation, had to be impeccably fresh. Preparation had to respect the gustatory and visual integrity of the ingredients instead of masking them as had been the practice previously. Finally, a rigorous separation between salted and sweet dishes was introduced, the former served before the latter, banishing the Renaissance taste for mi

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    • La Varenne Writes the Founding Text of Modern French Cuisine

    François Pierre de la Varenne, chef de cuisine to Nicolas Chalon du Blé, marquis d'Uxelles, published in Paris Le cuisinier françois, the founding text of modern French cuisine. Le cuisinier françois played a major role in moving French gastronomy away from the heavily spiced cuisine of the Middle Ages toward recipes that expressed the natural flavors of foods.

    "Exotic spices (saffron, cinnamon, cumin, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, nigella, seeds of paradise) were, with the exception of pepper, replaced by local herbs (parsley, thyme, bayleaf, chervil, sage, tarragon). New vegetables like cauliflower, asparagus, peas, cucumber and artichoke were introduced. Special care was given to the cooking of meat in order to conserve maximum flavour. Vegetables had to be fresh and tender. Fish, with the improvement of transportation, had to be impeccably fresh. Preparation had to respect the gustatory and visual integrity of the ingredients instead of masking them as had been the practice previously.

    "La Varenne's work was the first to set down in writing the considerable culinary innovations achieved in France in the seventeenth century, while codifying food preparation in a systematic manner, according to rules and principals. He introduced the first bisque and Béchamel sauce. He replaced crumbled bread with roux as the base for sauces, and lard with butter. Here one finds the first usage of the terms bouquet garni, fonds de cuisine (stocks) and reductions, and the use of egg-whites for clarification. It also contains the earliest recipe in print for mille-feuille. The cooking of vegetables is addressed, an unusual departure. In a fragrant sauce for asparagus there is evidence of an early form of hollandaise sauce:

    "make a sauce with good fresh butter, a little vinegar, salt, and nutmeg, and an egg yolk to bind the sauce; take care that it doesn't curdle..."