The great chef Escoffier, France’s preeminent culinary genius in the early part of the 20th century, is best known for inventing and recording recipes. He also elevated cooking to the status of a respected profession, additionally creating social security for his kitchen staff as he was concerned about their welfare. His cookbooks are still a foundation of French haute cuisine, yet he fed the poor because he did not believe in leftovers, preferring instead to start each day anew in the kitchen, and so donated what remained from the previous day to the hungry. And now that same attitude to haute cuisine is adhered to in a vegan restaurant in Paris.
Escoffier lobbied to make it legal for women to dine in public, and did away with the system where all food came out at the same time, and replaced it with courses. He developed canning of tomatoes, vegetables and other methods of food preservation. Among the many culinary inventions he is credited with refining, is the classic preparation of vegetables starting with formal cutting methods such as julienne, chiffonade, jardiniere, brunoise, macedoine and paysanne. Food scientists tell us that when you cut a vegetable a series of chemical reactions are unleashed and that the shape and size of the pieces in turn affect the cooking process, aroma, texture and flavour of vegetables. All this knowledge and more is used in the preparation of food at the Gentle Gourmet restaurant in the trendy Bastille area of Paris.