Description
Auguste ESCOFFIER (1846 – 1935).
Fraises Sarah Bernhardt
[S. l., S. d., but probably London, Early May 1912].
Machine-duplicated manuscript in purple on Pentland Ledger paper with a watermark and a manuscript signature “A Escoffier” in black ink on the bottom, 32,5 x 40 cm (12.8 x 15.7 inches), (soft folds, ghost of a manuscript or printing in the lower right-hand white margin, minor age-toning to the folds verso, but otherwise in a good condition).
[And:]
Auguste ESCOFFIER (1846 – 1935).
La Dodine de Canard
[S. l., S. d., but probably London, Early May 1912].
Machine-duplicated manuscript in purple on Dickinson Croxley (1804) paper with printed Carlton Hotel, London, letterhead, and a manuscript signature “A Escoffier” in black ink on the bottom, 20 x 25 cm (7.9 x 9.8 inches) (soft folds, otherwise in a good condition).
[Accompanied with:]
Photograph:
Henri MANUEL (1874 – 1947).
[Portrait of Auguste Escoffier, with his autograph and verso]
Black and white photograph, 15 x 10 cm (5.9 x 3.9 inches), (folds and cracks in margins).
Verso: Purple rubber stamp: Défense de reproduire sans mention Henri Manuel. Signature in blue pencil : A. Escoffier. Underneath dedication in pencil: A rendre a M. Pierre Pierre Andrieu.
[And:]
A front part of an envelope with printed logo The Escoffier. Sauces Pickles. Etc…., typed address: J. Salleron Esq. Messrs Dujardin Freres, 24 Rue Pavee, PARIS. Signature in turquoise ink: Escoffier, culinair chef. Hotel Londres… Stamp dated: May 1, 1930, Peckham.
8 x 14,5 cm (3.1 x 5.7 inches), (without the back part of the envelope, missing postal stamps).
[And:]
A front part of an envelope with the same printed logo and typed address, but without a signature. Stamp dated: September 21, 1929, Peckham. 9 x 14,5 cm (3.5 x 5.7 inches), (without the back part of the envelope, missing postal stamps) (#70521).
Auguste Escoffier (1846 – 1935) was one of the most famous chefs of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who not only invented some of the classic dishes and authored several books, but also among others introduced modern system of cooking in restaurants with strict hierarchy, brigade de cuisine. With his business associate César Ritz (1850 – 1918), mostly known as the founder of the Ritz Hotels in Paris and London, they created the first class team, which elevated the service of gastronomy and hotel business to the highest level. After Ritz’s retirement, Escoffier took over the management of the Carlton Hotel in London, from where he introduced the newly invented recipes of the French fine cuisine.
In early 1912, Auguste Escoffier came up with a brilliant plan, to introduce his new gastronomic creations worldwide at dinner parties in upper class hotels, which would happen simultaneously with the same surprise menu. The chefs would receive highly confidential recipes, sent from Escoffier’s team at the Carlton Hotel in London, days in advance and direct contact would be maintained through modern communication systems, being telephones and telegraphs. The event was called Dîner d’Épicure, The Epicure’s Dinner.
The first event probably took place on May 18, 1912, with the main event at the Cecil Hotel in London. It was attended by 37 hotels in Europe and circa 4000 guests. A large part of the profit went to the fund for retired chefs. (Internet sources mostly quote a wrong date, May 25, 1912. Contemporary newspapers confirm May 18: Among others Le Figaro reports on the food, served at the event, on May 21; May 18 is among others also mentioned in Excelsior: journal illustré quotidien : informations, littérature, sciences, arts, sports, théâtre, élégances, July 4, 1912, p. 3).
In his memoires Escoffier described the event with the following words:
Tous les journaux du monde ont parlé de notre premier «Dîner d’Epicure ». Ce fut, bien au-delà de nos espérances, la plus belle et la plus grandiose manifestation en l’honneur de la cuisine française qui se soit jamais produite.
Le téléphone et le télégraphe en transmirent le soir-même les moindres détails aux quatre coins du globe, toute la presse mondiale les enregistra le lendemain dans un bel élan d’enthousiasme.
Nous nous bornerons donc à noter quelques menus faits restés inédits, quelques impressions de notre dîner de l’Hôtel Cecil qui fut, en cette inoubliable soirée, le centre gastronomique de l’Univers. Nous avions compté sur une centaine de convives; et quand on songe que notre “Carnet d’Epicure” n’avait pas encore un an d’existence, et notre “Ligue des gourmands” pas même trois mois, on conviendra qu’il eût été présomptueux d’espérer mieux.
Et pourtant, nous étions près de trois cents au Cecil; et, le même jour, dans trente-sept villes d’Europe, le même dîner français était servi aux adhérents de notre jeune Ligue; si bien qu’il y avait par le monde, à la même heure, en présence du même menu, plus de quatre mille gourmands à table!
[All the newspapers in the world talked about our first “Epicure’s Dinner”. It was, well beyond our expectations, the most beautiful and grandiose event in honor of French cuisine that has ever occurred.
The telephone and the telegraph transmitted the smallest details to the four corners of the globe that very evening, and the entire world press recorded them the next day in a burst of enthusiasm.
We will therefore limit ourselves to noting, but a few menus that have remained unpublished, a few impressions of our dinner at the Cecil Hotel which was, on that unforgettable evening, the gastronomic center of the Universe. We had counted on around a hundred guests; and when we consider that our “Epicure’s Notebook” was not yet a year old, and our “League of Gourmets” not even three months old, we will agree that it would have been presumptuous to hope for better.
And yet, there were nearly three hundred of us at the Cecil; and, on the same day, in thirty-seven cities of Europe, the same French dinner was served to the members of our young League; so much so that there were around the world, at the same time, in front of the same menu, more than four thousand gourmands at the table!]
(Auguste Escoffier, Souvenirs inédits: 75 ans au service de l’art culinaire, 1985, p. 161)
Two legendary dishes – Fraises Sarah Bernhardt and Dodine de Canard (de Chambertin- mentioned in our recipe in the mid-8th row) – were introduced that evening and the present two mimeographed recipes with Escoffier’s signature were probably sent to one of the 37 hotels, attending the event.
Sarah Bernhardt was personally present at one of the dinners in Paris and was the first to send Escoffier a telegram with compliments.
Three days later, on May 21, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported on the event on the first page and praised above all the Dodine de Canard:
“La dodine”. C’est la plat de jour, comme on sait. Au premier dîner d’Epicure qu’organisa si magistralement le maître-chef Escoffier, les gourmands ligués l’ont dégusté.
[“The Dodine”. It’s the dish of the day, as we know. At the first Epicure’s Dinner, that master chef Escoffier organized so masterfully, the gourmands gathered together tasted it.]
(Le Figaro, May 21, 1912, no 142, p. 1).
The two recipes were not officially published, until Escoffier’s autobiography, mentioned above, was printed after his death in 1985, and the present two examples are probably one of the earliest obtainable examples of the procedures.
The last Epicure`s Dinner with new recipes was organized on June 14, 1914, on the eve of World War I. By that time more than 140 restaurants all over the world and thousand of guests attended this today largely forgotten event.
The menus are accompanied with a photograph of Auguste Escoffier with his autograph verso and dedication to Pierre Andrieu, probably the French gastronomy critic (1893 -1973), who was mostly known for his work with a famous French writer on gastronomy, Curnonsky (Maurice Edmond Sailland, 1872 – 1956). The photograph bears a stamp of Henri Manuel (1874 – 1947), a Paris-based portrait photographer.
The two fronts of envelopes, accompanying this small collection and one with Escoffier’s signature, are addressed to Salleron, at brothers Lucien Dujardin and René Dujardin, still existing wine makers and oenologists.
