history - cooking: evolution of cookery part 5

(history of cooking continued)

19th Century AD

The early Nineteenth century marked the beginnings of large-scale candy making, especially in England.
Saw the start of the cultivation of watercress.
In the early 1800's at the kitchen of Parker House, one of the USA's oldest Hotels, the famous Boston Cream Pie was given its chocolate glaze topping .
In the late Nineteenth century the common variety of celery that we use today, was developed in the USA.

1800

The word 'Balthazar' in use to describe a large bottle of Champagne, that is equivalent to sixteen regular bottles. Named after the last King of Babylon, Balthazar's father also has a bottle size named after him, the Nebuchadnezzar, which holds twenty bottles.

1801

A massive 560.18kg is produced in the USA, as a present for President Thomas Jefferson.

1802

The Café Anglais is opened in the Boulevard des Italiens. It was named in honour of the peace treaty just signed between England and France. Originally just a coffee house for coachman and servants, it became famous when it was bought by a Paul Chevreuil who turned it into a fashionable eating establishment. Although it was not until the arrival of the great Chef Adolphe Dugléré that it truly gained its gastronomic reputation. One of its private rooms was made famous for eternity in Offenbach's La Vie parisienne. It was finally demolished in 1913.

1804

The seven-story Boston Exchange Coffee House, opened in 1804, was in its time the largest and best-equipped hotel in America, with more than 200 apartments and a total of 300 rooms. These included stores, offices, banquet halls, ballrooms, dining rooms, numbered private bedrooms, a billiard room, a hairdresser's room, and a large number of bathing rooms. Its central, domed area, the Exchange, was used as a commercial meeting place.

1809

Frenchman Nicolas Appert develops the first effective method for canning food.

1809

Alexis Benoit Soyer born October, 14th in Meaux-en-Brie (north west of Paris). One of the greatest and most underrated of the master chefs), Soyer was not just a chef but also an inventor and notable charity worker. He was Chef at the famous Reform Club in London for a quarter of his life.

1810

The canning process, like so many other developments in the Food Industry, was developed in response to the problem of feeding military forces in the field. In an attempt to overcome the problem of food spoilage, a prize was offered by the French in 1795 for the invention of a method of keeping food safe for troops. Nicolas Appert, a chef in Paris, accepted this challenge and developed the canning process. The immensity of his undertaking becomes clearer when it is recognised that he had to fashion containers in which to package his product. Using bottles closed with cork and wire, he won the prize for his canning process in 1810. At about the same time, the tin-coated metal can was patented in England, giving rise to the term canning. Today virtually all types of food are canned commercially, and the products are available in cans of all sizes. Unlike the freezer necessary for frozen foods, no special device is needed for prolonged storage of cans

The British chemist Sir Humphrey Davis, separates the molecules of salt into its two elements; sodium and chlorine, thus starting others to understand the process/ chemical reactions that take place when using salt in curing, freezing etc. This in turn led to better preserving processes.

Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig marries Princess Therese of Saxony-Hidburghausen on October 12. The festivities become an annual event and evolve into what is now known as the 'Oktoberfest'

1813

Baron Léon Brisse born; died at Fontenay aux Roses in 1876. Brisse began his career in the services of the Water and Forestry, though was forced to leave after a scandal. He began a career in journalism specialising in articles on food. In the newspaper La Liberté he had the idea of printing a different menu everyday. In 1868 these were eventually published in a collection, Les Trois Cent Soixant Six Menus du baron Brisse or The 366 Menus of Baron Brisse. His other published works were:
Recette a l'usage des menages bourgeois et des petit menages (1868)
La Petite Cuisine du baron Brisse (1870)
La Cuisine en Careme
Not being able to cook himself he was often taken to task for some of his 'ridiculous' recipes. However his name was given to a garnish for large joints of meat; onions, chicken forcemeat and stuffed olive tartlets.

1815

The worlds first commercial biscuit factory is set up in Carlisle, Scotland; The Carr Establishment.

1816

Louis Bignon born in Hérisson, France; died in Macau 1906. A great restaurateur, he started his career as a waiter at the Café d'Orsay before moving on to the Café au Foy. He later purchased it and handed it over to his brother in 1847. Taking over the Café Riché he made it one of the best in Paris. Made a Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honour in 1868 and officer in 1878. Bignon was the first restaurateur to wear the rosette of the Legion of Honour.

1822

American surgeon William Beaumont begins his study of the gastric process.
Sometime around this era Chef's hat started to appear.

1824

French engineer Ferdinand Carré born at Moislains, Somme. Carré pioneered methods of refrigeration. In 1862 he exhibited at the Universal London Exhibition, a machine to produce ice that had an output of 200 kg per hour.

1825

December 8, Brillat-Savarin's great work La Physiologie du gout (1825) is published, a treatise on the fine art of gastronomy. Published in English as The Physiology of Taste (1825), it was the first work to treat dining as a form of art, and gastronomy as "the intelligent knowledge of whatever concerns man's nourishment."

1826

In February, Brillat-Savarin died in Paris.

1827

English inventor John Walker introduces the first friction matches.

1828

The Dutch made chocolate powder by squeezing most of the fat from finely ground cacao beans. The cocoa butter from pressing was soon being added to a powder-sugar mixture, and a new product, eating chocolate, was born.

1830

Sometime in the 1830's it is thought that in a restaurant at Saint Germain en Laye, Collinet creates Bearnaise sauce.

1831

Cyrus McCormick invents a mechanical reaper.
Professional chefs had existed in Europe at least since the emergence of Athens as the cultural centre of the classical world, but no single individual's impact on a national cuisine even remotely approached that of Antonin Careme, (born June 8, 1784, died Jan. 12, 1833) who revolutionised French cooking (and northern European cooking in general) during a career spent in the kitchens of Europe's social and political leaders. Stressing "delicacy, order, and economy," Careme systematised and codified French cooking, brought symmetry and logical progression to the service of meals, and introduced a new awareness of freshness and sanitation into the French kitchen. Careme wrought culinary miracles with the inadequate equipment at his disposal. The charcoal-burning stoves with which he worked brought his delicately constructed dishes into direct contact with live embers, often scorching or setting them ablaze. Ovens had to be stoked and emptied of ashes repeatedly and, with no effective means of temperature control, armies of cooks were required to give their undivided attention to individual dishes.

1832

Parisian caterer and food retailer, Germain Charles Chevet dies in Paris. He set up a shop in the Palais Royal and subsequently founded a dynasty of caterers. His shops were frequented by the likes of Brillet Savarin and Rossini for the high quality venison, pâtés, foie gars and seafood he supplied. His son Joseph took over the business after his death.

1833

Marie Antonin Careme died January 12, 1833
George Huntington Hartford, born Augusta, Maine, September 5, 1833, died August 29, 1917, was an American merchant who helped develop what became for a time the largest US grocery chain.

1834

Jacob Perkins, an American engineer living in London, patented (1834) the first practical ice-making machine, a volatile-liquid refrigerator using a compressor that operated in a closed cycle and conserved the fluid for reuse.

1836

Charles Ranhofer born: (died 1899); the first internationally famous Chef from an American establishment.

1837

John Lea and William Perrin 'produce' their first successful batch of their world famous sauce. A Lord Sandy asked them a few years earlier, to produce a sauce from a recipe he brought back from Bengal. After following the recipe to the letter they found the resulting sauce was far from palatable, so it was barrelled and left in their cellar, only to be rediscovered years later after it had fermented into what we now know as Worcester sauce.

1839

French politician and financier Marie Vicomte de Botherel (born 1790 at La Chapelle du Lou, died 1859) has the idea of installing mobile kitchens on buses operating in the suburbs of Paris. While all of Paris seemed to admire his venture it failed as a business. However it is regarded as the forerunner to the modern day 'restaurant car'.

1840

Gas was first used for cooking, and interest grew as the availability of gas spread.

1842

James Dewar a Scottish physicist is born. James Dewar invented the vacuum flask. He died in 1923 aged 81.

1844

The first successful refrigeration machine in the United States was developed in 1844 by John Gorrie. His device did not use a volatile liquid but operated by the principle that air gets hot when compressed and cools when it expands. The air refrigerating principle was extensively used during the latter part of the 19th century and during the early years of the Twentieth century, although it is little used at the present time
Henry John Heinz, b. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 11, 1844, died May 14, 1919, the founder of the HJ Heinz Company Inc, manufacturer of prepared foods.

1845

Failure of the potato crop leads to a famine in Ireland.

1846

Georges Auguste Escoffier, born October 28, 1846, died February 12, 1935
The Pastry Chef, Chiboust creates the Saint Honoré gâteau in honour of the Paris district in which he worked and also the patron saint of Pastry Chefs and bakers.

1850

Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, born Glasgow, Scotland, May 10, 1850, died October 2, 1931, was the founder of the tea and provision company, Lipton, Ltd. Lipton made his fortune primarily on cured meats, eggs, butter, and cheeses. His small store in Glasgow grew to include a chain of shops throughout the United Kingdom; he also owned foreign tea, coffee, cocoa, and rubber plantations; fruit orchards, bakeries, and jam factories in England; and a meatpacking house in Chicago. Lipton was knighted in 1898 and made a baronet in 1902. An ardent yachtsman, he tried unsuccessfully to win the America's Cup in the races of 1899, 1901, 1903, 1920, and 1930
Another type of refrigeration unit, the absorption-type machine, was developed by Ferdinand Carre in France between 1850 and 1859. Such devices, which can operate exclusively by burning natural gas or other fuel, were commonly used prior to the widespread availability of electricity. The first machines of this type used water as a refrigerant and sulphuric acid as an absorbent, but in 1859, Carre switched to an ammonia-water system that is still in use. The public, however, resisted the use of artificial ice, fearing that it was unhealthy. Resistance declined after the American Civil War; during that war a number of Carre's machines had been slipped through the Union blockade and were able to provide much-needed ice to the southern states
A Belgian peasant discovers wild chicory cultivated in warmth and shade grew elongated shoots with edible leaves. A Belgian botanist, Brezier managed to cultivate it further to give us the modern day chicory salad plant.

1851

Jacob Fussell begins making ice cream in commercial quantities in Baltimore. The first ice cream factory was built Jacob Fussell, and the industry thereafter grew rapidly.

1855

American physician John Gorrie, born Charleston, South Carolina, October 3, 1803, died June 16, 1855, was issued the first US patent for "a machine for the artificial production of ice." In Apalachicola, Florida, where he practiced, Gorrie noticed that his patients seemed to recover more quickly in cool weather. He began to develop methods for artificially cooling the air and eventually invented and patented a mechanical refrigeration device that operated much like a present-day refrigerator. Unable to find investors willing to back the manufacture of his machine, he died of a "nervous collapse" at the age of 52.

1859

French inventor Ferdinand Carre develops a refrigeration system.

Nellie Melba, born Helen Mitchell in Richmond, Australia, May 19, 1859, died February 23, 1931, was a fabulously successful operatic soprano and for whom Escoffier created and named his dish 'Peach Melba'.

The first successful food-store chain was the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P), which was founded in this year, but began its great expansion after World War I.

1860

Will Keith Kellogg, born Battle Creek, Michegan, April 7, 1860, died October 6, 1951, the creator of Kellogg's Corn Flakes. As a young man he worked with his brother, Dr. John H Kellogg, at the latter's Battle Creek Sanatorium, where they developed toasted wheat flakes and other vegetarian health foods. In 1906 he organised the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company and merchandised his product with heavy advertising. He added other breakfast foods to the company's line, making it the world's largest manufacturer of prepared cereals. He established the philanthropic WK Kellogg Foundation in 1930 and gave it a total of $47 million.

1860s

In the USA the railroads developed refrigerator cars.

Chewing gum, a uniquely US product, discovered during the search for rubber materials in the 1860s. It is a mixture of natural or synthetic gums and resins, sweetened with sugar and corn syrup, with added colour and flavour.

1862

French engineer Ferdinand Carré, exhibited at the Universal London Exhibition, a machine to produce ice that had an output of 200 kg per hour.

1864

The Bofinger, one of Paris' top bar/restaurants established on the Rue de la Bastille. It is still open today (1997).

1865

Escoffier starts his Military service and here he learns the art of wax flower making

1866

Baron Brisse on the 6th June wrote a column in a French publication, which seems suggest the creation of the dessert; baked Alaska, was introduced into France by the chef of a visiting Chinese delegation at the Grand Hotel in Paris.

The shape and size of the bottles for Bordeaux, Burgundy and Macon are legally defined.

1867

On June 7th, the Cafe Anglaise in Paris serves what has become known as the 'Three Emperors Dinner', served for the King of Prussia; William I, the Tsar Alexander II of Russia and his son

1868

McIlhenny introduces his Tabasco sauce to the world.

1869

The first manufacturing patent is issued for chewing gum.

Margarine is patented in France by Hippolyte Mege Mouries. Margerine or oleomargarine, a butter like product was made primarily from used beef fat as the main ingredient. Later margarines used animal fats and vegetable oils, later changing to today's product that contain only vegetable oils, usually derived from Soya beans, corn oil or cottonseed oil.

1870

Escoffier was made the Chef de Cuisine for the French Army Officers when war broke out.

During the siege of 1870, the French Chef Choron, whom created the sauce named after him, was serving dishes at the Voisin Restaurant based on elephant meat.

1872

The haricot bean variety flageolets first grown in Europe.

1874

Margarine was introduced into the United States in 1874 and immediately aroused the opposition of the dairy industry. Taxes were imposed on the substance; in some states yellow coloured margarine could not be sold, and federal laws required, among other stringencies, that restaurants serving margarine post a conspicuous notice of that fact.

1876

A Swiss firm added condensed milk to chocolate, producing the world's first milk chocolate.
Henry John Heinz formed a company to manufacture pickles, condiments, and other prepared foods.

1879

FW Woolworth opened his "nothing over five cents" store in Utica, New York - and nearly went broke, so he moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, opened a "5 and 10" cent store and the rest is history!

1880s

Machines vending postage stamps and chewing gum won public acceptance in the United States in the late 1880s, and machines offering candy bars and cigarettes were later marketed.

1881

Anna Pavlova, born January 31, 1881, died January 23, 1931, was one of the world's best-known ballerinas and after whom the dessert is named after.

1882

Chinese artichokes (which actually originated in Japan) are cultivated in France by the agronomist Pailleux at Crosne.

1884

The word Bistro enters into the French language.

Evaporated milk is patented by John Mayenberg, of St Louis, USA on November 25th

1886

Clarence Birdseye born in New York, died 1956. An American businessman and inventor, who during a trip to Labrador in 1920 noticed that fish caught by the Eskimos and left exposed to the air froze rapidly and was told they would remain edible for months. On his return to the USA he perfected a method of ultra rapid freeze, in 1924 he formed a company to distribute the products. Economic crisis later forced him to sell the company and his name.

1887

Conrad Hilton, born San Antonio, New Mexico, December 25, 1887, died January 4, founder of the Hilton Hotel Chain.

1889

The French nightclub, Moulin Rouge, opened its doors for the first time on October 6th. Escoffier was later to cook there.

1890

In the early 1890s, the health-foods innovator, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, developed processes for producing a number of new foods - among them wheat flakes, various coffee substitutes, and several vegetable products that bore some resemblance to meats. As a protein base, Kellogg used fresh wheat gluten with added meat like flavourings

1895

Cordon bleu (cooking) - {kohr-dohn' blu} The Cordon Bleu is a famous school of cooking in Paris, founded in 1895 by Marthe Distell to teach the principles of French cuisine to the daughters of upper-class families. Today it attracts amateur and professional cooks from throughout the world. The term cordon bleu is probably derived from the blue ribbons worn by knights of the Order of the Holy Ghost, a chivalric order renowned for the excellence of its table. The ribbon was first used as a gastronomic order of merit by King Louis XV, who bestowed it on Mme du Barry's chef, a woman; and for many years, the decoration was given only to top-ranked female cooks

March 12

Coca Cola first sold in bottles.

1897

The famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel was completed on Fifth Avenue in New York, USA. (see 1929 also)

1898

Cesar Ritz and Escoffier opened the Hotel Ritz in Paris: the Ritz was inaugurated on June 1, 1898, on the historic Place Vendôme, constructed by Hardouin-Mansart, the architect of Versailles.

The information contained on all my historical web pages is supplied for your interest only and further research may be required. I have gathered it from many sources over many years. While I attempt to insure they are crossed referenced for accuracy, I take no responsibility for mistakes - additions or corrections are welcomed.

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