[Isa]

Each era has it's great chef. With the evolution of food and nutrion you can not name only one chef and declare him the best that ever was. No one eats like they did during Escoffier or Careme life and that doesn't dimish their contribution and their ever lasting influence on cooking.

[cape chef]

All I can say is I agree with all of you.

I think it is impossible to choose the "best" ever.I think Chrose is right on the mark with his comments,as are the rest of you. Funny...I studied all the fore mentioned masters as I was coming up through the ranks and believe each one contriduted something very unique and tangable to our proffesion. The list could go on and on..as for me the greatest chefs that ever lived we're and are the ones who influenced me the most
cc

[palmier]

..."every generation sends a hero up the pop charts".....Paul Simon

[coolJ]

I would like to tender this theory, Escoffier is not the greatest chef ever !. Yes he was a great chef in his time, and he is considered to be the father of the modern kitchen, and he deserves his credits, I won't deny any of that. Does anyone else feel that Escoffier is not the greatest ever ?. I have great respect for Esscoffier, myself, but I am just curious as to what you all think.

[chrose]

I would have to agree with CoolJ. Can anybody ever "really" be "The Greatest Ever"? Is Michael Jordan the greatest basketball player ever? Babe Ruth? Jimi Hendrix? Ali? Wayne Gretzky? (well maybe Wayne!)As with anything there will always be someone who comes along and alters or improves what the former "greatest" did. Of course Escoffier changed things and changed the whole face of cooking both as an art as well as a business in so far as kitchen eficiency. At some point that will change also. It always does, Joe Louis to Muhammed Ali, Gordie Howe to Wayne Gretzky, IBM to Microsoft, etc,etc,etc.
While cedtainly not an earthshaker in terms of contributions to the world of cooking I still believe that Jean Louis Palladin would be a far superior Chef to Escoffier and for my money anyone else out there.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

That is a hard one. He did so much to refine and enhance French cuisine, but it was Careme who provided the foundation of Escoffier's work.
It is really hard to say "Greatest of all Time" for anything, because the only thing constant in life is change...



[ 02-09-2001: Message edited by: ChezMichelle ]

I don’t think that Escoffier is the greatest chef of all time, but I do believe that you must give credit where credit is due. Apicius, Catherine de medici, Marie Antoine Careme Escoffier, and Boulanger, each is due credit for what they had brought to us. With out the accomplishments of each we would not be what we are today. I think that Escoffier is given much credit for two reasons. First, Escoffier historically is the last in the list, and he did do much to organize and structure the current kitchens, also helped reduce “traditional French” meal my courses and started to offer lighter fair. I think as a profession we should remember him because of his life long pursuit of professionalism. He encouraged his cooks to come to work in clean pressed uniforms, and also encouraged his cooks to dress when they went out after work. We do have jobs that are not pretty and not for the faint of heart…we must keep our dignity.

I know this sounds like I am a proponent of Escoffier, but I am not! Just recognize what others have done for our profession.

Regards,
Patrick