The Escoffier Cookbook: and Guide to the Fine Art of Cookery for Connoisseurs, Chefs, Epicures

Auguste Escoffier (1846–1935)
Often called the father of haute cuisine, Auguste Escoffier transformed the way the world cooks and thinks about food. Building on the elaborate style of Marie-Antoine Carême, Escoffier streamlined and modernised classic French techniques, making them more practical for professional kitchens. In 1903, he published Le Guide Culinaire, a cookbook and training manual that’s still essential reading for chefs today. He’s the man who codified the five French “mother sauces” — béchamel, velouté, espagnole, hollandaise, and tomate — a foundation that shaped modern Western cuisine. Even royalty recognised his genius; Kaiser Wilhelm II famously called him the “Emperor of Chefs.”