Marcel Boulestin

Xavier Marcel Boulestin (* 1878 in Périgord ; † September 20, 1943 in Paris ) was a French chef and restaurant owner. He became known as the first television chef and as the author of cookbooks that made French cuisine known in the English-speaking world.

Before becoming known as an innkeeper and restaurant owner, Boulestin had tried his hand at various professions. He worked as a secretary and ghostwriter in Paris for Henry Gauthier-Villars , known by his pseudonym "Willy", and in 1906 he moved to London. There he first opened an interior design business, but there was no money to be made from it. As the author of several books, he had received a commission for a simple, English-language cookbook on French cuisine, which became a great success and from then on determined his further career as a chef.

He opened his Boulestin restaurant in 1927, and it was considered one of the most expensive in London. His reputation and the books and articles he published soon made him known. He cooked in a variety of ways, in addition to classic French cuisine, well-known British dishes were on his menu. Elizabeth David , among others, was influenced by his cuisine , who quoted him in her articles and often varied his recipes.

life and career

Early years

Boulestin grew up in Poitiers in the Périgord with his mother and his maternal grandmother. His parents lived separately, he spent a month in the summer with his father in Saint-Aulaye . He attended school first in Poitiers and later in Bordeaux, where he officially began studying law. However, he spent most of his time in concerts and other music events in the city. For the Courrier Musical , a music magazine, he wrote the column "Letter from Bordeaux". He published his first book Le Pacte , a dialogue to which the writer Henry Gauthier-Villars, husband of the writer Colette , wrote the foreword under his pseudonym Willy. However, even with Willy's support, the book was not a great success.

After completing the obligatory military service in 1899, Boulestin moved to Paris and from then on worked for Gauthier-Villars as a secretary and as one of several ghostwriters , including Maurice-Edmond Sailland (pseudonym Curnonsky) and Colette. Gauthier-Villar's books evidently met the taste of the time and sold well. The characters of Gauthier-Villar's stories and tales could often be discovered in his circle of friends and colleagues. In the series Claudine , Minne and other stories, Colette's youth is portrayed, enriched with people like the obviously homosexual "Hicksem" and "Blackspot" from Boulestin's environment. Gauthier-Villars' story En Bombe from 1904 traces his life with Boulestin and his other collaborators, illustrated with 100 photos, the Gauthier-Villars as Maugis, Marcel Boulestin as Blackspot, his collaborator Armory as Kernadeck, Colette as Marcelle, Marcelle as Show Jeannine and Colette's dog Toby-Chien. In 1905, Boulestin's French translation of Max Beerbohm 's The Happy Hypocrite appeared , which was published in the Mercure de France together with a cartoon by Boulestins drawn by Beerbohm. Boulestin first had to convince the skeptical editor that Beerbohm was a real person and not his own invention. Occasionally Boulestin also appeared in the theater with Colette in various plays written by Gauthier-Villars.

In London as an interior designer

Boulestin had liked English culture from a very early age, including in culinary terms. He tried to convince his family of the advantages of lamb with mint sauce , bought mint cake and jam in Paris and invited Colette to afternoon tea . In 1906 he moved to London, but probably did not want to take British citizenship. According to Elizabeth David, he probably considered it inappropriate for a French to give up his citizenship. In the words of his biographer Brigid Allen, after moving he was first absorbed in the music temples and theaters and all the weirdness and the obvious luxury of the rich idlers . His friends included Robert Ross , Lord Alfred Douglas and Reginald Turner . In the beginning he earned his living with the humorous "Letters from London", which were published in various magazines. This also included the lavishly designed Akademos magazine published monthly by Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen . There he also published the novel Les Fréquentations de Maurice, which was written in several episodes under the pseudonym "Sidney Place". The book was a scandalous success in France, but was considered too daring for publication in Great Britain. In the same year he worked with Francis Toye on the entertainment novel The Swing of the Pendulum . Some of his London feature pages were published in small editions as Tableaux de Londres in 1912. He also wrote for Academy , a literary magazine edited by Lord Alfred Douglas, translated plays and wrote articles for various magazines including Vanity Fair , Gil Blas and Mercure Musicale . He worked as a secretary for Cosmo Gordon-Lennox, also known as Cosmo Stuart, the theater producer, grandson of the Duke of Richmond and husband of actress Marie Tempest .

In November 1911 he opened his Decoration Moderne shop, an interior design shop in the Belgravia district of London at 15 Elizabeth Street. He writes about it in his book

“My stock was small, but modern and first-rate. I had made no concessions. The silks, the velvets, the linens, the knick-knacks and the wallpapers came from Martine, André Groult, and Iribe. I had bought stuff at Darmstadt, Munich and Vienna; Berlin and Florence supplied me with certain papers, Paris with new and amusing vases, pottery, porcelain, glass, and a few fine pieces of Negro art. "

“My business was small, but modern and first class. I didn't make any compromises. The silk, velvet, linen, wallpaper and all the knickknacks came from Martine, André Groult and Iribe. I got goods from Darmstadt, Munich and Vienna; Certain types of paper came from Berlin, new great vases, pottery, porcelain, glass and some great African works of art from Paris. "

His customers included Syrie Maugham , who later became known as an interior designer, and celebrities such as Lady Curzon and Mrs. Hwfa Williams. The Countess of Drogheda and Princess Lichnowsky, who later became instrumental in the success of the Omega workshop , also visited his shop.

During the First World War, Boulestin served in the French army as a translator for contact with the British expeditionary force . His incidental tasks also included designing the clothes for the famous celebration of the army concert "Rouges et Noirs". To his delight, he was occasionally able to teach British soldiers how to cook at their headquarters.

After the war, he reopened his London store at 102 George Street, Portman Square, but it was no longer profitable. Hooker writes about it

“Perhaps it was a little too advanced — also during those years many shops had started what they called modern decoration; several of the Society women who used to be my customers had themselves become decorators; there was the beginning of the slump, and in addition to all these adverse conditions there were practically no stocks of any kind. Sometimes when there was an important order it could not be executed, the material being out of print, or printed on a cheaper stuff. "

“Maybe it was a little too daring, at that time a lot of stores were opening that sold interiors, or whatever they thought it was. Some of my previous celebrity customers had become interior decorators themselves, and the recession began. In addition to all of these poor conditions, there was virtually no inventory of any goods. Occasionally it happened with important orders that they could not be delivered because there was no deliverable inventory or only poorer material could be supplied. "

During this time, Boulestin published the book Keepsake with essays and short stories illustrated by his friend Jean-Emile Laboureur. Nonetheless, his income continued to decline and he tried different ways to earn additional money. He gave lessons in French, built lampshades he designed himself and worked for private individuals as a wine consultant. At the beginning of 1923 he received an order from the director of the British publishing house William Heinemann for a French cookbook, which was published in June 1923 under the title Simple French Cooking for English Homes . It received praise in the press and sold well. In England at that time it was considered bad behavior to talk about food. On the other hand, Boulestin took the position that good food was also worth discussing ("Food which is worth eating is worth discussing"). This was well received by the public, so his book was reprinted six times between 1923 and 1930.

Restaurant owner, writer and television chef

As a result of the popularity of his cookbooks, Boulestin opened The Restaurant Français in Leicester Square in London in 1925 . It was designed by the architect Clough Williams-Ellis and the premises were designed by Allan Walton. The chef was the French M. Bigorre, who had previously worked for the Paillard restaurant in Paris. In 1927 Boulestin moved to Southampton Street, Covent Garden , where he opened the Boulestin restaurant under his name in the premises of the previous Sherry's Restaurant . The new premises received murals with circus themes designed by Laboreur and the French artist Marie Laurencin , the textiles were designed by Raoul Dufy . Cecil Beaton called it the fanciest restaurant in London ( "the prettiest restaurant in London"). The Restaurants of London magazine described André Groult's interior design in 1928 as follows:

“A modern Parisian restaurant in decoration and a luxurious one at that. The carpet is wine color, the curtains are of patterned yellow brocade; over the mantelpiece is a painting of a dinner table ... the lounge portion of the room is illuminated and decorated by a square of hanging silk balloon lights. In a prominent place is an immense bottle of 1869 liqueur brandy de la maison, a graceful reminder that the place studies drink equally with meat. "

“.. in the design a modern Parisian restaurant, also luxurious on one level. The carpet is burgundy, the curtains made of patterned yellow brocade. A painting of a banquet table hangs over the mantelpiece ... the guest room is decorated and illuminated by four hanging, silk balloon lights. An oversized brandy bottle from the house, born in 1869, is clearly visible, a graceful reminder that this place is dedicated to both drinking and eating. "

The restaurant's reputation was high, Edward Laroque Tinker wrote in The New York Times that Boulestin's has the most perfect and most sought-after food in all of London ("one gets the most perfect and récherché dinner to be found in all London") ). The services of the Boulestins were so demanding that despite the fact that it was considered the most expensive restaurant in London, the restaurant business was not profitable and its owner had to supplement his income by writing numerous newspaper articles and books. He wrote some of them in collaboration with Arthur Henry "Robin" Adair, a British cookbook author who became Boulestin's (literary) partner and translator in 1923.

One of those people influenced by Boulestin's works is definitely Elizabeth David, who became Britain's most important cookbook author after his death. In her books she quotes with permission from Boulestin's writings, including the following original from What Shall We Have Today? :

“The chief thing to remember is that all these soups ... must be made with plain water. When made with the addition of stock they lose all character and cease to be what they were intended to be. The fresh pleasant taste is lost owing to the addition of meat stock, and the value of the soup from an economical point of view is also lost. "

“The most important thing to remember is that all of these soups must be made with ordinary water. If they are made with additional broth, they lose their character and cease to be what they should be. The great fresh taste is lost when meat broth is added, and the soup also loses from an economic point of view. "

She mentions this point in several of her books. She also drew attention to the wide range of Boulestins culinary flavors. He was not a steadfast advocate of classic French recipes, but also wrote enthusiastically about curries , Basque pipérade and Irish stew .

Boulestin was the first television chef , he appeared in front of the camera during the early (experimental) broadcasting of the BBC from 1937 to 1939. On January 21, 1937, at 9:25 a.m., he prepared an omelet in a quarter of an hour in the first broadcast of the series, then known as Cook's night out . In these programs he not only presented classic French dishes such as Escalope de Veau Choisy , Crêpes d'été, and Rouget Marseillaise, but also presented amazingly simple dishes such as salads, lamb kebab , spring vegetables and picnic dishes .

Later years

In the summer of 1939, Boulestin and Adair spent their vacation as usual in a house that Boulestin had built in Landes . During the German attack on France, Adair was sick and could not escape. Boulestin stayed with him. Adair was interned by the Germans as an enemy foreigner, first in Bayonne , later closer to Paris. Boulestin moved to Paris to be closer to him. Boulestin died there after a brief illness at the age of 65.

At the end of the war, Adair was released from captivity and returned to England, where he worked as the food and drink editor of the British magazine Harper's Bazaar . He died in 1956. Boulestin's Restaurant continued to exist under the management of various people until 1994. In 1978 the 75-seat restaurant was acquired by Grand Metropolitan Hotels and reopened under the direction of Kevin Kennedy. In 1990 it was sold to Queens Moat Houses and closed in 1994. In its place there is now a Pizza Hut.

Works

• Le Pacte, dialogue , Société libre des gens de lettres. Paris 1899, OCLC 457113383
• Les Fréquentations de Maurice (Mouers de Londres) , serialized novel, appeared under the pseudonym Sidney Place. Dorbon-aîné, Paris 1912, OCLC 458665120
• Tableaux de Londres , collection of Boulestin's columns. Dorbon-aîné, Paris 1912. OCLC 35294816
• Dans les Flandres Brittaniques , memories of war. Dorbon-aîné, Paris 1916, OCLC 250247842
• Aspects Sentimentaux du Front Anglais , appeared under the pseudonym Bertie Angle, Dorbon-aîné. Paris 1916, OCLC 461914240
• The Atnaeum: A Collection of Atrocities Committed at the Front , War Memories , appeared under the pseudonym Bertie Angle. Private print, 20 copies. London 1917
• New keepsake for the year 1921. Le Nouveau keepsake pour l'année 1921. , Chelsea Book Club, London 1920, OCLC 77593579
• Simple French Cooking for English Homes , Heinemann, London 1923, OCLC 3355941
• A Second Helping: or, More Dishes for English Homes , Heinemann, London 1925, OCLC 558105282
• The Conduct of the Kitchen: How to Keep a Good Table for Sixteen Shillings a Week , Heinemann, London 1925, OCLC 558105222
• Herbs, Salads, and Seasonings (with Jason Hill), Heinemann, London 1930, OCLC 221892577
• What Shall We Have To-Day? 365 Recipes for All the Days of the Year , Heinemann, London 1931, OCLC 6765535
• Potatoes: One Hundred & One Ways of Cooking (with AH Adair), Heinemann, London 1932, OCLC 17558800
• What Shall We Have to Drink? , Heinemann, London 1933, OCLC 3348186
• The Evening Standard Book of Menus , Heinemann, London 1935, OCLC 20383885
• Savories and Hors-d'oeuvre: One Hundred & Twenty-Seven Ways of Preparing (with AH Adair), Heinemann, London 1932, OCLC 14360712
• À Londres, Naguère , Librarie Arthème Fayard, Paris 1930, OCLC 9862172 (1948 translated by AH Adair as Ease and Endurance )
• Eggs: One Hundred & Twenty Ways of Cooking (with AH Adair), Heinemann, London 1932, OCLC 4695902
• Having Crossed the Channel , Heinemann, London 1934, OCLC 6385901
• Myself, My Two Countries ... , Cassell, London 1936, OCLC 13409111
• The Finer Cooking, or, Dishes for Parties , Cassell, London 1937, OCLC 695840591
• Paris-Londres aux environs de 1900; souvenirs inédits , Librarie Arthème Fayard, Paris 1945, OCLC 31202841

Sound Recording on Shellac : How To Make An Omelette in Two Parts: Theory and Practice. Zonophone 6174, London 18th July 1932

swell

• X. Marcel Boulestin, AH (Robin) Adair (trans.): Ease and Endurance . Home and Van Thal, London 1948, OCLC 3182708 .
• François Caradec: Feu Willy, avec et sans Colette ( French ). Pauvert, Paris 1984, ISBN 2868040454 .
• Artemis Cooper: Writing at the Kitchen Table - The Authorized Biography of Elizabeth David . Michael Joseph, London 2000, ISBN 0718142241 .
• Richard Cork: Art beyond the gallery in early 20th century England . Yale University Press, New Haven 1985, ISBN 0300032366 .
• Elizabeth David: An Omelette and a Glass of Wine . Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1986, ISBN 0140467211 .
• Denise Hooker: A Salute to Marcel Boulestin and Jean Emile Laboreur - Exhibition of Artists Associated with the Restaurant Boulestin . Michael Parkin Fine Art, London 1981, OCLC 84451037 .
• Louis Saulnier: Le Repertoire de la Cuisine, fourteenth edition . Leon Jaggi, Staines, Middlesex 1978, OCLC 59070257 .
• Willy, Lawrence R. Schehr: The Third Sex . University of Illinois Press, Urbana 2007, ISBN 9780252032165 .

Web links

• Librairie Dorbon-aîné (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Brigid Allen: Boulestin, (Xavier) Marcel (1878–1943), restaurateur and writer on cookery. In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
2. ^ Hooker, p. 5.
3. ^ Hooker, p. 6.
4. ↑ Caradec, p. 126.
5. ↑ ^{a b c} David, p. 162.
6. ↑ Hooker, pp. 6-7.
7. ↑ ^{a b c} David, p. 164.
8. ↑ ^{a b c} Hooker, p. 9.
9. ↑ Willy, p. 84.
10. ^ Review, The Observer , March 19, 1911, p. 4.
11. ^ Hooker, p. 16.
12. ↑ Boulestin, p. 58.
13. ^ Cork, p. 154.
14. ^ "Obituary," The Times , October 23, 1943, p. 6.
15. ^ ^{A b} Tim Beaumont: Britain's Debt to Boulestin, The Illustrated London News , January 28, 1978, p. 77.
16. ↑ ^{a b} Hooker, p. 19.
17. ↑ ^{a b} Hooker, p. 20.
18. ^ "Polite Eating - Simple French Cooking," The Times , July 25, 1923, p. 10.
19. ↑ Hooker, pp. 20-21.
20. ↑ Covent Garden histories ( Memento of January 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) on covent-garden.co.uk (English)
21. ↑ Hooker, pp. 23 and 26
22. ^ Edward Laroque Tinker: "New Editions, Fine & Otherwise", The New York Times , March 27, 1938, p. 97 (limited access)
23. ^ David, p. 174.
24. ^ Cooper, p. XII
25. ^ David, p. 168.
26. ↑ see for example David, p. 296.
27. ↑ David pp. 168-174.
28. ↑ January 21, 1937 - First appearance of a television chef: Missionary in the culinary diaspora , contribution from January 21, 2012 in the series “ Stichtag” at WDR
29. ↑ Five-course menu in the tube: 75 years ago, Marcel Boulestin started Beatrix Novy's first TV cooking show , a feature on January 21, 2012 in the calendar sheet series on Deutschlandfunk
30. ↑ Veal schnitzel tossed in butter, with white wine sauce, see Saulnier, p. 131.
31. ↑ Pancakes with summer fruits
32. ↑ Poached red mullet in white wine and saffron sauce, see Saulnier, p. 105.
33. ^ "Broadcasting," The Times , Feb. 18, 1937, p. 19; March 4, 1937, p. 12; October 15, 1937, p. 28; May 13, 1938, p. 14; June 20, 1938, p. 24; July 1, 1938, p. 4; December 19, 1938, p. 8; and February 24, 1939, p. 7.
34. ^ David, p. 166.
35. ^ Cooper, p. 139.
36. ^ "Obituary," The Times , Oct. 27, 1956, p. 11.
37. ↑ Emily Green, "Howls of protest as part of cooking history dies." The Independent , April 14, 1994 (English)