The Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (Best Craftsmen in France) rely on this book to prepare their tests

all the techniques, recipes and tips in one book. This book is used by the teams of the national "Meilleurs Ouvriers de France" competition. The competition "assesses the dexterity, knowledge of modern and traditional techniques, know-how and creativity of candidates in over 200 manual trades", as the official website puts it. The jury drew its inspiration for the cooking category from Auguste Escoffier's Guide Culinaire. "Today, it's clear that many of the subjects in the Meilleur Ouvrier de France competition are descended from this repertoire," asserts Jean-François Girardin, president of the national MOF society. To decide on the tests, "we aim for recipes with technical difficulties. this enables us to eliminate those who have not had adequate training and have not worked hard enough on the imposed subject," adds the chef, who ran the kitchens at the Ritz for 32 years.

The reference guide

" It was the first guide that referenced kitchen work in general, recipes and categories. it was one of the first to organize the profession's recipes. ". Like a dictionary, over 5000 recipes are listed. Step-by-step instructions for cold starters, ice creams, game, sauces, fish, vegetables... " I wanted to make a tool rather than a book ", explains Auguste Escoffier in his November 1902 preface. In fact, his work was nicknamed "La Bible de la cuisine".

Jean-François Girardin confirms: " It's the reference guide, because everything in it is codified. [...] Escoffier was the first to harmonize his knowledge and lay it out in such a way that people in the profession had a real grounding in the craft. "

For Jean-François Girardin, learning the basics of cooking is like learning scales and notes for a musician. " With a good foundation, you'll know how to make sauces, marinades and so on. Then, you need to mature this learning over a decade or so before you can create. The Culinary Guide is the basis for all this. "

Modernizing while streamlining

How do you explain the fact that a repertoire published at the beginning of the 20th century is still used by novice and experienced chefs alike? "Because there's a French classicism that has been in place for several centuries", explains the president of the blue, white and red collars. But the key elements of certain recipes are now different. There is also a reduction in fat content. certain binders and gelling agents are different," adds Jean-François Girardin. Before, we only had gelatin sheets, for example. "

But the president of the Société des MOF moderates: "We're not food cooks, we're know-how assemblers. "Following the step-by-step guide is not enough to become an outstanding chef, but it remains accessible to all, unlike the majority of cookbooks published every year. "In chef's books, you have to have the know-how to get off on the same foot. "

This was not Auguste Escoffier's objective. "It's for young people in particular; for those who, starting out today, will be at the head of corporations in twenty years' time", he asserted in the preface to his book. The Culinary Guide will be reprinted several times and translated into over ten languages.