François Vatel
François Vatel (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa vatɛl]) (1631, Paris – April 24, 1671) was the maître d'hôtel of Nicolas Fouquet and prince Louis II de Bourbon-Condé.
He is widely credited[1] with creating crème Chantilly (Chantilly cream), a sweet, vanilla-flavoured whipped cream, but there is no contemporary documentation for this claim.
Vatel served Louis XIV's superintendent Nicolas Fouquet in the splendid inauguration fête at the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte that took place on 17 August 1661, the occasion of Fouquet's downfall.
Vatel was responsible for an extravagant banquet for 2,000 people hosted in honour of Louis XIV by Louis, the great Condé in April 1671 at the Château de Chantilly. According to a letter by Madame de Sévigné, Vatel was so distraught about the lateness of the seafood delivery and about other mishaps that he committed suicide by running himself through with a sword. His body was discovered when someone came to tell him of the arrival of the fish.[2]
[edit] Popular culture
His story was depicted in the 2000 film Vatel by Roland Joffé, with Gérard Depardieu playing the role of Vatel.
[edit] References
- ^ Wisegeek.com : What is Chantilly Cream?
- ^ James A. Harrison, ed., Letters of Madame de Sévigné, 1899, p. 35f
[edit] Further reading
- Dominique Michel 1999.Vatel ou la naissance de la gastronomie (Editions Fayard)
- Patrick Rambourg 1999. Recettes du Grand Siècle (Editions Fayard)
- Mathilde Mottoule 2006. Vatel ou l'origine d'un mythe.
