Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Labour Organisation in Restaurant Kitchens: The Myth Escoffier

Handbook of Eating and Drinking

  • 1 Accesses

Abstract

The French chef de cuisine Auguste Escoffier (1846–1935) is claimed to have revolutionised work in large commercial kitchens by rationalising it and by dividing cooks into specialist groups or parties. Time and again this assertion is repeated. By exploring a more diversified range of sources, one can establish that a hierarchically structured brigade of specialised kitchen workers was not invented by Escoffier round the turn of the century. But not all large hotel and restaurant kitchens adopted the French brigade system, which was typical for high-end establishments and venues catering for an international clientele. Numerous large restaurants appealing to a more local clientele organised their work differently. Typically, they employed more women cooks, for which there was no room in the hierarchically structured brigades.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allen, K. R. (2002). Berlin in the Belle Epoque: A fast food history. In W. Belasco & P. Scranton (Eds.), Food nations: Selling taste in consumer societies (pp. 240–257). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amusante Verdeutschungskünste. (1903). Dortmunder Zeitung, 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderegg, A. (ca.1915). Etude de la cuisine. A. Anderegg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arndt, E. M. (1804). Reisen durch einen Teil Teutschlands, Ungarns, Italiens und Frankreichs in den Jahren 1798 und 1799 (Vol. 3). Heinrich Gräff.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banzer, M. C., & Friebel, C. (1931). Die Restaurationsküche. Ein Universalkochbuch und Nachschlagewerk für Restaurationsküchen, Hotelrestaurants, Weinstuben, Frühstücksstuben und alle sonstigen Gaststätten. Heinrich Killinger Verlagsgesellschaft.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellamy, C. (2017). French cooks in Sweden (1740–1820). Food & History, 15(1–2), 205–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernardi. (1845). L’écuyer tranchant ou l’art de découper et servir à table. G. Barba.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bird, P. (2000). The first food empire: A history of J. Lyons & Co. Phillimore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blagdon, F. W. (1803). Paris as it was and as it is (Vol. 1). C & R. Baldwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brigade de cuisine. (2023). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brigade_de_cuisine&oldid=1176087133

  • Brisse, L. (1873). Les cuisiniers. La Mosaïque, 1, 274.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J. R. (2007). The landscape of drink: Inns, taverns and alehouses in early modern Southampton. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Warwick]. https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/2925/

  • Burnett, J. (2004). England eats out: A social history of eating out in England from 1830 to the present. Pearson Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campe, J. H. (1790). Sammlung interessanter und durchgängig zweckmässig abgefasster Reisebeschreibungen für die Jugend (Vol. 8). Braunschweig Schulbuchhandlung.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carême, M. A. (1815). Le pâtissier royal parisien ou Traité élémentaire et pratique de la pâtisserie ancienne et moderne (Vol. 1). J.G. Dentu.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlin, M. (2008). ‘What say you to a piece of beef and mustard?’: The evolution of public dining in medieval and Tudor London. Huntington Library Quarterly, 71, 199–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chatenet-Calyste, A. (2010). Une consommation aristocratique et féminine à la fin du XVIIIe siècle. Marie-Fortunée d’Este, princesse de Conti (1731–1803) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Limoges]. https://hal.science/tel-02555550/

  • Chatillon-Plessis. (1885). La vie à table. L’Evénement, 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chavette, E. (1867). Restaurateurs et restaurés. A. Le Chevalier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Civitello, L. (2007). Cuisine and culture: A history of food and people. Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuisines et cuisiniers. (1878). Le Progrès liberal, 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, J. J. (2013). Defining culinary authority: The transformation of cooking in France, 1650–1830. Louisiana State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jouy, V.-J. E. (1813). L’hermite de la Chaussée-d’Antin; ou, Observations sur les moeurs et des usages parisiens au commencement du xix siècle (Vol. 3). Pillet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Die Arbeitseinteilung in einer grossen Hotelküche. (1903). Kochkunst. Illustrierte Halbmonatschrift für Hotel-, Restaurant-, Herrschafts- und bürgerliche Küche, 81–88, 113–121, 145–153, 177–181, 344–346.

    Google Scholar 

  • Die internationale Karte des Restaurants und Hotels. (1932). Die Küche. Zeitschrift für Kochkunst und Tafelwesen, Küchentechnik und – Organisation, 36 (5).

    Google Scholar 

  • Die Not der Luxusküchen. (1932). Neues Wiener Tagblatt, 7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Die Reform in die Kochkunst. (1904). Kochkunst. Illustrierte Halbmonatschrift für Hotel-, Restaurant-, Herrschafts- und bürgerliche Küche (pp. 1–4).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dingle, J. (1955). International chef: Paris, New York, London, Monte Carlo, Lisbon, Frankfurt. Dutton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Du Maroussem, P. (1893). L’alimentation à Paris. Cuisiniers. Enquête de janvier 1893. In France Office du Travail (Ed.), La petite industrie (Vol. 1, pp. 134–166). Imprimerie nationale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Escoffier, A. (1903). Le guide culinaire: aide-mémoire de cuisine pratique. N.P.

    Google Scholar 

  • Escoffier, A. (1912). Le guide culinaire: aide-mémoire de cuisine pratique (3rd ed.). N.P.

    Google Scholar 

  • Favre, J. (1891). Dictionnaire universel de cuisine et de l’hygiène alimentaire (Vol. 2). Librairie-Imprimerie des Halles et de la Bourse de commerce.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friebel, C. (1929). Arbeits-Einteilung und –Entwicklung mit Arbeitsauszügen für die einzelnen Köche in gastgewerblichen Grossküchen. Die Küche. Zeitschrift für Kochkunst und Tafelwesen, Küchentechnik und – Organisation, 33(18).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ganter, H. D. (2004). Changes in work organisation in French top-quality restaurants. Business History, 46(3), 439–460.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garlin, G. (1887). Le cuisinier moderne (Vol. 1). Garnier frères.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, P. (1885). Considérations sur les apprentis. L’ Art culinaire, 3, 173–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, K. H. (2004). Aschingers “Bierquellen”erobern Berlin. Verlag Regionalkultur.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gouffé, J. (1867). Le livre de cuisine: comprenant la cuisine de ménage et la grande cuisine. L. Hachette.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutzke, D. W. (2019). John Pearce and the rise of the mass food market in London, 1870–1930. Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Haley, A. P. (2011). Turning the tables: Restaurants and the rise of the American middle class, 1880–1920. University of North Carolina Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hell, M. (2022). Migrant cuisine, cookshops and elite catering: Eating out in metropolitan Amsterdam (1650–1815). Food & History, 20(1), 129–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hell, M., & Meijer, F. (2019). Uit eten in Amsterdam. Herbergen, ordinarissen en gaarkeukens 1650–1800. Jaarboek Amstelodamum, 38–71, 195–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herbodeau, E., & Thalamas, P. (1955). Georges Auguste Escoffier. Practical Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Internationaler Verband der Köche. (1910). Grosses Restaurations-Kochbuch. Fachschriften-Verlag des Internationalen Verbandes der Köche.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, K. (2002). Escoffier. The king of chefs. Hambledon Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jollivet, G. (1887). L’art de vivre. Quantin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, D. (2022). Fishes with funny French names: The French restaurant in London from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. Liverpool University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ketcham Wheaton, B. (1996). Savoring the past. The French kitchen and table from 1300 to 1789. Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kümin, B. A. (2012). Eating out in early modern Europe. In B. Kümin (Ed.), A cultural history of food in the early modern age (pp. 87–101). Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Landry, T. (2021). Du beurre ou des canons. Une histoire culturelle de l’alimentation sous le IIIe Reich. Hermann.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Le chien du commissaire. (1878). Le Journal de l’Ariège, 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leospo, L. (1931). Traité d’industrie hôtelière. Flammarion.

    Google Scholar 

  • Les Etablissements Duval. (1882). In J. Turgan (Ed.), Les grandes usines: Etudes industrielles en France et à l’étranger. Calmann Lévy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lortie, J., Cabantous, L., & Sardais, C. (2023). How leadership moments are enacted within a strict hierarchy: The case of kitchen brigades in haute cuisine restaurants. Organization Studies, 44(7), 1081–1101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lunnebach, M. (1871). Anfang zur Reinigung unserer Muttersprache von allen fremden Brocken. C. Müller.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mallander, C. (2005). Heck’s en Ruteck’s: Een horecarevolutie. Ons Amsterdam. https://onsamsterdam.nl/heck-s-en-ruteck-s-een-horeca-revolutie

  • Mars, V. (2013). Experiencing French cookery in nineteenth-century London. In D. Kelly & M. Cornick (Eds.), A history of the French in London: Liberty, equality, opportunity (pp. 217–240). University of London Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mennell, S. (1996). All manners of food. Eating and taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the present. University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morel, Y. (2017). Être cuisinier dans l’hôtel des ducs de Bourgogne au XVe siècle. Food & History, 15(1–2), 115–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newton, W. R. (2006). La petite cour: services et serviteurs à la cour de Versailles au XVIIIe siècle. Fayard.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicht mehr chef de rang, sondern Abteilungskellner. Weg mit den französischen Berufsbezeichnungen in Gaststättengewerbe! (1940). Mittelrheinische Landes-Zeitung, 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Organising a restaurant. (1904). Daily telegraph & Courrier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palleta, K. (1932). Englands grösster Restaurationsbetrieb. Die Küche. Zeitschrift für Kochkunst und Tafelwesen, Küchentechnik und – Organisation, 36(13).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennell, S. (2000). ‘Great quantities of gooseberry pye and baked clod of beef’: Victualling and eating out in early modern London. In P. Griffiths & M. S. R. Jenner (Eds.), Londinopolis: Essays in the cultural and social history of early modern London (pp. 228–259). Manchester University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rambourg, P. (2013). Histoire de la cuisine et de la gastronomie françaises. Editions Perrin.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Schulz, F. (1791). Über Paris und die Pariser (Vol. 1). Friedrich Vieweg dem älteren.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spang, R. L. (2000). The invention of the restaurant. Paris and modern gastronomic culture. Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sprenger-Seyffarth, J. (2023). Kriegsküchen in Wien und Berlin. Öffentliche Massenverpflegung und private Familienmahlzeit in und nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg. Transcript Verlag.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Thalamas, P. (1935–1936). Escoffier et son temps. La Toque Blanche, 12–13(289–294, 298–300).

    Google Scholar 

  • Van den Eeckhout, P. (2013). The history of labour and labour relations in hotels and restaurants in Western Europe and the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: An introduction. Food & History, 11(2), 199–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van den Eeckhout, P. (2017). The Parisian cooks’ union and chefs de cuisine (1880s–1930s). Arch-enemies or allies? Food & History, 15(1–2), 229–254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ververschingslokalen te Berlijn. (1897). Venloosche courant.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vinçard, P. (1863). Les ouvriers de Paris: alimentation. Gosselin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Von Bertram, C. A. (1787). Ephemeriden der Litteratur und des Theaters (Vol. 6). Friedrich Maurer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Von Kotzebue, A. (1805). Souvenirs de Paris en 1804 (Vol. 1). Barba.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Tervuren, Belgium

    Patricia Van den Eeckhout

Authors
  1. Patricia Van den Eeckhout
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Herb Meiselman Training and Consulting S, Rockport, MA, USA

    Herbert L. Meiselman

Section Editor information

  1. Department of History, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel, Belgium

    Peter Scholliers

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Van den Eeckhout, P. (2024). Labour Organisation in Restaurant Kitchens: The Myth Escoffier. In: Meiselman, H.L. (eds) Handbook of Eating and Drinking. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_188-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_188-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75388-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75388-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Labour Organisation in Restaurant Kitchens: The Myth Escoffier
    Published:
    15 May 2024

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_188-2

  2. Original

    Labour Organisation in Restaurant Kitchens: The Myth Escoffier
    Published:
    16 April 2024

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75388-1_188-1

Search

Navigation