A Table - Carpe Diem

One hundred years of bliss!
In 1908, Paris was sizzling. The Belle Epoque brought with it a host of spectacular inventions. If you
didn’t own a Hispano, you travelled on the new Metro. Thanks to the prevalence of lighting gas, Paris became
known as the “City of Light”.
Paris the Great ! Gastronomy was on the boil ! In the kitchens of the Ritz Paris, the illustrious chef, Auguste
Escoffier, dazzled both aristocrats and industrialists alike. At the prestigious restaurant Larue, the mercurial,
Edouard Nignon, stunned the élite of the time with his audacious recipes. The personal chef to Czar Nicolas II
and the Austrian Emperor, he revolutionised culinary habits, playing with the contrast between different flavours
as he introduced exotic spices to French cuisine. Parisian society fought to sample his “Imperial Coulibiac” or
“Kapurthala Lobster Curry”, as well as the plain Chicory and Marrowbone Gratin or Cabbage stuffed with
Chicken, Houdan style!
The great Pellaprat taught modern cuisine at his Cordon Bleu School and he wrote numerous books to instruct
the masses. He published over forty cookery books (one of which was exclusively devoted to La Cornue owners).
Following such a gastronomic excellence, the true bon viveur was sure to be found at one of the exciting cabarets
or music halls of the French capital.
Paris was alive with champagne and the cancan!
Albert Dupuy was a perfumer, inventor and regular patron of the best restaurants. Describing himself as a “greedy,
gourmet gastronome”. He patented a “gas-burning La Cornue Pastry Oven”. This revolutionary cooker worked
on the principle of natural circulation of hot air inside an oven “like a Metro archway”. This simple but modern
idea which avoids ingredients drying out during cooking remains, even today, the key to La Cornue’s success and
has allowed several generations of hosts to indulge their culinary passion, to the delight of their guests.
One hundred years later, our passion for cooking remains intact.
Xavier Dupuy
La Cornue’s founder Albert Dupuy between legendary chefs Edouard Nignon (left) and Auguste Escoffier (right)
5