{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/68591737dc316de3df417e71/69c4eb9ce57d2e52fd07bd4e?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Lies, Pastry, and Power: The Real Carême","description":"<p>In this episode of <em>Fishwives of Paris</em>, Emily and Caroline unpack the real story of Marie-Antoine Carême, the ambitious pastry chef who rose to cook for diplomats, emperors, and tsars, and helped shape modern French cuisine.</p><p><br></p><p>Beyond the dramatized version, Carême was a master of image and storytelling, even spreading myths about his own life. While he was not a spy, he was deeply connected to power, using food as a tool to impress and influence Europe’s elite.</p><p><br></p><p>We explore how Carême’s work helped define French cuisine as we know it today, from early sauce classification to his belief that pastry was a form of architecture. He played a role in shaping iconic desserts like the croquembouche, eclairs, and the modern Charlotte, and helped elevate pastry into an art form built on structure, precision, and spectacle.</p><p><br></p><p>The episode also looks at his more modern ideas, including seasonality, balance, and a shift away from heavy spices toward fresh herbs, as well as his role in defining the image of the professional chef, including the creation of the chef’s hat.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>In this episode:</strong></p><ul><li>Why Carême lied about being an orphan</li><li>What the Apple TV series gets wrong</li><li>How he categorized sauces before Escoffier</li><li>Why he believed pastry was a form of architecture</li><li>The origins of desserts like the croquembouche, eclairs, and Charlotte</li></ul><p><br></p><h2>What did Carême actually create and influence?</h2><p><strong>Codifying French cuisine</strong></p><ul><li>One of the first to organize recipes at scale</li><li>Early system of “mother sauces” before Escoffier (Velouté, Espagnole, Béchamel, Allemande)</li><li>Wrote influential cookbooks and his own carefully curated life story</li></ul><p><strong>Elevating pastry</strong></p><ul><li>Treated pastry as architecture, building elaborate edible structures</li><li>Created dramatic dessert displays using choux, marzipan, and spun sugar</li><li>Helped bring spectacle into fine dining</li></ul><p><strong>Iconic pastries</strong></p><ul><li>Popularized the croquembouche</li><li>Expanded the use of choux pastry, including éclairs</li><li>Shaped ladyfingers (biscuits à la cuillère) for dipping and desserts</li><li>Transformed the Charlotte into the cold dessert we know today</li><li>Created early versions of vol-au-vent</li></ul><p><strong>Chef identity and kitchens</strong></p><ul><li>Invented the chef’s hat (toque)</li><li>Evolved from pastry chef to full culinary authority (<em>officier de bouche</em>)</li><li>Helped define the role of the modern chef</li></ul><p><strong>Modern food philosophy</strong></p><ul><li>Advocated for seasonality and peak ingredients</li><li>Focused on balance and how food makes people feel</li><li>Shifted French cuisine from heavy spices to fresh herbs</li></ul><p><strong>Luxury and ingredients</strong></p><ul><li>Helped introduce chocolate into pastry beyond drinks</li><li>Cooked with luxury ingredients like champagne</li><li>Worked during the rise of sugar use in France</li></ul><p><strong>Dining and presentation</strong></p><ul><li>Worked during the shift from display-style dining to courses</li><li>Created grand banquet experiences for political elites</li><li>Helped define food as both visual spectacle and social power</li></ul><p><br></p>","author_name":"Caroline Fazeli & Emily Monaco"}