Menus and recipes signed by Escoffier.
Two menus with recipes signed and annotated with one page also initialized by Escoffier and a single recipe from the Guide Culinaire in Escoffier's typical messy hand writing. Also one page of unusual Ephemera signed twice.
Comprising: 4 different items protected in separate plastic sleeves. All housed in a marbled folder with label. -- ITEM 1. 1page. 222 x 153mm. n.d. Recipe for ‘Boeuf en Miroton’, [circa.1903] written in Escoffier’s distinctive handwriting. Comprising 18 lines outlining the recipe with a comment beneath (‘J’avais oublié ce bon Miroton’), with other annotations in pencil, and blue crayon in another hand. The page appears to be extracted from a notebook. (The recipe for Boeuf en Miroton appeared in Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire, 1st edition of 1903). Enclosed with one page of English translation. Very good condition. -- ITEM 2. 2 pages. 265 x 207mm. Stapled. nd. Small tear to top left corner of second page; A typed menu in very clear blue ink on well preserved thin yellow paper, initialled by Escoffier on page 1, and signed by him on page 2. The first page is a “Homage à BRILLAT SAVARIN; En souvenir des Diners de la Gentilhommière de Vieu”. The first page explaining the inspiration behind the menu; Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin and his cousin, Juliette Récamier. The second page giving an extravagant 9 course menu, commencing with Hors d’oeuvres, Caviar and Huîtres crûes en Gelée de Champagne. Enclosed with 2 pages of English translation. Very good condition. -- ITEM 3. 5 pages, 268 x 209mm. Stapled. nd. A typed menu and recipes in very clear black ink on well preserved thin white paper. Annotated and signed by Escoffier on page 5. A six course delightful dinner titled “LA PROVENCE; LES DELICES DE LA COTE D’AZUR; Pays des Rêyes dorés”. Given for ‘un personnage de nationalité anglaise’. The dishes including Melon de Cavaillon au Frontignan, Mignonettes d'Agneau de lait Mireille, and la Mousse Abricot de Rose de Monteux. Followed by all the recipes for the dishes. Enclosed with 5 pages of English translation. Very good condition. -- ITEM 4. 1 page of ephemera. 190x 125mm. An invoice or stock note headed: Aktiebolaget Svenska Handelsbanken, Stockholm, on blue paper, interestingly, signed twice by Escoffier. With his home address in Monte-Carlo. Dated 9th January 1933. Very good condition.
- Escoffier's very full life and literary output is well documented. His Hotel collaborations with Cesar Ritz, his restaurants on board famous ocean liners, his 'Escoffier Company' range of preserved and bottled foodstuffs, his colleagues and apprentices who became famous in their own right. The associations and foundations that sprang up in his memory after he died, attest to the deep affection and respect in which he was held. These enclosed items serve up a fine glimpse of the loving and detailed effort he put into these two private functions. It also helps to show why he was held in the highest regard. -- ITEM 1: Written in Escoffier’s hand but with no date. Obviously, it’s a page from a notebook, and as it is not dated, one may assume it was written before the first publication of the recipe in his ‘Guide Culinaire’ of 1903. Otherwise why would Escoffier re-write it when it is already published. A mystery.! -- ITEM 2: Escoffier informs us that this dinner took place in the lounge of the Table Francaise of the Restaurant Garnier on rue de l,Isly. He further states that being the President of the Society of the Table Francaise, whose headquarters were also on rue de l,Isly, he Escoffier, was asked to compose the menu. -- ITEM 3. A lunch served for an unnamed English gentleman in a private villa between Cannes and Monte-Carlo. Escoffier describes the setting for the lunch in quite descriptive and poetic terms. One can almost feel the warm winter sunshine and smell the Mimosa etc. To have a menu created by the Master with accompanying recipes, is rare. -- ITEM 4. This little invoice is a mystery. Dated 23 months before his death, one wonders where Escoffier signed for this. Surely not Stockholm but a branch of Aktiebolaget Svenska Handelsbanken near the Monte-Carlo or further afield in France perhaps.? A search of the bank’s history did not enlighten. It also appears that Escoffier signed and dated the invoice in the first instance, then signed it a second time as a complimentary gift to someone. Rare indeed with the two signatures. --- Due to Escoffier’s output as a prolific writer, signed letters are very scarce but not rare, but still fetching large amounts of money at auction. However, we can elevate to extreme rarity these signed menus with fine detailed recipes and descriptions, of the two private functions organised and recorded by the great man himself.
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Ephemera category
ref number:
11249