L’Angleterre a deux sauces et trois cents religions; la France au
contraire, a deux
religions, mais
plus de trois cents sauces.
The English have two
sauces and three hundred religions, while on the other hand France has two
religions and more than three hundred sauces.
Talleyrand: Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince Benevento (1754- 1838).
Talleyrand: the consummate French politician
Talleyrand was France’s first internationally famous politician. As a Minister Talleyrand served Louis XVI, but quietly supported the revolution even while he continued to serve the king; he also took part in writing the French Declaration of the Rights of Man. Talleyrand was the politician who served all masters, and after the revolution Talleyrand served Napoleon I as Foreign Minister and then, with the return of the monarchy, would serve King Louis XVIII and King Louis-Philippe (Philippe Égalité).
Among those he hired to control his kitchen was Antonin, Marie-Antoine Carême, the French chef who would later write done for posterity the laws for the preparation of France's Haute Cuisine. Talleyrand was one of the first politicians to use a finely prepared dinner table with unique dishes and fine wines for political maneuvering.
The Place of Sauces in French
Cuisine.
