Haute Cuisine Cooking

French cuisine was known to involve a great many spices and was rather heavy in taste, but in 1534 Catherine de ‘Medici, the new French Queen, came from Italy and brought with her Florentine chefs and bakers. They introduced the French to new equipment, and in the process revolutionized French cooking, setting new standards throughout all of Western Europe. In the 17th century the famous chef and author of Le cuisinier françois, François Pierre La Varenne broke away from the Italian traditions to transport French gastronomy into the modern era, codifying French cuisine by abandoning the heavily spiced flavours and rather focussing on the natural flavours of foods with more modest presentations.

A century later “The King of Chefs” and the first internationally renowned celebrity chef, Marie-Antoine Carême further developed the elaborate style of haute cuisine cooking which was favoured by the royalty and newly rich of Paris. Even though his preparations still seem extravagant today, Carême simplified and codified the earlier more complex cuisine, however, it wasn’t until about 1900 that the central figure of haute cuisine, Georges Auguste Escoffier, came onto the scene, elevating the status of cooking to a respected profession, creating the brigade de cuisine system which is still used  today in the most prestigious kitchens around the world.

At the Prue Leith Chefs Academy we follow in the footsteps of these renowned chefs, as our curriculum is based on the classical French method. Comprehensive and well-rounded, we ensure that our students are armed with a multitude of skills and knowledge, and with a qualification that is highly sought after, they are proficient in the haute cuisine cooking style allowing our students to work in the kitchens of some of the world’s most celebrated chefs. Should you require further information about Prue Leith Chefs Academy, contact us today and we will provide you with all the details you might require.