Charles Ranhofer (November 7, 1836 in Saint-Denis, FranceOctober 9, 1899 in New York) was the

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

Delmonico's Restaurant Delmonico's is a series of restaurants that have operated in New York City, and Greenwich, Connecticut, with the present version located at 56 Beaver Street in the Financial District of Manhattan. The original version was widely recogni ...

in New York from 1862 to 1876 and 1879 to 1896. Ranhofer was the author of ''The Epicurean'' (1894),Charles Ranhofer (1912
''The Epicurean''
C. Ranhofer, New York an encyclopedic cookbook of over 1,000 pages, similar in scope to Escoffier's ''

Le Guide Culinaire ''Le Guide Culinaire'' () is Georges Auguste Escoffier's 1903 French restaurant cuisine cookbook, his first. It is regarded as a classic and still in print. Escoffier developed the recipes while working at the Savoy, Ritz and Carlton hotels fro ...

''.

Career

Ranhofer was sent to Paris at the age of 12 to begin his training by studying pastry-making, and at 16 became the private chef for the Prince d'Hénin, Comte d'Alsace. In 1856 he moved to New York to become the chef for the Russian consul, and later worked in Washington, D.C., and New Orleans. He returned to France in 1860 for a short time, where he arranged balls for the court of

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

at the

Tuileries Palace The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was b ...

, but then came back to New York to work at what was then a fashionable location, ''Maison Dorée''. In 1862, Lorenzo Delmonico hired him for Delmonico's, and it was there that Ranhofer made his real fame, though others say that he made the fame of the restaurant as well. At that time, Delmonico's was considered the finest restaurant in the United States. He was the chef at Delmonico's until his retirement in 1896, except for a short hiatus from 1876 to 1879 when he owned the Hotel American at

Enghien-les-Bains Enghien-les-Bains () is a Communes of France, commune in the Departements of France, department of Val-d'Oise, France. It is located in the northern suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Enghien-les-Bains is famous as a s ...

Recipes

Ranhofer is credited (often on slim evidence) with inventing or making famous a number of dishes that Delmonico's was known for, such as Lobster Newberg, and had a talent for naming dishes after famous or prominent people—particularly those who dined at Delmonico's—as well as his friends, and events of the day. Examples include: *Lobster Duke Alexis, named for Grand-Duke Alexis of Russia (later Alexander III) in 1871 *Sarah potatoes, named for

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...

*Lobster Paul Bert, named for

Paul Bert Paul Bert (17 October 1833 – 11 November 1886) was a French zoologist, physiologist and politician. He is sometimes given the nickname "Father of Aviation Medicine". Life Bert was born at Auxerre ( Yonne). He studied law, earning a doctorate ...

*Chicken filets Sadi Carnot, named for

Marie François Sadi Carnot Marie François Sadi Carnot (; 11 August 1837 – 25 June 1894) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1887 until his assassination in 1894. His presidency was marked by a series of poorly handled crises. General Boula ...

*Peach pudding à la Cleveland, named for President

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

*Veal pie à la Dickens and Beet fritters à la Dickens, named for

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

in honor of his 1867 visit to New York (Neither term appears in Ranhofer's own copy of the menu offered for that visit, but Ranhofer does include recipes for both of them.) *Salad à la Dumas, named in honor of

Alexandre Dumas, père Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

*Lobster Newberg, named in honor of sea captain Ben Wenberg, then renamed when Wenberg had a quarrel with the restaurant *Marshal Ney, a dessert named in honor of

Marshal Ney Michel Ney, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, 1st Duke of Elchingen (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The son of ...

Others may be found under

List of foods named after people A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...

. Ranhofer did not invent baked Alaska, nor do the menus he provides in ''The Epicurean'' mention anything similar, not even his own Alaska–Florida (the term he himself used for his similar dessert). He also experimented with new foods, acquainting New Yorkers with the "alligator pear" (

avocado The avocado, alligator pear or avocado pear (''Persea americana'') is an evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to Americas, the Americas and was first domesticated in Mesoamerica more than 5,000 years ago. It was priz ...

) in 1895, among other things.

Death

Ranhofer and his wife Rose had five children: three sons (Charles Leon, Alexandre Estene, and Martial Raoul) and two daughters (Dolet, Blanche Alexandrine Olympe, Marguerite Lucie Genevieve, Rose Georgette Constance, and Rose Jeanne). He died at home of

Bright's Disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine. It was frequently accompanied ...

in October, 1899 and was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City.

References

* "Epicurean; Our own Escoffier; One of the 19th century's greatest chefs was American," by Russ Parsons. ''Los Angeles Times'', December 15, 1999, Food Section, Part H, page 1.
Charles Ranhofer: Delmonico's ''chef de cuisine''
by Joe O'Connell. *"Obituary: Charles Ranhofer Dead," ''New York Times,'' October 11, 1899, page 7. *''New York Times'', October 3, 1925, page 15. Rose Ranhofer obituary identifying her as Charles Ranhofer's widow.

Feeding America: Historic American Cookbook Project (Michigan State University Library). *Kamp, David ''The United States of Arugula'', New York: Broadway Books, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranhofer, Charles 1836 births 1899 deaths American chefs American male chefs French chefs French male chefs Deaths from nephritis Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)