François Vatel (; 1631 – 24 April 1671) was the

majordomo A majordomo () is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a larg ...

(in French, ) of

Nicolas Fouquet Nicolas Fouquet, marquis de Belle-Île, vicomte de Melun et Vaux (; 27 January 1615 – 23 March 1680) was the Superintendent of Finances in France from 1653 until 1661 under King Louis XIV. He had a glittering career, and acquired enormous weal ...

and prince Louis, Grand Condé.

Biography

Vatel was born either in Switzerland or in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1625, 1631, or 1635. He is widely, but incorrectly, credited with creating ''crème Chantilly'' ( Chantilly cream), a sweet, vanilla-flavored

whipped cream Whipped cream, also known as Chantilly cream or (), is high-fat dairy cream that has been aerated by whisking until it becomes light, fluffy, and capable of holding its shape. This process incorporates air into the cream, creating a semi-soli ...

. Vatel worked for

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

's superintendent

, and supervised the construction of the

Vaux-le-Vicomte The Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte () or simply Vaux-le-Vicomte is a Baroque French château located in Maincy, near Melun, southeast of Paris in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department of Île-de-France. Built between 1658 and 1661 ...

, a job that required financial management of large sums of money as well as the design of the menus and the supervision of staff. He was known for "the meticulous care with which he reviewed every minute detail". Vatel was responsible for an extravagant banquet for 2,000 people on 24 April 1671 at the

Château de Chantilly The Château de Chantilly () is a historic French château located in the town of Chantilly, Oise, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Paris. The site comprises two attached buildings: the Petit Château, built around 1560 for Anne de Montmore ...

, on the occasion of Louis XIV's first visit to the Grand Condé. Vatel was so distraught about the lateness of the seafood delivery that he ran himself through with his sword (as the seafood was arriving), according to a letter by

Madame de Sévigné Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution) Procuring, pimping, or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement ...

, Condé. This incident is thought to be the origin of the idiom "died for want of lobster sauce", a phrase meaning to die or be devastated due to "some trifling disappointment, pique, or wounded vanity".

In popular culture

*Vatel was depicted in an eponymous 2000 film directed by

Roland Joffé Roland Joffé (; born 17 November 1945) is an English film and television film director, director, Film producer, producer and screenwriter. He is known for directing the critically-acclaimed films ''The Killing Fields (film), The Killing Field ...

, in which he was portrayed by Gérard Depardieu.

Biography

In popular culture

References

Further reading