Louis Diat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Louis Felix Diat
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Diat in 1926
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| Born | 5 May 1885 Montmarault, France
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| Died | 29 August 1957 (aged 72) |
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| Organisation | The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company |
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Notable work
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Louis Diat's Home Cookbook: French Cooking for Americans
Gourmet's Basic French Cookbook Cooking a la Ritz Sauces, French and Famous |
Louis Felix Diat (born May 5, 1885 – died August 29, 1957) was a famous chef and writer from France who later became an American citizen. He is best known for creating the popular cold soup called vichyssoise. He worked for many years at the famous Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York City.
Contents
About Louis Diat
His Early Life
Louis Diat was born in France in 1885. His father owned a shoe store. When Louis and his siblings wanted a cold snack in summer, his mother would pour milk into leftover potato and leek soup.
Louis learned to cook at age five. By age eight, he woke up early to make soup before school. He watched his mother and grandmother cook. His mother taught him how to make tarts. His grandmother showed him how to grill chicken over charcoal.
By age 13, Louis decided he wanted to be a chef. At 14, he started an apprenticeship in a pastry shop in Moulins, France.
Becoming a Professional Chef
At 18, Louis worked at famous hotels in Paris, like Hôtel Le Bristol. In 1903, he became the soup chef at the Hôtel Ritz Paris. In 1906, at age 21, he moved to The Ritz Hotel London. There, he was still the soup chef and also helped with sauces. At both hotels, he learned from the founder, César Ritz.
On October 8, 1910, when he was 25, Louis moved to New York. He became the chef at Carlton House. About seven weeks later, he became the head chef of the new Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Manhattan. Louis applied to become a United States citizen that same month. He was the main chef at the Ritz-Carlton's roof-garden restaurant.
Louis worked at the Ritz-Carlton for 41 years. He cooked for many important people, including King Edward VIII of England. He also cooked for queens, prime ministers, and ambassadors. He even cooked for a special wine club. Louis worked very long hours, often 14 hours a day, six days a week. He also spent time at the hotel on his day off.
Louis was in charge of about 150 chefs. He was strict but kind. He helped solve problems in the kitchen and even gave first aid for injuries. Louis insisted on using only the best ingredients. He refused to use canned versions of his famous vichyssoise soup.
Each morning, Louis arrived at his office by 8:15 AM. He spent over an hour ordering food supplies. For the rest of the morning, he watched and advised his kitchen staff. He also checked the menus. In the afternoon, he wrote in his office.
Louis also taught cooking classes in the hotel kitchens. Some of his students became chefs at other hotels across the United States. The president of the Campbell Soup Company, Arthur Dorance, stayed at the Ritz for six months to learn Louis's soup-making skills. In 1938, Louis won a special French award called Chevalier du Mérite Agricole. This award recognized his efforts to bring French culture to the United States. In 1947, Louis became the in-house chef for Gourmet magazine.
Later Years
On May 2, 1951, the Ritz-Carlton Hotel closed down. Louis prepared a special "farewell luncheon" for his kitchen team. After the hotel closed, Louis retired. He moved to his home in Hartsdale, New York. He spent the rest of his life writing cookbooks. Louis Diat passed away on August 29, 1957, at age 72.
How Vichyssoise Was Invented
In 1917, Louis wanted to create a new and exciting cold soup for the Ritz-Carlton menu. He remembered the soup his mother used to make. He experimented with different ingredients. Soon, he found a perfect mix of leeks, onions, potatoes, butter, milk, cream, and other seasonings.
Louis named his new soup "crème vichyssoise glacée." He named it after Vichy, a spa town near his birthplace in France. Vichy was known for its great food and natural springs. The new soup was an "instant success." Charles M. Schwab was the first person to try vichyssoise. He liked it so much that he asked for another serving!
Vichyssoise was served all summer long and in the summers that followed. Louis did not include it on the menu during colder seasons. But so many people asked for it that in 1923, he put it on the menu all year round. Louis remembered that Sara Roosevelt, a famous socialite, once called him at 5 PM. She asked him to send eight servings of vichyssoise to her house!
Sometimes, Louis had trouble getting leeks for his cooking. This made him upset. So, the hotel's produce supplier found a farmer on Long Island to grow a small crop of leeks just for him.
His Personal Life
Louis Diat and his wife, Suzanne, had one daughter named Suzette. From 1916 to 1929, the family lived in New Rochelle, New York. From 1929 to 1950, they lived in a small apartment in Manhattan. After that, Louis and his wife lived in Hartsdale, New York.
Suzette Diat married George J. Lawrence. They had two children. Suzette described her father as a "gentle, humble man." She said he was "simple in his tastes." He enjoyed good cooking, but it didn't have to be fancy. It just needed to be well-prepared, not too rich, and without too much seasoning.
Suzette also said her father was a patient teacher. "He would answer any question concerned with cooking. He had no secrets." Louis also taught his family how to use leftovers to create new dishes.
Louis had two brothers who also became chefs. Jules Diat was a teacher. Lucien Diat, who was 17 years younger than Louis, became a famous executive chef at the Plaza Athénée hotel in Paris. He even taught the well-known chef Jacques Pépin.
Louis Diat as a Writer
Besides writing articles for Gourmet magazine, Louis Diat also wrote several cookbooks. He worked with Helen E. Ridley, a home economist. She remembered that Louis believed the United States had amazing food ingredients. He thought no place in Europe could compare to the variety and quality of food available in America.
His book Cooking à la Ritz included his recipe for vichyssoise. It also had recipes for other dishes he created at the Ritz-Carlton.
In Louis Diat's French Cookbook for Americans, Louis compared cooking in the United States to cooking in France. He said that the most important part of cooking is making food appealing. He believed Americans could cook as well as the French if they were interested. He noted that in France, girls as young as 11 could prepare meals by watching and helping their mothers. He thought early training made a big difference.
Louis also wrote that "fine cooking is the basis of a happy life." He added, "Men like to eat well... so if you want to keep your husband home, learn to be a good cook." Many recipes in this book came from his mother's cooking.
Louis believed that American women sometimes "ruin good food trying to save" money or time. To help with this, he wrote a book called La Cuisine de Ma Mère (My Mother's Cooking). In this book, he shared all his "cooking secrets." Louis suggested that people "approach their cooking with imagination, interest and an eye for artistic effects." He dedicated the book to his mother, Annette Alajoinine Diat, saying she inspired him.
In Sauces: French and Famous (1951), Louis explained how to make classic sauces like bechamel, brown sauce, tomato sauce, and mayonnaise. He also shared his own eating habits. Louis also wrote French Cooking for the Home (1956) and Gourmet's Basic French Cookbook (1961).
In Popular Culture
Louis Diat was even shown in a popular anime series called Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma. In Season One, Episode 23, he is mentioned because he created vichyssoise.
See also
In Spanish: Louis Diat para niños
