1660 — Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 1733) was a French chef who served as chef de cuisine (officier de bouche) to various illustrious personages, including Philippe I, Duke of Orléans

Philippe I, Duke of Orléans

Philippe of France was the youngest son of Louis XIII of France and his queen consort Anne of Austria. His older brother was the famous Louis XIV, le roi soleil. Styled Duke of Anjou from birth, Philippe became Duke of Orléans upon the death of his uncle Gaston, Duke of Orléans...

, the brother of Louis XIV, and his son Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

Philippe II, Duke of Orléans

Philippe d'Orléans was a member of the royal family of France and served as Regent of the Kingdom from 1715 to 1723. Born at his father's palace at Saint-Cloud, he was known from birth under the title of Duke of Chartres...

, who was first duc de Chartres then the Regent, as well as the duc d'Aumont, the Cardinal d’Estrées

César d'Estrées

César d'Estrées was a French diplomat and Cardinal.He was the son of Marshal François Annibal d'Estrées, and brother of Marshal Jean II d'Estrées....

, and the marquis de Louvois. His Nouveau cuisinier royal et bourgeois first appeared, anonymously, as a single volume in 1691, and was expanded to two (1712) then three volumes, in the revised edition of 1733-34. His lesser cookbook, Nouvelle instruction pour les confitures, les liqueurs et les fruits, (Paris, Charles de Sercy), appeared, also anonymously, in 1692.

Massialot describes himself in his preface

Preface

A preface is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a foreword and precedes an author's preface...

 as "a cook who dares to qualify himself royal, and it is not without cause, for the meals which he describes...have all been served at court or in the houses of princes, and of people of the first rank." Places where Massialot served banquets included the Château de Sceaux

Château de Sceaux

The Château de Sceaux is a grand country house in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, not far from Paris, France. Located in a park laid out by André Le Nôtre, it houses the Musée de l’Île-de-France, a museum of local history. The former château was built for Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV's minister of...

, the Château de Meudon

Château de Meudon

The former Château de Meudon, on a hill in Meudon, about 4 kilometres south-west of Paris, occupied the terraced steeply sloping site. It was acquired by Louis XIV, who greatly expanded its as a residence for Louis, le Grand Dauphin...

, and Versailles. An innovation in Massialot's book was the alphabetisation of recipes, "a step toward the first culinary dictionary" Barbara Wheaton observes; Wheaton has compared the changes made in the various editions of Massialot: a glass of white wine in a fish stock

Fish stock

Fish stocks are subpopulations of a particular species of fish, for which intrinsic parameters are the only significant factors in determining population dynamics, while extrinsic factors are considered to be insignificant.-The stock concept:All species have geographic limits to their...

 makes a surprisingly late appearance, in 1703. Meringue

Meringue

Meringue is a type of dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar, occasionally some recipes may call for adding an acid such as cream of tartar or a small amount of vinegar and a binding agent such as cornstarch found in icing sugar which may be added in addition to the corn starch which...

s make their first appearance under their familiar name in Massialot, who is also credited with Crême brulée

Crème brûlée

Crème brûlée , also known as burnt cream, crema catalana, or Trinity cream is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a contrasting layer of hard caramel...

, in which the sugar topping was melted and burnt with a red-hot fire shovel.

Massialot's works, translated into English as The Court and Country Cook (1702) and often reprinted, were used by professional chefs until the middle of the 18th century.