A History of Le Cordon Bleu

What's in a name?
Since its foundation in 1895, Le Cordon Bleu has maintained the traditions of classical French Cuisine and Pâtisserie.

The name Cordon Bleu meaning blue ribbon, is rich in history and heritage. It has been synonymous with excellence since the 16th century when King Henry III of France created the l'Ordre des Chevaliers du Saint Esprit or Order of the Knights of the Holy Spirit in 1578. It was the most exclusive order in France until 1789. This was due to the fact that it's members (including royalty) were awarded with the Cross of the Holy Spirit, which hung from a blue ribbon known as a Cordon Bleu. The sumptuous banquets accompanying their award ceremonies became legendary.

The beginning
In 1895, Martha Distel, a French journalist, founded a weekly culinary publication entitled 'la Cuisiniére Cordon Bleu', which was published over the next 70 years and became the basis and reference for what is now perhaps one of the largest recipe collections in the world. It contributed to the codification of French Cuisine and in essence established some of the guiding principles of Le Cordon Bleu; hands on teaching, top quality chefs from the food industry and the best ingredients and techniques combined with vibrant informative demonstrations.

Following the success of the publication, Le Cordon Bleu officially opened its doors as a culinary school in Paris in 1895. The first Cordon Bleu class was held in January 1896 on rue St Honoré (named after the saint of Pâtisserie Chefs) near the Palais Royal. An electric stove was used for this demonstration, the first time an electric stove had been used in demonstrating.

From the beginning, famous Chefs of the time came to teach at Le Cordon Bleu, including the legendary Chef Henri-Paul Pellaprat. The cooking classes were an immediate success. The reputation of the school spread rapidly world-wide with the first Russian student admitted in 1897 and the first Japanese in 1905.

Chef Pellaprat, a disciple and personal friend of Auguste Escoffier taught for 32 years at Le Cordon Bleu, where he wrote his masterpieces, L'Art Culinaire and La Cuisine Familiale et Pratique, which are considered to be modern classics to this day. L'Art Culinaire sold over a million copies before the second world war. Le Cordon Bleu grew and evolved over the following decades into the leading international culinary institution attracting students from all over the world. In 1927, the London Daily Mail commented, 'it is usual to find up to 8 different nationalities in the classes, it is a label of nationalities'.

International beginnings
In 1933, one of Chef Pellaprat's students, Rosemary Hume, established L'Ecole du Petit Cordon Bleu in Victoria, London. This marked the expansion of Cordon Bleu from France. After World War II, the Paris school was taken over and re-located by Elizabeth Brassart, who reigned as the Grande Dame of Cordon Bleu, welcoming 2 generations of cooks from many different countries and revising the curriculum. The London school then re-opened after the war in 31 Marleybone lane. As the reputation grew, the London school relocated to its present site of 114 Marleybone Lane.

Fame
In 1945, after the liberation of Paris, Le Cordon Bleu was accredited by the Pentagon for professional training of young GI's after their tour of duty. As a former member of the OSS, Julia Child (Americas best known Chef) earned her Chef's toque at Le Cordon Bleu and proceeded to monitor the teaching of French cooking in the United States. She was also the first Chef to demonstrate French cooking on television in the US.

Twenty years after the opening of the London school, the success of the school was confirmed by its participation in preparing the Coronation luncheon for Queen Elizabeth, for this, the famous dish 'Coronation Chicken' was created.

The Paris school was further immortalised in the legendary 1950's film 'Sabrina', staring Audrey Hepburn as a young débutante who came to Paris to study at Le Cordon Bleu.

Compiling and moving on
For over a century, Le Cordon Bleu has grown to become a leading authority on culinary techniques, training and development. In 1984, André J. Cointreau, part of the family who own the Rémy Martin Cognac and Cointreau Liqueur companies, became President and C.E.O. of Le Cordon Bleu. He strengthened the curriculum by introducing the Le Cordon Bleu Classic Cycle, recruited the finest Chefs of French Cuisine and Pâtisserie and re-located the Paris school. The London school became fully part of the Le Cordon Bleu group in 1990 and other schools were then opened in Tokyo, Ottawa and Sydney.

Le Cordon Bleu continues its rapid expansion process, with courses in the culinary arts, restaurant management degrees and a Masters in Business Administration and more recently a Masters in Gastronomy. Academic alliances have been established as well as an extensive culinary product line and a wide range of publications for culinary professionals and enthusiasts. Le Cordon Bleu Master Chefs share their knowledge with students from over 50 different nationalities whilst also maintaining close links with the culinary industry world-wide when they travel to participate in culinary festivals.

Author

Le Cordon Bleu
London Culinary Arts Institute
L'Art de Vivre

If you have any comments or queries relating to this site please email:
webmaster@culinaryprograms.com

©Sandringham Publishing Ltd - All rights reserved