Last week, Friend of the Blog (FOB), Charlie Seluzicki wrote
of his encounters with legendary chef/personality Louis Szathmary. In the Food
Network era it’s easy to forget about anyone who isn’t on TeeVee – Even Julia
Child, who helped change the way Americans thought about food has the advantage
of a DVD legacy.
Szathmary or Chef Louis as he like to be called, arrived from Hungary with a Masters in Journalism, a PhD in psychology, $1.10 in his pocket and no English.
By the time he passed away 45 years later he had authored a weekly syndicated
newspaper column for over 10 years, published over 500 food science related
papers and published 7 books. His thick Hungarian accent might have kept him
off TV in the 60s & 70s but if he were alive today, his collection of over
400,000 culinary items and 31 apartment rooms filled with books, he would
have at least earned him an episode of Hoarders.
Born in WWI, Szathmary’s family moved
around war ravaged Hungary for most of his early life. In WWII, Szathmary was an
officer in the Hungarian Army, making Szathmary a soldier in the Axis powers.
300,000 Hungarian troops died in the war. The country had been aligned
economically and politically with Italy and Germany before the war, although
there were Fascist elements in the government, Hungary was more or less
conscripted into the German fighting machine in 1940. While aligning with
Hitler, the nation tried to get a truce on with the Allies. Hitler found out,
occupied the country and began mass deportation of Jews and Romas (Gypsy) to
concentration camps.
Szathmary escaped the carnage of two World Wars and Soviet occupation;
escaping with loose change to the US, where his fancy degrees meant little. Louis started his life over at age 32 in his new home as a short order cook.
From there he began his own catering company, then he began experimenting with
frozen foods that could be easily reheated and served at events - Armour hired
him to Chicago to work on frozen entrees. Within a few years, he would create
the Stouffers’ classic spinach soufflé. His work in frozen foods would lead to some of
the first experimentations with cryovacing – preserving food in airless, plastic
pouches. This led to consulting with NASA and being part of the team that
helped make the food tubes for astronauts. 15 years from a 110 pennied
immigrant to work on the most storied American project in our post war era.
You’d think my much more realistic goals would be achievable in comparison, yet I get stuck.
Equally as influential, was The Bakery, his restaurant under
the 31 rooms of books and cooking ephemera. The Bakery did 2 things: It made fine
dining less formal paving the way for Chez Panisse and the French Laundry and
the venue afforded Chef Louis the ability to work the dining room – starched white apron,
firefighter’s mustache, a booming accented voice and charisma, Louis became as
much of the show as the food, which by all accounts was pretty good.
Before passing away in '96, Szathmary lobbied to have the
occupation of Executive Chef added to the directory of job titles, elevating
chef to the professional ranks. He donated his books and kitchen items to
Johnson & Wales, the Smithsonian, University or Chicago, University of Iowa and other institutions.
0 comments:
Post a Comment