Definition: curnonsky

He wrote for various newspapers and became, among other things, a ghostwriter for Willy, Colette's first husband. Curnonsky was known for his appetite and his size (1.85 m and 120 kg). He eventually put his talent as a man of letters and his hearty appetite to work in the service of gastronomy and, with his friend Marcel Rouff, began writing a series of brochures on regional cuisine and the best restaurants in France. In 1927, the magazine "Le Bon Gîte et la Bonne Table" organised a referendum to elect the "prince" of gastronomes. Curnonsky was chosen. He was invited to dinners and receptions and fulfilled his duties with wonderful grace. At the same time, he continued his literary and gastronomic work. We owe him "Les recettes des provinces de France" (Recipes from the Provinces of France) with A. de Croze in 1933 and "Les finesgueules de France" (The Fine Eaters of France) with P. Andrieu in 1935. He also founded the "Académie des Gastronomes" in 1930, of which he was the first president. All of its members, including Édouard de Pomiane, Maeterlinck, Paul Reboux, the Marquis de Polignac and Justin Godart, were knowledgeable gourmets. He enjoyed writing aphorisms in the style of Brillat-Savarin, whom he greatly admired, but above all he sought to restore prestige to bourgeois and provincial cuisine as opposed to the sophistication of certain grand Parisian restaurants. He read voraciously and had a fabulous memory. Curnonsky refused to associate his name with any form of advertising. He thus turned down fortunes.

In 1939, he left Paris and moved to Brittany to an inn run by an old friend in Riec-sur-Belon. She was a very good cook whom Curnonsky had discovered while on holiday. He spoke and wrote highly of her cooking, which became a mecca for good food. He stayed with her until the end of the war and wrote some of his memoirs there. After the war, he returned to his Paris apartment and resumed his work as a journalist. On 22 July 1956, he fell from the window of his apartment and died on the pavement. He was about to turn 84. Until his death, he enjoyed unrivalled fame and was welcomed in all the top restaurants. For his 80th birthday, on 12 October 1952, on the initiative of the magazine "Cuisine et vins de France" (which he had founded in 1946) and R. Courtine, 80 restaurateurs from the Ile de France region placed a copper plaque bearing the following words in their dining rooms, in the place usually occupied by the "prince":

This place belongs to

Maurice Edmond Saillant Curnonsky

Elected prince of gourmets

Defender and illustrator of

French cuisine

Guest of honour of this establishment.