Musee de les arts culinaire

While driving around on the weekend, I stumbled across a sign pointing to the Musee de les arts culinaire in a village called Villeneuve Loubet. Now that was something guaranteed to grab my attention and I just had to return the next day to take a look.

Unfortunately the museum was not all I had hoped - no items older than 200 years, but there were still some interesting odds and ends to be seen. Villeneuve Loubet was the home of Escoffier, and this museum was put together to honour his life and achievements in the culinary arts. Escoffier, by the way, was a superstar chef in the late 19th and early 20th century. Inventor of the Peach Melba, he pretty much transformed cookery in Europe - in fact he is credited with being responsible for food being served in courses, rather than all simultaneously - a pretty big change for the world of food. Escoffier published the book 'Le Guide Culinaire' which is still a bit of a bible for cooks.

Items of interest to me in the museum were a 19th C noodle-machine, some rather spekky skewers, and various of the menus from places like Maxims in Paris.