The Secret of Chantilly

By Laura Rahme

Based on a true story, this is the unforgettable heartwarming tale of the French pauper who overcame all odds to become the world's first celebrity chef. From the author of The Ming Storytellers.

PARIS, 1792. Antonin Car?me is eight years old when he is left to fend for himself in a city about to enter the darkest days of the French revolution. The imaginative boy who yearns for a fairy tale come true soon discovers his talent for making cakes.

When he meets the mysterious Boucheseiche, ma?tre d'h?tel for Napoleon's minister, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-P?rigord, Car?me's world is turned upside down. Boucheseiche promises that one day, he will reveal to him the secret of Chantilly.

Appointed chef at the ch?teau of Valen?ay, Car?me falls under the spell of the enigmatic Talleyrand. He is soon swept up in his own fairy tale - a whirlwind of princes, princesses and ch?teaux, with p?tisserie and scandal along the way. Then comes Napoleon's downfall and everything changes. Can Car?me place his trust in the elusive Talleyrand, that limping devil for whom no one seems to matter?

Orphan of the Terror, genius crippled by self-doubt, it will take years for Car?me to finally discover the secret of Chantilly.

This is the story of a child who defied his birth to become a legend of French gastronomy and of the unimaginable friendship between two men from entirely different worlds.

From the streets of Paris to the ch?teau of Valen?ay, from the congress of Vienna to the dazzling ballrooms of France's richest man, Car?me recounts adventures colored with spice, humor and heart, but always rich with France's history, its heritage and its great culinary art.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B09MC8J7L5
• ISBN13: 9798509287985
• Release Date: November 2021
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"