“A broth of pure meat essences”

In Paris in the eighteenth century you could find lots of types of food for sale. A variety of culinary trades specialized in various dishes and preparations. Cuisineurs (cooks), rôtisseurs (roasters), patisseurs (pastry cooks) and several other food professionals had legal rights allowing them, exclusively, to sell specific foods for dine-in or takeaway. In addition, a contemporary source in 1773 wrote:

“Restaurateurs are those who have the skill of making true consommés, called restaurants or the prince’s boullions, and who have the right to sell all sorts of creams, rice and vermicelli soups, fresh eggs, macaroni, stewed capons, confitures, compotes and other delicate and salutary dishes.” (Mathurin Roze de Chantoiseau, cited in Rebecca Spang, The Invention of the Restaurant, p. ix)

Mid 18th century bouillon pot from France.
Recently sold at Christies for 50,000 pounds.

Broth bowl with cover and stand, 1752-1753,
Metropolitan Museum. (source)

The pure essence extracted by slowly cooking meat, with or without the addition of water and vegetables, was considered a healthful restorative beverage, or "restaurant," that brought invalids back to health, particularly individuals with weak chests or digestive problems. Consuming this liquid instead of eating a heavy evening meal was especially seen as healthful. Everyone who drank this beverage could be "improved and benefited, restored and delighted, by means of a small cup of bouillon." (Spang, p. 25)

To drink these “restaurants” Parisians went to the specialty shops — which were also called restaurants — as described in the quote above from Roze de Chantoiseau. These shops became popular and important in 18th century Paris before the French Revolution, and slowly introduced other light and restoring foods and beverages, as well as guaranteeing especially clean and careful preparation. These food shops became the precursors of the modern restaurant.

During and after the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era (1789-1815), restrictions eased up on who could sell each type of food. By the early 19th century, when the above image of a kitchen was published, Paris restaurants were serving full meals to diners of all sorts — not just to invalids.

Restaurant offerings in the 19th century weren't limited to health foods: many new dishes were added to the menu. Over time, restaurant dining became more and more similar to the experience of current French restaurants, with a varied menu served in courses and cooked to order by trained chefs and their staffs. Rather than regular clients who ate their meals in the establishment every day at a set time as in the 18th century, emerging restaurants served meals either to regulars or to occasional customers at whatever time they chose to dine.

Thus the original meaning of "restaurant," a health-inducing beverage, was lost. Extracted essences of chicken, veal, or beef are now called consommés, bouillon, stock, or broth, and the word "restaurant" refers only to a dining establishment. A complete history of the creation of the French restaurant appears in The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture, by Rebecca Spang, a fascinating history book published in 2000.

The Return of a Classic

From the website of Bouillon Julien, Paris. (link)

The Michelin Guide online site reported last year: "Recently, a crop of restaurants labeled bouillon has resurfaced in Paris, including Bouillon Chartier, Bouillon Julien (formerly just Julien), Le Bar du Bouillon and a new kid on the block, Bouillon Pigalle." (link)

While these historic re-introductions have roots in the establishments run by the original 18th century "restaurateurs," they were all founded in the mid-19th century. They serve traditional French "comfort food" at affordable prices. Despite their later foundation, they claim a connection to the earlier 18th century models.

The Michelin article describes one of these in particular detail:

"At the Bouillon Julien, the founder's promise of "beau, bon et pas cher" ("beautiful, delicious and affordable") has been reinstated by new owner Jean-Noël Dron. After a delicate renovation of its fabulous floral and sculpted wood decor by Majorelle and other art nouveau artisans, it reopened in the fall of 2018. The new menu, crafted by a head chef lured away from a starred hotel restaurant, includes a terrine de volaille et legumes (€5.20), a foie gras de canard (€9.20) and the Bouillon Julien (beef bouillon with tender morsels of beef, ginger and citronella, for €9.90)—a perfect example of the original vocation of these restaurants."

An article in the New York Times last year, "Three Courses, 20 Euros: The Affordable Dining Renaissance in Paris,"  emphasized that these restaurants, mostly located far from the tourist areas of the city, follow the 19th century tradition of working-class restaurants called "bouillons," which give great value for a low price.

The Bouillon Cube 

The "restaurateurs" of the 1760s not only produced bouillon to serve in their restaurants, they also created a safe and healthy portable product -- an early version of the bouillon cube for travelers. (Spang, p. 29)

Various experimenters improved the technology of concentrating meat flavors and making the result shelf-stable. By the end of the 19th century, bouillon cubes were being mass produced, and industrial food manufacturers like Knorr, Oxo, and Maggi made and distributed them widely. For more of this history, see "How Bouillon Cubes Became an International Pantry Staple" by Mari Uyehara, published in Serious Eats last July.

Today bouillon remains an important culinary ingredient and sometimes a beverage for invalids and others. Most cooks worldwide today make it not by slowly cooking meat and extracting the flavor, but by dissolving a cube or a spoonful of concentrate in a cup of water. The industrial production and wide sale of this highly concentrated essence of meat led to another type of change in cooking, not just in France, but on almost every continent: you could add meat flavor and its umami quality to any dish by just unwrapping the small cube.

Every Tuesday, many bloggers share a beverage: a photo, memory, or reference to a drink. These circulate via a like-minded group hosted each week at the Altered Book Lover blog. Today my beverage is the 18th century health drink known then as a“restaurant.”

 Blog post © 2020 mae sander.