![]() She later moved to a larger restaurant on Rue Royale in central Lyon, which is the site of the present-day La Mère Brazier. There, she began making a name for herself preparing dishes like crayfish in mayonnaise, roast pigeon and country-style peas and carrots. Typically, bouchons (traditional restaurants) were run by women called "Lyonnaise mothers", who served offal and offcuts of meat to hungry businessmen and silk workers.īy 1922, Brazier had saved enough money working at Mère Filloux and other restaurants to buy a grocery shop, which she turned into a small restaurant. With no cookbooks to consult, she would ask merchants or local hotel staff for recipes and recreate them from memory.Īfter World War One, Brazier, now a more seasoned cook, started working in the kitchen of Mère Filloux, a restaurant in Lyon's Brotteaux neighbourhood with an all-female staff, which was common at the time. She travelled with the family each year as they spent winters in Cannes in southern France, and eventually took on the additional role of cook once the family decided to live there year-round. To make ends meet, Brazier got a housekeeping job with a wealthy Lyonnaise family, the Milliats, placing her son, Gaston, in a pensionnat (boarding school). But in 1914, the 19-year-old Brazier became pregnant out of wedlock and her father kicked her out, as it was considered scandalous in those times. But Brazier came from a time when chefs weren't in the media."īrazier's mother died when she was just 10, and she took a job at a neighbouring farm to help provide for her family. "When I reopened the restaurant in 2008, articles came out in 80 different countries. "Brazier is well-known to anyone who knows the history of French cuisine," Viannay said. Viannay believes this is due to the time she was living in. Although Brazier's legacy is kept alive in the restaurant, few people know about her important contributions to French gastronomy. Inside, the 1933 Michelin guide sits proudly in a glass case, while a photo of Brazier in a starched white blouse lines a sliding door. One of her restaurants, the currently two-starred La Mère Brazier, is still running to this day under the guidance of chef Mathieu Viannay. ![]() So, why, then, have her achievements been largely forgotten, while those of chefs like Bocuse have been lauded? She was also largely responsible for teaching Bocuse his trade.īrazier was no doubt a tour de force. ![]() In 1933, she would become the first person to receive six stars in the Michelin Guide, a record that remained unchallenged until Alain Ducasse matched her in 1998. Yet, by the time she turned 40, she was running two restaurants and was the most decorated chef in the world. Known as "the mother of French cooking", Eugénie Brazier (or Mère Brazier) never completed primary school and was forced to leave home at 19 after becoming pregnant. And although the city has become synonymous with the name Paul Bocuse (1926-2018) – with five restaurants falling under the late chef's brand, and even Halles de Lyon – Paul Bocuse (an indoor food market) bearing his name – its culinary legacy began long before he rose to fame. With more restaurants per capita than any other French city and the home of Rue du Bœuf (the street with the most Michelin stars in the country), Lyon is France's undisputed gastronomic capital.
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