Valeria Aksakova on Freepik Up until today, no one ever doubted it: Chantilly cream was made for the first time by French chef Franoçois Vatel. Research from beyond the Alps will now change history. The cream was actually created by an Italian gelato chef. In Chantilly, France, in a picturesque castle, the recipe of one of the most well-known creams of the pastry arts is guarded: the Chantilly cream. The origin of its name can be misleading, as the whipped cream sweetened with powdered sugar and flavoured with vanilla was actually invented by an Italian gelato chef. Up until today, the inventor of the cream was considered to have been the French François Vatel who, in the 1600s during the era of Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, was the head of ceremonies at the Chantilly castle. Legend has it that in 1671, during a banquet organized by the prince in honour of King Louis XIV, the cook had run out of eggs due to a batch of expired eggs and was left with just a little bit of cream. It seemed impossible to create a royal dessert. Everything was lost, but the cook did not lose heart. To not let down the guests, he invented the Chantilly cream. The dinner ended with a dessert that was enjoyed by everyone. Today, Nicole Garnier, honorary curator of the Chantilly castle’s legacy and author of the volume “Vatel: The Splendours of the Table Under Louis XIV”, claims that in reality Vatel was not the cook, but rather he was only the master of ceremonies. He was considered the inventor of the cream only to make his legend more tragic, since it recounts his suicide. In fact, he took his own life by stabbing himself with a sword due to delivery of seafood that never arrived but was necessary to set a sumptuous banquet. Furthermore, Chantilly cream obtained its name which made it famous throughout the world fifty years after the death of this French Master of ceremonies. This circumstance seems to support the theory that his legend was in part constructed. 43
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