Crèpes Suzette
In 1896, legend has it that a young pastry chef called Henri Charpentier, working at the Café de Paris in Monte Carlo, dropped alcohol on hot pancakes he was preparing for the Prince of Wales, future King Edward VII. Unable to salvage them, he served them anyway and luckily for him, the dish was a great success. When the prince asked him the name of this dessert, the wily Chef said he had invented it especially for the Prince and would call the pancake after him. The Prince however, asked that the name of the young woman who was dining with him be given the honour. And you guessed it: her name was Suzette.
Others attribute the creation of crepes Suzette to the legendary Auguste Escoffier, creator of the Peach Melba, under whom Henri Charpentier served as an apprentice. The recipe is even included in Escoffier’s Guide Culinaire, released in 1903. But the ingredients are somewhat different: the orange juice is replaced with mandarin juice and doesn’t mention the classic Grand Marnier but Curacao.
The mystery could end there, but some stories also mention Joseph Marivaux, a restaurant owner in Paris who invented the dessert for Suzanne Reichenberg, an actress at the French Comedy, whose stage name was Suzette.
Nobody will ever truly know for sure the origin of this dish, but one thing that never changes – the delight is in the tasting!
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