François Vatel

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François Vatel (1631–April 1671) was a French chef, famous for supposedly having invented whipped cream for an extravagant banquet for 2,000 people hosted in honor of Louis XIV by Louis, the great Condé in April 1671 at the château de Chantilly - hence the name crème chantilly.

At this same banquet the consummate perfectionist Vatel was supposedly so distraught about the lateness of the fish meal - the banquet was to be held on a Friday - and about other mishaps that he committed suicide. According to some versions of the story, his body was discovered by an aide who came to tell him of the fish meal's arrival.

It is likely that he did not actually invent whipped cream for this occasion, and that whipped cream had been known long before that. The drama and subsequent description of the meal by guests helped to popularize whipped cream for use in desserts.

This popular story was described in a letter by the marquise de Sévigné. In more modern times, it was depicted in the 2000 film Vatel by Roland Joffé, with Gérard Depardieu playing the role of Vatel.

Vatel was already renowned for having served Nicolas Fouquet in the splendid inauguration of the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte (1656).

He was born Fritz Karl Watel in Switzerland. He was a maitre d´hotel and became famous in France, where the king Louis XIV became addicted to his spoon, especially his desserts. Contrary to the way he is depicted in the movie, mooning over a lady from Louis XIV´s glamorous court, Vatel was gay. (Cecilia Ruiz de Ríos, Nicaraguan historian, [link])

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