Mère Brazier: The Mother of Modern French Cooking

Eugénie Brazier (1895–1977) was born on a farm near Bourg-en-Bresse. Orphaned of her mother in childhood, she worked as a farm girl, then a domestic servant. Pregnant and unmarried at 19, she was kicked out by her father and walked to Lyon with her infant son Gaston. She worked as a maid for the Milliat family, where she first learned to cook — when asked to make sauce Hollandaise for the first time, she had no idea how and was taught by the hotel concierge. She then trained under the demanding Mère Fillioux, learning the five dishes that defined Lyon fine dining. In 1921, at age 26, she opened her own restaurant at 12 Rue Royale with 15 seats.

In 1933, Eugénie Brazier became the first person — male or female — to hold six Michelin stars simultaneously: three at her Lyon restaurant and three at her second establishment at Col de la Luère in the foothills above the city. This achievement stood unmatched for 65 years until Alain Ducasse equalled it in 1998. Among the young chefs who trained under her were Paul Bocuse (who in a foreword called her "a tough and modest woman") and Bernard Pacaud (who went on to earn three stars at L'Ambroisie in Paris).

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