Catering to Success: Culinary Masterpieces from Near Disasters

Imagine your worst culinary nightmare. Now imagine it turns into a success that catapults you into the annals of cooking history. Fantasy, right? Not necessarily. At only 14-years-old, Henri Charpentier plunged himself into catering history while cooking up a meal for Albert, Prince of Wales. Henri was cooking crepes for Prince Albert, who loved fancy meals. The crepe sauce was a blend of orange and lemon peels, sugar, butter, maraschino, Curacao, and kirsch. While he was mixing it he accidentally set the cordials on fire.

Catering to Princes

Henri was petrified. There were no real catering services to rush to the rescue, and no way to start over--the meal was due to be served, the Prince was waiting. Nervously, he tasted his creation--it was wonderful, sweet, and light! He returned the crepes to the cordial mix and set them on fire one more time, then doused the flames and served them. The prince was delighted and asked the name of the dish. Henri nobly tried to name the meal for the prince, but Albert pointed out a small girl present at the meal and the dish became known as Crepes Suzette.

Cooking Up Happy Accidents

Catering accidents happen. No matter how many culinary classes you've taken, there's always the chance that something will catch on fire when it shouldn't, or not catch on fire when it should. Making cordials burn is something of a trick; that's why cooking classes are a marvelous choice if you're interested in running your own catering business, even if you're already a great cook. Catering requires organizational skills, a mind for details, the ability to meet deadlines, great cooking skills, and the ability to make lemonade when given lemons--or at least to create a dish perfect for a prince on short demand, and by happy accident.