Robert Carrier (chef)

Robert Carrier
Born	Robert Carrier McMahon (1923-11-10) 10 November 1923 Tarrytown, New York, U.S.
Died	27 June 2006(2006-06-27) (aged 82)
Occupation(s)	Chef, restaurateur, culinary author
Years active	1950s–2000s
Known for	Great Dishes of the World, Carrier's Kitchen TV series

Robert Carrier McMahon, OBE (November 10, 1923 – June 27, 2006), widely recognized as Robert Carrier, was an American chef, restaurateur, and culinary author. His professional life thrived primarily in England, where he resided between 1953 and 1984, and again from 1994 until his passing.

Biography

Carrier was born in Tarrytown, New York as the third son to a prosperous Irish-American property attorney and a Franco-German mother from a wealthy lineage. During the 1930s Great Depression, his family faced financial ruin, prompting them to dismiss their household staff and personally prepare elaborate dinners.

He received his education in New York City, supplementing it with part-time studies in art and acting. Carrier performed in the Broadway revue New Faces before joining a repertory company that toured Europe. Regular visits to his French grandmother in upstate New York introduced him to traditional cooking techniques such as making biscuits and butter-fried fish, which became the foundation of his culinary expertise.

Post World War II

During World War II, Carrier served as an intelligence officer with the United States Army, initially stationed in England with the Office of Strategic Services and later working as a cryptographer at General Charles de Gaulle's Paris headquarters. After the war ended, he stayed on in Paris as a civilian and adopted the surname Carrier for its French resonance. His early post-war roles included working at a US forces radio station and contributing to Spectacle, a Gaullist publication supporting de Gaulle's RPF party.

When a theatrical magazine he edited ceased publication in 1949, Carrier moved to St. Tropez to work at a friend's restaurant, Chez Fifine, which aided his recovery from depression. He subsequently relocated to Rome to refine his culinary abilities and briefly appeared in an Italian musical revue. Invited to London for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953, he chose to settle there. In London, he ventured into public relations and marketing various food products such as stock cubes, cornflour, New Zealand apples, and vegetarian dog food. Additionally, he co-wrote The Vanished City, a historical account of London.

Cookery career

Carrier’s initial food-related piece appeared in 1957 in Harper's Bazaar, leading to regular contributions for Vogue and a weekly column in the Sunday Times colour supplement. This column propelled him to celebrity status and was expanded into his debut cookbook, Great Dishes of the World (1963), which sold 11 million copies despite its premium price.

In 1966, Carrier launched the restaurant Carrier's located on Camden Passage, Islington, followed by an international chain of cookshops starting with one inside Harrods in 1967. His pioneering wipe-clean recipe cards provided clear instructions that allowed home cooks to create complex dishes with ease.

By 1971, Carrier acquired Hintlesham Hall near Ipswich, Suffolk for £32,000 and poured significant investment into transforming it into a hotel and restaurant by 1972. He also revived the Hintlesham Festival. Later on, he spent approximately £300,000 converting outbuildings into a contemporary cookery school designed to teach both culinary skills and recipes inspired by Hintlesham Hall’s menu. Despite attracting students globally, Carrier found teaching monotonous and was disheartened that many attendees were more interested in his fame than in cooking itself.

In the late 1970s, Carrier debuted the television series Carrier's Kitchen, which introduced British viewers to Continental cuisine through a theatrical presentation style paired with his distinctive American accent. He went on to produce three additional series: Food, Wine and Friends, The Gourmet Vegetarian, and Carrier's Caribbean. This heightened public profile resulted in a weekly magazine published by Marshall Cavendish between 1981 and 1983.

Retirement

By the early 1980s, Carrier's television presentation was considered outdated and overly sentimental, while his culinary style was viewed as excessively intricate. After his television program was cancelled, he shut down the Michelin two-star Hintlesham Hall in 1982 and sold it the following year to English hotelier Ruth Watson and her spouse. Following the closure of his Michelin two-starred Camden Passage establishment, Carrier briefly relocated to New York before settling in France and later at his renovated villa in Morocco from 1984, frequently accompanied by his friend Oliver Lawson Dick.

On January 19, 1983, Carrier appeared on the British TV program This Is Your Life. During the 1980s, he gained recognition in the United States through a weekly column focused on European cuisine for a leading magazine. In 1984, he emerged as a key proponent for changes to British licensing regulations, an effort that earned him an honorary OBE.

Having spent several months each year in Marrakesh since the 1970s, Carrier incorporated Moroccan culinary influences into a 1987 cookbook that helped finance his retirement. His 1999 update of Great Dishes of the World was less successful commercially, as it replaced traditional rich recipes with simplified Nouvelle Cuisine.

By 1994, Carrier had returned to London, noting that most of his professional connections were British. He resumed appearances on television programs like GMTV, promoting budget-friendly and vegetarian recipes. After selling his Moroccan residence, he owned property in Provence where he pursued painting, supported by his friend Liz Glaze following Lawson Dick's passing. Carrier was admitted to a hospital in southern France on June 27, 2006; news of his death was made public that same day.

Television

• 1975 Carrier's Kitchen
• 1980 Food, Wine & Friends
• 1994 The Gourmet Vegetarian
• 1996 Carrier's Caribbean, BBC2 12-part series

Bibliography

• Robert Carrier, Great Dishes of the World, illustrated by Sophie Granval (London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1963)
• Robert Carrier, The Robert Carrier Cookbook (London: Nelson, 1965)
• Robert Carrier, The Connoisseur's Cookbook (London: Random House, c1965)
• Robert Carrier, Great Dishes of the World (London: Sphere, 1967)
• Robert Carrier, Cooking for You (London: Hamlyn, 1973)
• Robert Carrier, The Robert Carrier Cookery Course (London: W. H. Allen & Co, 1974)
• Robert Carrier, Great Desserts and Pastries (London: Hamlyn, 1978)
• Robert Carrier, Food, Wine & Friends (London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1980)
• Robert Carrier (ed.), Robert Carrier's Kitchen magazine partwork (London: Marshall Cavendish, 1981–1983)
• Robert Carrier, Robert Carrier's Entertaining (1982)
• Robert Carrier, Robert Carrier's Quick Cook (London: Hamlyn, 1984)
• Robert Carrier, Cooking With Carrier (London: Galahad Books, 1984)
• Robert Carrier, Robert Carrier's Kitchen – Making the Most of Lamb & Pork (London: Marshall Cavendish, 1985)
• Robert Carrier, A Taste of Morocco (London: Crown Publishing, 1987)
• Robert Carrier, Robert Carrier's Menu Planner (London: Little Brown, 1988)
• Robert Carrier, Feasts of Provence (London: Rizzoli International Publications, 1993)
• Robert Carrier, The Best of Robert Carrier (London: Bloomsbury, 1994)
• Robert Carrier, The Gourmet Vegetarian (London: Boxtree, 1994)
• Robert Carrier, Carrier's Kitchen (London: Boxtree, 1995)
• Robert Carrier, Robert Carrier's Cookery Cards: Classic Carrier (London: Boxtree, 1995)
• Robert Carrier, Robert Carrier's Cookery Cards: Carrier Entertains (London: Boxtree, 1995)
• Robert Carrier, A Million Family Menus (London: World Publications, 1996)
• Robert Carrier,new Great Dishes of the World (London: Boxtree, 1997)
• Robert Carrier,Great Dishes of Spain (London: Boxtree, 1999)

External links

• Recipe for Carrier's Moroccan harira featured on the BBC Good Food Guide