Page "French cuisine" Paragraph 15

There were two basic groups of guilds – first, those that supplied the raw materials ; butchers, fishmongers, grain merchants, and gardeners.

The second group were those that supplied prepared foods ; bakers, pastry cooks, saucemakers, poulterers, and caterers.

There were also guilds that offered both raw materials and prepared food, such as the charcutiers and rôtisseurs ( purveyors of roasted meat dishes ).

They would supply cooked meat pies and dishes as well as raw meat and poultry.

This caused issues with butchers and poulterers, who sold the same raw materials.

The guilds served as a training ground for those within the industry.

The degrees of assistant-cook, full-fledged cook and master chef were conferred.

Those who reached the level of master chef were of considerable rank in their individual industry, and enjoyed a high level of income as well as economic and job security.

At times, those in the royal kitchens did fall under the guild hierarchy, but it was necessary to find them a parallel appointment based on their skills after leaving the service of the royal kitchens.

This was not uncommon as the Paris cooks ' guild regulations allowed for this movement.