Robert Courtine

Robert Julien Courtine (16 May 1910 – 14 April 1998) was a French food writer who also wrote under the pen names "La Reynière" and "Savarin".

Background Courtine was a member of the far-right Action française during the 1930s, and was close to the anti-semitic journalist Henry Coston. During the German Occupation, he was an active participant in the collaborationist newspapers La France au travail and L'Appel. He left Paris in August 1944 for the Sigmaringen enclave. He was arrested in 1946 and sentenced to ten years at hard labor. The sentence was commuted in 1948, on condition that he not speak on the radio.

In 1952, Courtine joined Le Monde where, using the pen name "La Reynière" (inspired by Grimod de La Reynière), he wrote the gastronomy column until 1993. As "La Reynière" he was a notable opponent of nouvelle cuisine and supporter of traditional French cookery, including French regional cuisine.

Courtine has written many books on gastronomy. The Hundred Glories of French Cooking, translated by Derek Coltman and published in North America by Doubleday in 1973, has been described as a "culinary art gallery" with recipes from throughout France, and "simplicity is their common threadchoice ingredients carefully prepared in the simplest manner, not over-garnished or over-rich."

Publications Drôle de macchabée, préface de Paul Reboux, A. Fleury, 1952 L'assassin est à votre table, Éditions de la Pensée moderne, 1956 ; réédition, avec une préface d'Albert Simonin, la Table ronde, 1969 Un gourmand à Paris, B. Grasset, 1959 Un nouveau savoir manger, B. Grasset, 1960 Tous les cocktails (signé Savarin), Gérard et Cie,1960 Les Dimanches de la cuisine, la Table ronde, 1962 La Cuisine du monde entier (signé Savarin), Gérard et Cie, 1963 450 recettes originales à base de fruits, Éditions de la Pensée moderne, 1963 La Vraie cuisine française (signé Savarin), Gérard et Cie, 1963 Célébration de l'asperge, R. Morel, 1965 Toutes les boissons et les recettes au vin, Larousse, 1968 La Gastronomie, Presses universitaires de France, 1970 Cent Merveilles de la cuisine française, 1971 Le Guide de la cuisine française et internationale, Elvesier-Séquoia, 1972 Dictionnaire des fromages, Larousse, 1972 Le Cahier de recettes de madame Maigret (présenté par La Reynière), préface de Georges Simenon, Robert Laffont, 1974 Balzac à table, Robert Laffont, 1976 La Cuisine française : classique et nouvelle (signé La Reynière), dessins de Claudine Volckerick, Marabout, 1977 Mon bouquet de recettes, Marabout, 1977 Zola à table, Robert Laffont, 1978 Guide de la France gourmande, P. Bordas, 1980 Toute la cuisine française et étrangère, Publimonde, 1982 Dictionnaire de cuisine et de gastronomie (sous la dir. de R. J. Courtine), Larousse, 1986 Les Fromages, Larousse, 1987 Le Guide de la cuisine des terroirs (cinq volumes), La Manufacture, 1992