Robert Carrier McMahon, OBE (November 10, 1923 – June 27, 2006), usually known as Robert Carrier, was an American chef, restaurateur and cookery writer. His success came in England, where he was based from 1953 to 1984, and then from 1994 until his death.

Biography

Robert Carrier McMahon was born in Tarrytown, New York, the third son of a wealthy property lawyer father of Irish descent; his mother was the Franco-German daughter of a millionaire. After his parents went bankrupt in the 1930s Great Depression, they maintained their lifestyle by firing their servants and preparing their own elaborate dinner parties.

Educated in New York City, Robert took part-time art courses and trained to become an actor. He had a part in the Broadway revue New Faces,

Post World War II

Carrier volunteered to serve in the United States Army during World War II as an intelligence officer in the Office of Strategic Services, a wartime forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency. Speaking fluent French and understanding German thanks to his parentage, Carrier arrived in England in 1943, and after D-Day served in Paris as a cryptographer in General Charles de Gaulle's headquarters. Although priced at 70 shillings, (), it sold 11 million copies. From this greater publicity flowed a substantial partwork magazine published weekly by Marshall Cavendish between 1981 and 1983, After closing the also Michelin two starred Camden Passage restaurant, Carrier took a short stay in New York, and from 1984 went to live in France and at his restored villa in Morocco, regularly accompanied by his friend Oliver Lawson Dick.

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, with drawings 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, c 1965)
  • 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, (London: Marshall Cavendish, 1981–1983) magazine partwork
  • 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)

References

  • Carrier's recipe for Moroccan harira at the BBC's Good Food Guide