Died 1757, Montpellier, France | ||
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Gaston Pierre de Lévis, known as the duc de Lévis-Mirepoix (Gaston-Charles-Pierre-François de Lévis; 1699–1757), maréchal de France (1757) and Ambassador of Louis XV, was a member of a family established in Languedoc as Seigneurs of Mirepoix, Ariège since the 11th century.
The chef de cuisine to Lévis, Duke of Mirepoix established the sautéed three vegetables that served as a basis for his culinary art, as a mirepoix in honor of his patron.
According to Pierre Larousse (quoted in the Oxford Companion to Food), the unfortunate Duke of Mirepoix was "an incompetent and mediocre individual. . . who owed his vast fortune to the affection Louis XV felt toward his wife and who had but one claim to fame: he gave his name to a sauce made of all kinds of meat and a variety of seasonings".