Carême Recap ‘The Infernal Machine’: He’s a lover, he’s a chef, and to help his father, he also becomes a spy

Finally! Another show has lured me back into the wonderful world of recapping. Hello Recap Lab, I have missed you! Let’s get on with this, shall we?

When I wrote briefly about Carême here, I posited that I didn’t think it was all that historically accurate. However, it took elements from a historical personage’s life and wove it into an entertaining (so far) show. Real life Antonin Carême (Benjamin Voisin) was known for his insistence on the finest ingredients. It was a huge part of how he elevated his food, along with his artistry. It was fitting that a show built around the story of this famous French chef started with some whipped cream naughtiness. Henriette (Lyna Khoudri), Antonin’s lover, could not tell the difference between the two batches of whipped cream he made. Watch how later, Agathe (Alice da Luz), herself a talented chef, totally could. But I digress.

Young Antonin, with his swagger and single earring, worked as a pastry chef for his adoptive father Sylvain Bailly (Vincent Schmitt). Father and son, neither a fan of Napoleon Bonaparte, had to entertain his soldiers at their establishment because, well, food was how they made a living. When Napoleon’s personal attendant Roustam (Mahamadou Coulibaly) came into the kitchen to ask for ice, and demanded that Antonin accompany him, Antonin did not anticipate that this would lead to him saving Napoleon’s life. The First Consul was having a seizure in what looked like a brothel. Antonin ran back to the kitchen, mixed up some herbs, and applied them to Napoleon’s back, which seemed to help him. When Roustam offered him a reward, he declined. Both Bailly and Antonin secretly blamed Napoleon for Bailly’s daughter’s death.

Not to be deterred, the next day, Roustam was back with an offer, a job at the Tuileries Palace. Antonin still refused, but he offered his newly finished pyramid-shaped dessert as a gesture of goodwill to Napoleon. Whether it was due his refusal – or something else – Bailly was later arrested with no clear charges. Before he could be led away, Bailly told Antonin to head to the Hōtel de Galliffet and give his name so Talleyrand (Jérémie Renier) would see him. So Bailly was not just an innocent restaurateur, he had something going on with the ambitious, connected, and very wealthy Talleyrand? I guess we’ll find out in the next episodes. 

Talleyrand warned there was a cost to an audience with him, and advised Antonin to take the job at the Tuileries Palace. He also promised to look into his father’s arrest. At the Tuileries Palace, Antonin found a large, well-appointed kitchen ran by an uninspired head chef. The dishes were repetitive and served with no design. Antonin immediately took note of the sole woman on the team, Agathe, who, unlike the others, looked like she knew what she was doing. She was also stunning so you could see where this was going.

Alone in the kitchen at the end of the day, Antonin decided to experiment with a new dish. Roustam and Josephine’s lady Leonor (Alexia Chardard) came upon him; Napoleon did not like change (hence the chicken every day) but Josephine did. Antonin was allowed to take his fancy new dish to the bedroom where the First Consul and his wife were, um, you know. Leonor’s 'It won't take long' felt like a mild critique of the First Consul’s prowess. Leonor was totally flirting with Antonin.

Talleyrand had been trying to become Minister of Foreign Relations, and Napoleon had been refusing him. Talleyrand believed they needed to make peace with England. Napoleon, for his part, did not want peace and wanted the British to give up Malta and Egypt. As the British Ambassador was coming to the Tuileries Palace for lunch, Talleyrand wanted Antonin’s help. The Ambassador had a sweet tooth; Antonin was to make a dessert that would please him. Talleyrand tied his ambition to Antonin’s need – Bailly was still alive but Fouché, the Minister of Police, the one who knew everything, hated him. A Talleyrand with more power was a Talleyrand in a better position to help out Bailly. The Tuileries head chef Laguipierre (Christophe Montenez) was attacked, the more competent Agathe took over his position, and Antonin became head of the pastry team.

The dessert Antonin prepared was a white ship with a British flag on top. The lunch seemed to be going well, so Napoleon sent Roustam to the kitchen and demanded that Antonin create the same pyramid dessert he had previously given the First Consul. Antonin refused, aware that with current tensions, a pyramid-shaped dessert would cause offence. Roustam destroyed the ship with his sword, and Antonin had no choice but to instruct his team to prepare a new dessert.

Antonin’s brilliance avoided a diplomatic incident. He had no choice but to follow Napoleon’s direct order, of course, and the British Ambassador was initially offended, but Antonin lit the pyramid on fire, revealing cheery little pastries inside. The pyramid that was meant to goad the British into war was turned into a dessert symbolizing reconciliation. 

Napoleon still would not heed Talleyrand in his plea for peace, however. Talleyrand wanted Antonin to get for him the secret route that Napoleon would take to the opera in five days. The map would be in his bedroom, which also happened to be Josephine’s bedroom. Antonin traded in his oral skills to convince Leonor to convince Josephine to allow him to cook for her, privately, in her bedroom.

Josephine chose the ingredients herself. Antonin recognised them as aphrodisiacs to promote fertility. Josephine, drinking the same cocktail Antonin had previously shared with Henriette, told him her guillotine was time. Their conversation about Napoleon was the second pointed critique on the First Consul’s lasting prowess that I actually Googled to see if there was anything here and well, not that I could find in 60 seconds but here, take a look at this if you’d like to read up a bit. Antonin added something to make her sleep on the dish he prepared. He quickly found the map Talleyrand wanted, copied it, and left with Josephine still asleep.

On the day of the opera, with both Napoleon and Josephine in the carriage, Antonin watched from a short distance to see Talleyrand’s plan come to fruition. At the last moment, just before a massive explosion killed dozens of civilians, Napoleon’s coach man turned, saving their lives. An angry and bleeding Antonin rushed to Talleyrand’s house, where he found his lover Henriette. Did Henriette slip into Antonin’s bed with the express intention of keeping an eye on this promising talent for her master? Did Bailly know who Henriette worked for? So many questions.

Antonin had some answers. He figured out that Talleyrand orchestrated the bombing and warned Napoleon to gain Napoleon’s trust. Henriette warned him to stay out of it. Antonin could not, would not, because his father remained Napoleon’s prisoner. He accosted Talleyrand inside his carriage. Talleyrand asked him to come work for him, to help him put Bonaparte on the throne. That lunch with the British Ambassador proved to Talleyrand that his instincts were correct, a supremely talented chef like Antonin was useful to have in his pocket. Talleyrand promised that he would whisper to Napoleon’s ear to pardon Bailly once he was on the throne. That was the carrot. Now, the stick – If Fouché found out that Antonin was linked to the attack on Napoleon, he would be executed. Just then, the infamous Fouché walked through the debris of the bombing and found the map Antonin made. 

Strays

👑There were three food visual callbacks on this one episode alone. The first was the whipped cream – Henriette could not distinguish between two preparations, but Agathe could. So Agathe was a better fit for Antonin? The second was the pyramid dessert – Antonin gave it to Roustam for Napoleon as a symbol of goodwill after turning down the chef job at the Tuileries Palace. Napoleon asked for the same dessert to be served at the state lunch to provoke the British. The third was the cocktail that Antonin first shared with his lover Henriette, and later with Josephine. This attention to detail in writing is one of the reasons why I liked Carême from first viewing.  

👑 A drunk Antonin mocked Napoleon with a pig’s head and attacked his soldiers inside his father’s place. How did this dude not end up in jail after that?

👑Bailly advised Antonin to take the job at the Tuileries Palace. 

👑Gambling at Talleyrand’s house were his mistress Catherine (Henriette appeared to serve as her lady in waiting), Germaine, and Charles. Catherine Grand (Sigrid Bouaziz) was a well-born courtesan known for her affairs with powerful men. Germaine de Staël (Juliette Armanet) was an intellectual with a lengthy biography I will read as soon as possible. Charles De Flahaut (Pablo Cobo) was a general who also had a son with Napoleon’s stepdaughter Hortense de Beauharnais.