active 1886-1899 Pierre Caron

Very little biographical information about Pierre Caron has been confirmed from reliable sources available online, but his surviving work shows him as a French culinary writer active in the late 1800s. His best-known book, French Dishes for American Tables, was published in New York by D. Appleton in 1897 and translated by Mrs. Frederic Sherman.

The book presents French cookery for an American audience in a clear, useful way, suggesting that Caron wanted readers not just to admire French cuisine, but to cook it themselves. Contemporary catalog records and digitized editions identify him as active in the period 1886–1899, and one scanned edition describes him as formerly a chef d'entremets at Delmonico's.

Because so little else has been firmly documented, Caron remains a somewhat shadowy figure. Even so, his work offers a vivid glimpse of how French culinary techniques were being adapted for English-speaking home cooks at the end of the 19th century.