Edouard de Pomiane, born Edward Pożerski (1875-1964)
A scientist by profession and a gastronome by passion, Edward Pożerski died tragically in a car accident on 26 January 1964. During his funeral, he was honoured with these words: „(…) You were a Pole through your noble bearing, bright and cheerful gaze, and droopy moustache (…). You were a Frenchman by intellectual disposition, with a clear and elegant style and a technical education infused with the clarity and integrity that characterises the Pasteur School (…).”

Edward Pożerski was born on 20 April 1875 in Paris, in the impoverished Montmartre district. His family had lived there since emigrating from partitioned Poland after the January Rising. His father, a veteran of the Rising who had spent twelve years in forced labour in Siberia, served as librarian and treasurer to Prince Władysław Czartoryski. At the age of five, Edward enrolled in the renowned Polish School at Batignolles, Paris, where he received a thorough patriotic education.

After completing his secondary education, he studied mathematics at the Sorbonne before moving to natural sciences and finally committing to medicine. In 1902, he presented and defended his doctoral thesis on digestive enzymes. During his doctoral studies, he began preparing his meals in the laboratory, which was a practical and cost-effective habit, albeit not officially permitted at the time. One rainy day, with the building’s ventilation out of order, the aroma of Pożerski’s cooking spread through the corridor, which prompted an intervention from his supervisor, the celebrated physiologist Albert Dastre. To explain himself, the young doctoral candidate returned the next day at lunchtime with two exquisite cutlets and a cake for dessert. Impressed by Pożerski’s culinary skills, Dastre wanted to know where he had acquired such talent. Pożerski replied that he had learned to cook from Dastre’s very own physiology lectures. Far from dismissing his student’s culinary talent, Dastre remarked that anyone could prepare meat well if they understood the chemical processes involved in cooking.

After the First World War, Edward Pożerski headed the physiology laboratory at the Pasteur Institute, where he focused on food chemistry and dietetics. His research on digestion led him to explore healthy eating, including techniques for optimal food preparation. Henryk Babiński, a generation his senior, was his mentor in this endeavour, with whom he shared a genuine friendship. Inspired by Babiński, Pożerski decided to publish his insights on cooking not only delicious but also healthy meals. However, unlike Babiński, who was fond of elaborate dishes, Pożerski became a pioneer of quick and affordable cuisine. Since culinary pursuits were then deemed unworthy of a scientist, Pożerski, who published all his scientific work under his Polish name, decided to write on the culinary arts and gastrotechnics under a nom de plume. Thus, he created the name „Edouard de Pomiane” from the French version of his first name and a French adaptation of his family’s noble Polish lineage.

The book Bien manger pour bien vivre („Eat Well to Live Well”), published in 1922, received enthusiastic praise from chefs and restaurateurs alike. In it, Pomian introduced the principles of a new field he called „gastrotechnics”, asserting that food undergoes significant chemical and physical transformations when exposed to heat during cooking. He explored how ingredients are altered in the kitchen, how they are digested and absorbed by the body, and why each nation’s cuisine is unique. Unlike traditional culinary mentors, he did not write for master chefs aspiring to create refined dishes for sophisticated palates; instead, his recipes were intended primarily for homemakers looking to cook healthily, affordably, and efficiently. Pożerski explained the chemical processes occurring during cooking in a clear, accessible way, and he argued that anyone could learn to cook by understanding six fundamental chemical and physical principles of food preparation: boiling, frying, baking and grilling, stewing, thickening, and emulsifying. These foundational rules were compiled in La Cuisine en six leçons, ou l’Initiation à la cuisine familiale, later translated into Polish before the Second World War as Nauka przyrządzania potraw w sześciu lekcjach („Learning to Prepare Meals in Six Lessons”).

While today’s culinary experts vie to create quick and nutritious meals, few realise that Edward Pożerski pioneered this approach nearly a century ago. In the 1930s, he published his most famous work, La Cuisine en dix minutes („Cooking in Ten Minutes”), a guide aimed not only at those with limited time but also at those who lacked enthusiasm for cooking yet still wished to prepare tasty and nourishing meals. The first rule he outlined in this guide was simple: „Start boiling water as soon as you walk in the door”. The next: „Put the frying pan on the stove before you even take off your hat”.

The roots of Pożerski’s research and publications on the art of cooking lie in his personal history. Reflecting on his school years, he recalled often going hungry, a memory that shaped his attitude towards preparing and appreciating food. He recounted how students at the school he attended as a boy were visibly pale from inadequate nutrition: „In the morning, we were given soup and a piece of bread (...). At noon: a bowl of soup, a tiny piece of boiled meat, and a serving of dried vegetables, repeated in steady rotation: on Monday, lentils; Tuesday, green beans; Wednesday, pea purée; Thursday, potatoes; Friday, rice; Saturday, potatoes. For thirteen years of my life, this was my menu”. Memories of these hardships stayed with him, as shown by his series of wartime guides on nutrition principles suited to conditions of food scarcity.

Edward Pożerski was a captivating figure in 1920s and 1930s Paris. Known as „Docteur de Pomiane”, he hosted the world’s first culinary radio broadcasts on Radio Paris from 1929 to 1943, where he used humour and flair to share culinary stories and reveal the scientific principles behind cooking. These broadcasts enjoyed immense popularity, and their transcripts were published in a two-volume work titled Radio Cuisine. Pożerski’s books were also well received in France and translated into English, Czech, Danish, Spanish, Polish, German, Dutch, and Swedish. His lasting influence on modern cuisine is evident: in 2010, La Cuisine en dix minutes, ou l’Adaptation au rythme moderne („Cooking in Ten Minutes or Adapting to the Modern Rhythm”) was named among „The 50 Greatest Cookbooks of All Time” by The Observer.

Pożerski maintained a strong Polish identity and often introduced French audiences to Polish culinary traditions, sharing recipes for soups, pierogi, and hare with beetroot. He even authored La Cuisine polonaise vue des bords de la Seine („Polish Cuisine from the Banks of the Seine”), a book intended to familiarise the French with Polish dishes and culinary customs. While he avoided politics, Polish affairs always remained close to his heart. He was deeply involved with the Society for the Preservation of Graves of Poles Who Served the Homeland in France, where he served as president, and he actively contributed to the Polish Society of Book Lovers in Paris, along with other émigré initiatives that sought to introduce Polish history and culture to the French public. He visited Poland several times; notably, in 1927, he represented the Polish community in France at ceremonies for the reinterment of Juliusz Słowacki’s remains at Wawel Cathedral, Kraków. In his farewell to the national poet, he remarked: „I saw, as if in a dream, all the émigrés returning to Poland. They walk in numbers so great that they form a second Milky Way in the narrow sky, shining with ideals. They reach Polish soil, stop, and at once kneel to kiss this sacred ground”. Many Polish graves were saved and restored thanks to his initiatives and financial support. These included the tomb of King John II Casimir Vasa at the Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, numerous gravesites at Montmorency Cemetery, such as those of Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, General Karol Kniaziewicz, and Władysław Zamoyski, and the collective grave of members of the National Government of 1830-1831 at Montmartre. This government was formed during the November Rising in the Congress Kingdom of Poland, which challenged the rule of Imperial Russia in a bid to restore Poland’s independence.