Le Cercle des Gourmettes was an exclusive club or "circle" of women in Paris devoted to gourmet food. The circle was started in 1929 by an American, Paulette Edlinger, and the name may have been a bon mot in protest of the non-feminine form of the word gourmet.See Le Trésor de la Langue Française Informatisé, where gourmet is a masculine noun meaning foodie, but gourmette is a feminine word for bling or bracelet. reprinted in
The club began at a time of economic prosperity just prior to the Great Depression in France. It was started by the wives of members of Club des Cent and convened on alternate Fridays to enjoy lunches and dinners at the electric company headquarters in Paris, Electricité et Gaz. The club's most famous members were Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle. Each joined the club in the late 1940s.
Versions of the club later existed in Canada and Switzerland.
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