History of La Chaine
The written history of the guild of "Les Oyers" or "Goose Roasters" has been traced back to the year 1248. At that time King Louis IX, assigned 脡tienne Boileau, the Provost of Paris, with the task of bringing order into the organization of trades and guilds, developing young apprentices and improving the technical knowledge of guild members. He gathered together the charters of more than 100 of these trades, among them the Goose Roasters.
Over the years, the activities and privileges of the Goose Roasters Guild were extended to preparing and selling all kinds of meat, including poultry and venison.
In 1509, during the reign of King Louis XII, some new statutes were introduced, which resulted in the change of the name of the guild to "R么tisseurs" and its activities were restricted to poultry, game birds, lamb and venison. In 1610, under King Louis XIII, the guild was granted a royal charter and its own coat of arms. The arms consist of two crossed turning spits and four larding needles, surrounded by flames of the hearth on a shield encircled by fleur-de-lis and a chain representing the mechanism used to turn the spit. The outer chain along with the legend was added in 1950 to represent the bond which unites the members of our society.
For over four centuries, the "Confr茅rie" or brotherhood of the Roasters cultivated and developed culinary art and high standards of professionalism and quality鈥攕tandards befitting the splendor of the "Royal Table"鈥攗ntil the guild system was disbanded, together with all others, in 1793 during the French Revolution. The R么tisseurs were almost forgotten until 1950 when Dr. Auguste Becart, Jean Valby and "Prince" Curnonsky, and chefs Louis Giraudon and Marcel Dorin resurrected the Society and created La Confr茅rie de la Cha卯ne des R么tisseurs.
The Cha卯ne today
Since its rebirth, the society has grown dramatically, spreading its influence and presence worldwide. Today, the Cha卯ne brings together professional and non-professional members from around the world who share in the "spirit" of the Society and who appreciate and enjoy wine and fine dining. While a confr茅rie is a "brotherhood," women have always been welcome and they take an active role in the Society. Within the Cha卯ne there is also the "L'Ordre Mondial des Gourmets D茅gustateurs" for those members who have a special knowledge of, or interest in, wine and spirits.
The international headquarters (Si猫ge Mondial) remains in Paris where the society was founded, and the present day Cha卯ne des R么tisseurs is still based on the traditions and practices of the ancient French brotherhood but now in an international and contemporary context.
The organization is represented by its 25,000 members in 80 countries around the world. In these countries, it is organized in national sections (called Bailliages) with regional subsections.
Thailand started in 1974 and Phuket 2002.