Marie-Thérèse Ordonez, better known to the general public as Maïté, died on the night of December 20-21, 2024 at the age of 86. She was a French chef who left her mark on the history of both cooking and television. After 20 years with the SNCF as an announcer, she was spotted in 1983 by director Patrice Bellot during a report on the Rion-des-Landes rugby team, for whom she regularly cooked.
Her television career then began, with the famous cooking show La Cuisine des Mousquetaires, in which she formed an unforgettable duo with Micheline Banzet-Lawton, showcasing local dishes and simple cooking. Among the show's most memorable moments are, of course, the tasting of ortolan and the stunning of an eel that just couldn't take it.
In 1988, Maïté opened her first restaurant in Rion-des-Landes - where her cooking shows are recorded - and where she prepares traditional South-West dishes such as duck breast. The chef subsequently opened a second Chez Maïté establishment after the first closed, but this was wound up in 2015.
Lending her image to numerous advertisements during the 1990s, for Bonux washing powder, William Saurin preserves and Le Rondelé cheese, and even having a puppet, Mamikette, in the children's show Les Minikeums, Maïté will be remembered as one of the leading figures in French cooking and television.
