Super-delicious and pioneering: Perhaps, those two words come into our minds when we think about French cuisines. Until today, the world has consistently followed the French’s one-of-a-kind ways to process their foods, match foods and beverages, and also the food and beverage elements that make the cuisines French.
We guess we’ve tasted it all: Duck confit, apple pie a la mode, caviars, quiche Lorraine, and more. However, we may wonder, what are the histories behind these whole awesome foods?
So, that’s why we created this post: To walk you through the virtual time machine that describes the history of French cuisine. As usual, we will tell you the key elements of French cuisines that distinguish them from other parts of the world.
What are the key elements (and philosophies) that we frequently find in French cuisines?
When we think about the word “Haute”, we also think about anything made in France. The word “Haute” doesn’t only apply in the fashion world. Instead, the French cuisine world has recognized the word in their foodie dictionary.
“Haute cuisine” in French means “high cooking”. This cuisine philosophy lies in the careful preparations of foods, from the processes of obtaining and selecting the ingredients to serve the foods to the customers’ tables. That’s why we often find French haute cuisine in luxurious restaurants.
Lots of low-fat proteins are yet another characteristic of French cuisine. They may use high-fat protein sources like pork, yet, the chefs process them in ways that significantly reduce the fat. As for the poultries, French cuisines rely more on birds like ducks and quails instead of chickens, even though some chicken dishes do exist.
As for the beverages, French is also the house of sweet-flavored liquors. Remy Martin and Cognac are originally from France. It’s also a part of French cuisine’s characteristics to carefully pair foods and beverages, regardless of whether the foods contain pork or not, or whether the beverages are alcoholic or non-alcoholic.
The history of French cuisine: Why do they appear the way they are now?
We notice the three elements that shape the French culinary world’s histories: The medieval times (that become the cornerstones for food categories), the brief-but-inspiring haute cuisine history, and the school history that involves France’s most renowned cooking school.
The French have established their dining cultures since medieval times. At that time, nobles were the people that introduced food categories we know and apply today: Appetizers, main courses, and desserts. The imperial chefs pick and use several ingredients that demonstrate the nobles’ wealth.
At that time, the whole French also adopted the food categories, including people from the lower social classes. However, the food ingredients are the things that differentiate people’s social classes from another. The rich (nobles) ate lots of meat in their meals, while the poor (peasants) ate more vegetables.
Fast forward to the 1800s, there was a man named Marie-Antoine Careme whom people these days tend to view as the pioneer of Haute dining. It is because he taught French cuisine masterclasses at that time while also emphasizing the elaborate food processing techniques that the world has recognized until today.
When we talk about the history of French cuisine, we also remember that France is home to many world-class chef schools. Le Cordon Bleu (or LCB) is one of those schools, and this school was firstly established by Marthe Distel in 1895 who was also starting magazines with the same title.
The school has been a foundation for mastering skills in other cuisines. Until now, the school has branches in around 20 different countries and has produced several big names as alumni, such as Julia Child and lots of MasterChef winners.
Even though the curriculums are not specifically tied to French cuisines, the ways the academician’s process and serve their foods are according to the philosophies of French cuisines.
French cuisine’s philosophy applications in the modern world
Mastering French cuisine requires lots of patience, skills, and experience when we compare cuisines with cuisines in other parts of the world. So, it’s no wonder only skilled chefs in some five-star restaurants and hotel restaurants can apply French cuisine techniques effortlessly.
There are “true French” and “fusion” cuisines in the modern world due to the extremely difficult mastery levels and the customers’ interests. However, the underlying philosophies, the ways people prepare the dishes, and more, are things that make these dishes undeniably French, at least in the modern world.
Deconstructed is a concept from Jacques Derrida, a French philosopher, that exists in the modern culinary world. People understand the concept of making the dishes look like other types of dishes until we eat them.
Sometimes, we see deconstructed French onion soup that has cubed forms. At other times, we see deconstructed Aussie mud pie with milk chocolate soils that have chocolate sauces that swirl perfectly around the thin plate. We start to see the nature of the soup and the pie once we grab our spoon and fork and start to consume them.
Some other terms that we know in the French culinary world that the modern culinary world also applies are consomme and en croute. Consomme is generally a clear soup with egg whites as the ingredients, and it can be any soup, including the famous French onion soups.
Meanwhile, en croute is a technique where a person wraps food inside the pastry dough before he/she begins the baking process. It is more common in baked or fried fish dishes. However, it can also apply to snacks like hot dogs.
Some final words about the universally-applied French cuisine
French cuisine is not just limited to duck confit, quiche Lorraine, and the likes. It emphasizes a lot of the cooking processes. The French cuisine world is no doubt the harshest world of culinary due to their unforgivingly-difficult dish levels to master.
However, the results are always on par with the efforts of the chefs. Admit it or not, we prefer consomme to soups, and fried white fish en croute to fish and chips – correct?
