Category: France

FRENCH FOOD AND CULTURE

Impossible. Impossible to think of France without at once being pleasantly assaulted with a sensuous vision of velvety wines and tempting French foods. Is this reputation a carefully nurtured legend or does it indeed have some basis in fact?

A great cuisine can only be developed where there are suitable and abundant natural resources, diligent and imaginative cooks, and enough sensitively appreciative palates to taste and enjoy the results. It would seem that France can give a nod to each point.

Watered by numerous rivers, blessed with a temperate climate and fertile soil, the rolling plains and valleys of France are dotted with orchards and vineyards, yield grains and varieties of delicate vegetables, and nurture cattle, sheep, and fowl in such abundance that, under normal conditions, France is actually self-sufficient in foodstuffs. Farmers, fishermen, and sheepherders have learned from centuries of diligent care and lessons handed down from one generation to the next how to coax the finest quality from their produce, be it grapes or chickens. And in a nation that can honor a chef with the Legion d’Honneur it is not surprising that the taste for fine wines begins with the very young at the family table, and the arts of the kitchen begin near maman.

Few nations boast culinary food histories, gastronomic maps, and qualities of foods and wines that set world standards. Such is the case for France. Any library of cookbooks, while acknowledging most world cuisines, will have the weightiest shelves of books on French cookery and cuisines. Not surprising when one glances at such tomes as Curnonsky’s Cuisine et Vins de France, Brillat-Savarin’s La Physiologie du Gout, the epic 2,984-recipe collection of Auguste Escoffier, or the meticulous cataloging of French food, techniques, and recipes by Antonin Careme. And it is indisputable that France’s brandies and wines have set world standards and her cheeses defy imitation.

But it was not always so.

It was Auguste Escoffier who said: “When we examine the story of a nation’s eating habits … then we find an outline of the nation’s history”. French food history might begin with the meats boiled in huge pots together with fish and vegetables, or with whole wild boars spit-roasted and served with an assorted garnish of game and fowl. It was the comparatively civilized Romans who introduced their own spices, wine, and wheat to the Gauls. And in those early days before the Common Era, not only new foods but table manners also proved to be a novelty. The Romans taught the Gauls to drink from cups instead of from human skulls and to seat themselves at rough tables instead of squatting on the ground. But there was an exchange too. The Romans enjoyed milk-fed snails, oysters, and foie gras made from the artificially enlarged livers of geese, and they in turn introduced these new luxuries “back home.” But it was many years before both Romans and Gauls learned to eat with anything but their fingers, their teeth, and possibly a sword.

Charlemagne is credited with being the first French gourmet in the history of French cuisine, ruling his feudal empire while dining on four-course meals and savoring the smoothness of Brie cheese, which he had “discovered” in a little abbey near Paris. He is also credited with helping establish France’s wine industry, planting many orchards, and even developing fish ponds teeming with eels, carp, and pike. He left his intellectual mark as well, founding numerous schools and becoming a patron of scholars and artists as well as a devout Christian. In the late 700s C.E., Charlemagne struck a very early blow to male chauvinism when he allowed women to share his dinner table – a previously unheard-of circumstance.

The Dark Ages echo the plight of peoples all over Europe: gluttony and luxury for the upper-class few and almost unparalleled misery, poverty, and near starvation for the masses. Wars, diseases, and meager crops that failed resulted in the people scrounging for food from roots, barks, and even mixing earth with flour to make bread, and as a last resort the eating of human flesh.

France’s “sense of mission” was perhaps born in the eleventh century with the Crusades. The First Crusade was made up totally of French knights inspired to annihilate all of Christendom’s enemies, and as they marched under the theme “God wills it”, they massacred populations, destroyed towns, and even plundered Jerusalem. They did, however, also find time to enjoy dishes made with rice, and brought back to France not only rice but many oriental spices: cinnamon, cloves, thyme, aniseed, and bay leaves. At the same time, the feudal system was disintegrating, and while some peasants retained small plots of land, many others moved toward the towns. While small markets sprang up, storage, transportation, and food preservation were hardly adequate. The arrival and the use of spices greatly enhanced the palatability of available and inexpensive food such as whale meat.

The Middle Ages were characterized by gargantuan feasts and gross table manners: eating with hands, belching, and tossing scraps on the floor were all commonplace. However, many ate simply and bread and soup was a common meal. Joan of Arc is said to have enjoyed soups so much that she was known to eat five different soups at one meal and nothing else. Perhaps as a further influence from the Middle East, candied fruits, sugared nuts, and other sweetmeats became popular and Auvergne gained fame for its fine-quality dragees (sugared almonds). About the same time, a growing interest in French food and its preparation was indicated by the publication of the first cookery books in French: Menagier de Paris, and Taillevent’s Viandier.

DAIRY PRODUCTS
Milk by itself is not used as a common beverage except for very young children. Even so, it is more likely that they will join the rest of the family for the breakfast cafe au lait (sweetened coffee with hot milk) and croissants or baguettes with preserves. In the Basque area, foamy hot chocolate with whipped cream and golden warm brioche is the likely start of the day.

The French, however, make much use of milk and cream in soups and sauces. Some of the sweetest guises of milk and cream appear as soufflés, mousses, creme Anglais (a light vanilla custard sauce), and the soft pyramids of sweetened whipped cream atop desserts for special occasions.

A variety of cheeses are a frequent ingredient in casseroles and gratinee dishes as well as sauces and garnishes. There is scarcely a region in France that does not produce a cheese specialty of the highest quality either fresh or aged and made from the milk of cows, sheep, or goats or a mixture. But most important, cheese is carefully selected to complement the French meal and to serve as the finishing touch, often sharing the plate with a small portion of juicy seasonal fruit. Cheese is the French dessert staple. This is true even when followed by a special sweet.

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Fruits are savored for their natural beauty and fresh taste and for this reason are purchased in small quantities and in season. To end a French meal with one’s last bite of bread spread with a creamy cheese and then to add the juicy coolness of any luscious fresh fruit…. But the French also prepare fruit tarts, fruit soufflés, and fruit puddings (clafouti) as well as many types of homemade fruit wines, brandies, and clear potent liqueurs from many types of fruits.

The diligence of French cooks is similar to that of French farmers. Nothing is wasted: both manure and composts of trimmings, leaves, and kitchen wastes are returned to the earth with rhythmic precision. The reward is a seasonal delight of a great variety of fresh vegetables of every type.

Cooked vegetables are always served as a separate course, especially the first of the season. Others are cleaned and trimmed and appear at the table as the natural garnish of the meat or fish platter. All green or brightly colored vegetables are traditionally prepared by a short boiling, then after draining are plunged into icy cold water. The last step is a quick reheating just before serving by sautéing in butter. Note that the vegetable water is not poured away, but will be used as the liquid addition to soups, stews, or sauces. Vegetables may also be served with sauces, tucked into crepes, simmered in soups, or pureed into soufflés. They may also be chilled with oil, vinegar, and herbs (vinaigrette) to be served as a cold appetizer or salad. Artichokes, asparagus, green beans, green peas, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, endive (Belgian), broccoli, and spinach are special favorites. Potatoes, carrots, and tiny onions are most enjoyed lightly glazed with butter and sugar. A special vegetable melange called ratatouille smoothly blends the flavors of tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini with garlic and onions.

Mushrooms (champignons) have a special place of honor at the French table. Finely chopped and blended with minced onions they form a flavorful thick sauce called duxelles, used alone or as the base for many other dishes. Mushrooms may be carefully sliced, chopped finely, or spirally fluted before using. They may be stewed, grilled, sautéed, or stuffed, but most elegant of all they may be served in simple splendor under a glass bell: champignons sous cloche.

Wonderful things happen to potatoes in the French kitchen, too. Although it took the writings of Parmentier to make the French take potatoes seriously as a food, they then made up for lost time. Mashed, scalloped, baked, and of course french fried, stuffed, made into crispy pancakes, hashed, rissoled – the list is almost endless. But the French top all their potato dishes with two triumphs of technique: pommes Anna and pommes soufflees. If these are not enough, the American potato and leek soup vichyssoise is based on old French food recipes for French potato soup but served chilled. The French penchant for classification is clear even on the matter of potatoes; for each different shape, seasoning, and technique, there is a separate French food recipe.

Whether it is prudence, frugality, or simply an appreciation of food, the French give fruits and vegetables a place of great distinction on the daily menu. Freshness and care in cookery assure optimum nutritional content.

MEATS AND ALTERNATES
From the boucherie come the cuts of beef, pork, lamb, and veal as well as brains, liver, tripe, kidneys, tongue, and heart: meats as well as innards, each prepared with common-sense thriftiness. Charcuteries (shops that provide prepared meats) provide a huge variety of prepared, cured, smoked, and pickled meats and loaves and sausages of every type. Meats are often larded, that is, poked through with thin strips of fat to increase juiciness and flavor. Larding and the cooking technique of braising rather than dry-roasting are most commonly used for large meat cuts to increase flavor but mostly to increase tenderness.

Although there is a recent tendency to enjoy small cuts of meat that can be quickly prepared such as steaks and chops – served very rare – most French prefer to use age-old French food recipes for braising, stewing, and soup-making that take time while calling for the least expensive cuts of meats as well as offal.

Chicken, duck, goose, as well as rabbit, horse-meat, and any available game or fowl are all enjoyed in season and are economical. Special occasions may call for “a good piece of meat” but the type of meat depends more on the specialties of the region.

“Plainly almost anything that lives is edible, in France at least.” The list includes snails (escargots), mussels (moules), frog’s legs (cuisses de grenouilles), smelts or minnows (goujons), and sea urchins (oursins). More familiar to other tastes are crabs, shrimp, lobster, langouste, and a variety of fish found in French waters. Eels (anguilles) and scallops (coquilles) may also be added to the list of edibles prepared, like all fish and seafood, in a great variety of ways: grilled, deep-fried, ragouts, stuffing, etc. From Marseilles comes the famed bouillabaisse, a richly flavored soup-stew of fish and other seafood served with crusty bread and a spicy hot rouille. (But it is from the ancient writings of Atheneus that we learn it was the early seafaring Greeks who introduced their kakavia to the fishermen of Marseilles, where it quickly gained favor as bouillabaisse.)

 

That eggs are a useful addition to the French menu can be seen by the 282 separate French food recipes for egg dishes found in Larousse Gastronomique. This staggering list does not include the many variations of soufflés, omelets, and custards that are largely based on eggs. Incidentally, it should be noted that the omelet, thought of as French, was another of the many dishes introduced by Catherine de Medici’s Florentine chefs: its origin seems to be an ancient Roman dessert of honeyed eggs called ova mellita. Eggs both as a dish and as an important cookery ingredient find themselves in many dishes but seldom at the French breakfast table, unless served as a simply boiled egg.

Legumes and nuts are not an important source of protein in the French diet but are used in some dishes. The most famous of bean dishes is the cassoulet, a specialty of the Languedoc region. Small white beans are well cooked and layered with several types of meats and sausages to form a richly flavored and filling dish. Nuts are used in desserts and confections.

BREADS AND GRAINS
For the French, the importance of daily bread cannot be overestimated. Crusty bread, usually still warm from the baker’s oven, starts the day with steaming hot chocolate or coffee with milk. The main meal at noon would be incomplete without the bread basket that is only removed at the very end of the meal. The hearty soup that is the usual evening meal would be inconceivable without bread, and many a French snack relies simply on bread plus a few squares of chocolate.

French homemakers do not bake their own breads or rolls and seldom trouble to make pastries or cakes. Why should they when experts have opened shops in every neighborhood for the express purpose of providing the staple of the French diet? Meticulously demanding about the length, the width, the type of crust, and of course the freshness of their breads, bakeries cater to every whim. Most popular are breads made of white flour, and only when bakeries close do some families condescendingly nibble on “health bread” (that is, anything but white bread). Croissants and brioches are the best-known of small rolls, while the baguette in many sizes and shapes is the favorite of breads, although many varieties of each exist to tempt the mealtime tastes. More recently the Parisian French have taken to varieties of coarse, crusty, and chewy country breads.

The French bother little with wholewheat or rye or other flours, and never concern themselves with the category of food others call “cereals.” Hot or cold cereals are almost unknown and even where known are not popular. Rice is used occasionally, mostly in combination with other ingredients to form sweet or savory dishes but seldom as a dish of any importance. France’s ties with Algeria brought Algerian couscous to Paris in varying forms, some better than others.

FATS
Olive oil, butter, chicken fat, goose fat, and lard all have a place in French cuisine; mostly the preference is a regional one.

SWEETS AND SNACKS
The range of French desserts from light to rich is as impressive as the number of egg dishes in the national cuisine, yet the favorite dessert is fresh fruit and cheese followed by a demitasse of black coffee. Pastry shops and cafes abound so sweet snacks are available almost everywhere. Crusty white bread sandwiching a few squares of chocolate is a favorite of schoolchildren.

SEASONINGS
Used with the taste and skill of generations of patience, French cooks add to their basic foods only those seasonings necessary to enhance the original flavors. Scallions, shallots (with their delicate garlic-onion taste), leeks, onions, and garlic all have a special place. A tiny plot for a fresh herb garden is common and so too is a kitchen shelf near a bright window with freshly growing chives, tarragon, and chervil in small pots. If the herbs cannot be purchased fresh, they will be dried. Most used are tarragon, chives, rosemary sage, thyme, savory fennel, marjoram, bay leaf, parsley, chervil, and basil. Most commonly, several aromatic herbs will be tied together in a little bundle and placed in the cooking dish, to be removed just before serving. This is called a bouquet garni.

Two other commonly used techniques for seasoning are the brunoise and the mirepoix. Finely diced mixtures of vegetables are lightly browned in a small amount of butter or other fat and this mixture is added to other dishes to enhance flavor: soups, stews, casseroles, etc. The names can almost be used interchangeably except that the brunoise is always a vegetable mixture whereas sometimes the mirepoix may contain a fine dice of neat such as ham or salt pork.

Another category of seasoning techniques is the roux. Basically, the roux is the flour-and-fat mixture used for thickening, but depending on whether the roux is white, blond, or brown, different tastes are obtained.

Sauces could also be considered as seasonings and here again the list is almost endless. Some of the better-known are: mayonnaise, hollandaise, bearnaise, vinaigrette – in fact, “every kind of liquid seasoning for food” and Careme is said to have categorized more than 200.

Finally, the simplest and often considered “the most French” seasoning is the addition of wine to enhance flavor. A common misconception is that the poorest quality of wines may be used as “cooking wines.” This is in fact a fallacy since in the process of cooking the alcohol evaporates and the flavor essence of the wine remains – either to enhance or ruin the original taste. Commonly for the French, the wine used in preparing a dish is also the wine served with the meal at table.

BEVERAGES
Cafe au lait or hot chocolate are the favorite morning beverages. Meals are almost always ended with a demitasse of fine black coffee, and the French take as many coffee breaks during the day as their taste dictates. Water is never seen on a French meal table unless it is in a vase containing flowers. Wine is not only the premier beverage of France, France’s wines are of such quality as to set world standards in many categories. Regions have their distinct specialties, and certain wines are traditionally savored with special foods, but the final decision on what to drink with which dish is still a personal one.

FRENCH DOMESTIC LIFE
Just as “much of French history is simply Paris history presented as a fait accompli to the provinces,” so the French lessons of life are simply the family viewpoint presented as indisputable fact to the child. The principles of a sense of “belonging” and “favoritism” are inculcated early. In many ways, French mothers teach their children suspicion of lifestyles outside the family circle; schools teach a wariness of that which may be new; from families to schools to organizations the “French way” is carefully taught so that one will not “go astray” In some ways the French mother is as important a symbol to the family as Paris is to France herself: the occupation of Paris by a foreign power means defeat for the nation, while the liberation of Paris represents a victory for every French person in the entire world!

There is little question of maman’s importance in the French family. She is often characterized as being hardworking and frugal. While all of this may or may not be true, what is irrefutable is her skill with food and every aspect of it. If she can afford to hire servants to do the work of marketing, preparing, cooking, and serving, there is no doubt that she will nonetheless be astutely knowledgeable about every detail and be able to offer criticism as well as advice. If she must do the chores alone, she will consider it her duty to rise early and shop almost daily for small quantities of the freshest and best herbs, bread, meats. fish, fruits and vegetables she can procure. Freezers and supermarkets and many brightly packaged quick-mixes are found in Paris, but there will always be a place for the farmer’s and fisherman’s market and for the small refrigerator. For the French there is no substitute for the freshest, the seasonable, the local, and the best.

In a French kitchen nothing is ever wasted. Bits of stale bread, the last of vegetables, the trimmings from the meat or the fish, all will find a place as stuffing, garnishes, sauces, or soups. French kitchens are frequently small and seemingly inefficient, but the miracles of cuisine they produce are never disappointing. The batterie de cuisine usually begins with a gas stove, although many have both gas and electricity just as in the “old days” the large country-estate kitchens used gas ranges for fast cookery but the old reliable woodstoves were preferred for slow simmering.

Quality pots, pans, skillets, double boilers, and casseroles are important to the French cook. Purchased once, they should last a lifetime (if not longer). A battery of sharp specialty knives, wooden spoons and wire whisks, the tamis (drum sieve), food mills and graters, and mortar and pestles to pound, grate, and puree foods are also found. More recently the electric blender has taken the place of some of the older utensils, and the food processor combines many kitchen functions in one unit.

FRENCH SPECIAL OCCASIONS

The majority of the population of France is Roman Catholic with a minority being Protestant and some of the Jewish faith. The two most important religious festivities of the year for Christians are Christmas and Lent. Christmas is ushered in with the celebration of midnight mass followed by Reveillon, a festive meal at home for all the family This meal is usually a carefully prepared series of dishes that reveal not only traditional family favorites, but regional specialties as well. White or black puddings (made with light meats and fats or animal blood) will almost always be a part of the dinner. A fat goose or a stuffed turkey will be the center of the menu while family specialties may shine after the nuts and cheese course. Special desserts such as buche de Noel may represent generations-old recipes or the best from the patisserie.

In contrast to the feasting of Christmas, Easter is preceded by forty days of fasting from Ash Wednesday to Easter itself. In early times the fasting prohibitions of this time forbade the inclusion of any foods of a “live nature.” Thus breads, fruits, and vegetables as well as legumes made up the limited menus. Meats, fish, and seafood as well as butter were excluded. In more recent years fish and seafood have been permitted together with the use of eggs and butter, yet there is a sense of restraint in the forty days of fasting menus. In many French homes, the foods of Lent are considered a matter of individual choice.

COMMONLY USED FRENCH FOODS

It does not matter which food you name: if it is prepared by a French cook it will look and taste “French”. Therefore, we must conclude that the foods themselves are not French, but surely the preparation technique, the seasonings that enhance their flavors, and the way they are served make all the difference. “Vive la difference!” Mainly the French enjoy foods that take time and care and are as lovingly prepared today as they were a few hundred years ago: sauces, soups and stews. It is understandable too that bread in many forms, but especially the ubiquitous baguette, must be a staple French food, although regional “crusty breads” are gaining in popularity. How else to mop up those sauces, savor the soups, and accompany those stews!

Vegetables are treated with the respect they deserve and are always fresh, freshly cooked, and served as a separate course, while salads are stark in their simplicity, quivering with crispness, aglow with the shimmer of a simple vinaigrette.

Fruits may be served in many forms but none so eloquent as the choicest served on a plate with nothing but a drop of dew to assure its freshness and a wedge of cheese to accompany its juiciness. Water is for bathing, cleaning, and occasionally an ingredient of necessity, but to the French it is not something one drinks. The beverage of France is wine, which graces the table, whets the appetite, and enlivens food flavors. What could be more basic than wine? And also the seasonings! Fragrant fresh herbs, a whiff of scallions or shallots, chives or leeks and, with a gentle hand, a little garlic.

FRENCH MEAL AND CUSTOMS

Food is a subject of prime importance to every French person. It is not uncommon for suggestions for the day’s menus to be discussed by family members at the breakfast table over a hot drink, breads, and preserves. Traditional French food recipes are treasured and the happy purchase of a young vegetable or a fine piece of meat will send the whole family into rapturous anticipation of the “special dish.”

The morning meal is light but each of the simple items must be “just so” – the exact proportion of hot milk to well-prepared coffee, the freshest bread of exactly the length, width, and crust favored by the members of the family, and choice preserves to each one’s taste. The noon meal is usually dinner, the special meal of the day, although in cities this pattern is changing somewhat as more women move into the workforce.

A traditional dinner would begin with hors d’oeuvres, literally “aside from the main work,” and meant to be small appetite teasers. These may be taken with a light aperitif, a favorite being Kir; directions for its preparation include opening a lightly chilled bottle of Chablis and pouring off one drink (for the server) then replacing that amount of wine in the bottle with Creme de Cassis which gives the pale wine a rosy glow.

The fish course would be followed by a course of meat, poultry, or game, never carved at the table. In homes the carving is usually done in the kitchen and the foods are presented attractively arranged by a servant holding spoon and fork in what is commonly called “French service.” Carefully prepared vegetables may be cooked and served as a garnish to the main course or immediately after as a small separate course.

A serving of salad greens, cool, crisp, and shiny with a simple vinaigrette, will always follow the main course. Family dinners will end with cheese and fruits either fresh or poached and a demitasse of coffee. One wine may be chosen that will complement all the courses or a separate wine will be served for each course, always proceeding in the order from light dry wines to heavier and sweeter. Wine may be on the table but is never taken with a green salad (the vinegar in the salad would disturb the palate’s appreciation of the wine).

The staple food to the French is bread. At every French meal, the bread basket is placed on the table and remains as a part of each course, the last crust to be enjoyed with cheese. Only the Fruit, the sweet dessert (if there is one for a special occasion), and the demitasse coffee will be taken without bread. Bread is not only considered a symbol of hospitality and satiety, it is also viewed as important to cleanse the palate for the appreciation of the flavors of the various courses.

Water is never on a French table; wine is served throughout the meal to everyone at the table, regardless of age, and black coffee signifies the end of the meal. The French also do not add water to sauces or casseroles – how can one add water when stocks, vegetable juices, and wines are always at hand?

French banquet menus follow traditional patterns too. The courses are usually multiplied, depending on the grandeur of the occasion. Commonly, soup either hot or cold followed by hot hors d’oeuvres then a course of cold hors d’oeuvres would precede the fish course. A course of poultry or fowl may precede a more substantial entree of roasted meat or game. Carefully chosen vegetables garnishing the entree will accompany the meat. Or a course consisting of cooked vegetables by themselves or in the form of small casseroles may be served preceding a small course of green salad to clear the palate. Cheese and fruit would then be followed by an array of sweet desserts, the choice depending again on the type of occasion. After-dinner liqueurs may accompany the demitasse coffee. In a gathering of true gourmets, it would be considered bad taste to smoke during a meal as this would disturb the taste sensations and thus the appreciation of the diners.

French table service differs only slightly from that in other western countries. It is customary to place cutlery with the fork prongs and soup spoons facing downwards to the cloth. Dessert spoon and fork are placed above the dinner plate setting with the fork at the top and the spoon below.

French family supper menus most frequently consist of a good satisfying soup or casserole, bread, and wine. It is a lighter, simpler meal than that the noon meal. But as in other countries, this pattern is changing as people dine out in restaurants, bistros, and even fast-food outlets.

GLOSSARY OF FOODS AND FOOD TERMS

Au Gratin: any dish that is sprinkled with buttered crumbs and/or grated cheese then placed under a broiler so that a lightly browned topping is formed. Sometimes a light cream sauce may mask the ingredients before sprinkling toasted bread crumbs and cheese on top to form a crunchy crust.

Babas au Rhum: light sweet yeast dough, traditionally baked in small flowerpot-shaped tins. After baking, the dough is pricked and a light sugar syrup poured over while both are warm. A sprinkle of rum, a garnish of candied fruit, and a dab of whipped cream complete the dessert.

Baguette: the famed Parisian long bread, well browned and crusty with a spongy white center. Used to mop up the last morsel of almost any French dish.

Bearnaise: slightly different from Hollandaise Sauce in that it is more piquant. A strongly steeped mixture of boiled wine vinegar, white wine, shallots, tarragon, salt and pepper is prepared then strained into a thick blend of cooked egg yolks and butter. This sauce is served with meat, fish, eggs, or vegetables.

Bouillabaisse: the classic soup-stew of Marseilles. Actually this dish is prepared all along the southern coast of Provence. A good bouillon of cleaned vegetables is set to cook then a layer of crustaceans placed in, followed by a layer of several varieties of fish both firm and tender of flesh. Included in the seasonings are olive oil, saffron, salt and freshly ground pepper, onions, tomatoes, garlic (generous), cloves, fennel, parsley, and even a piece of orange peel. A brisk boiling for only fifteen minutes and it is done. Bouillabaisse is served in a deep soup plate with Marette (the specialty bread of Marseilles) and Aioli Sauce (a type of garlic mayonnaise).

Bouquet garni: any arrangement of aromatic fresh herbs tied together or wrapped in cheesecloth: parsley thyme, bay leaf, etc. After cooking, it is removed before serving the dish. Small wire baskets with a hook to secure them against a pot can also be used.

Bourride: a simple fish soup in which the stock is strained after cooking, then the crouton placed in the soup plate, the soup pouted over, pieces of cooked fish garnished with Aioli and served with bread.

Brioche: a very rich, yellow (from the addition of eggs and/or yolks) yeast dough baked into many different shapes. The most usual and classic is the fluted muffin size with a shiny brown knob on top. A wash of egg yolk just before baking assures the shine and rich brown color.

Brunoise: a flavorful medley of cubed raw vegetables cooked in butter till lightly done then added to any other dish to intensify flavor.

Cassoulet: the ancient Roman meat and bean casserole, specialty of the Languedoc region. Small white beans are simmered till tender then layered with several different types of meats, each cooked separately. A crust is allowed to form on the baking cassoulet by sprinkling with crumbs.

Champignons: mushrooms. It should be noted that many different types are to be found, Cepes and Morels being two. Truffles are found only in certain areas, and are routed out by trained pigs or dogs.

Chantilly: sweetened, flavored whipped cream.

Chaud-froid: an aspic glaze to cover cold cooked foods, especially meats or fish. Cream is usually added to the aspic gel so it is not transparent.

Clafouti: a traditional country fruit dessert served warm from the oven. A light batter of eggs, flour, milk, and sugar is poured over any prepared, sugared fruits then the whole dish is oven-baked.

Coeur a la Creme: a classic French dessert prepared from a blend of cream cheese and cottage cheese pressed into a heart-shaped basket to drain off the whey. Unmolded, this dessert is served with sugared fresh berries and crusty French bread.

Couscous: a North African dish dating from earliest times and served in Parisian Algerian restaurants. The tiny pellets of couscous can be made from millet, semolina, or even ground rice. Steamed then served with meat and vegetables in a rich spicy sauce. Tossed with nuts, raisins, and sweet spices such as cinnamon, and drizzled with honey, couscous can be served as a dessert.

Creme Anglais: a delicate custard sauce of cream, egg yolks, and sugar usually flavored with vanilla, served warm or cold with desserts.

Crepes: a thin batter of eggs and flour is poured into a small skillet and cooked on both sides. May be filled with sweet or savory fillings, may be sauced, flambeed, gratineed, and served as appetizer, main dish (a light one), or dessert.

Daube: any braised meat cooked with vegetables in a covered pan in the oven or on top of the stove.

En Gelee: any dish that is served coated with a jelly. Usually this is taken to mean a fine clear bouillon preferably gelled with its own good stock or with the addition of gelatin to form a clear but firm mixture after chilling. Sometimes several coats of the warm or cooled aspic are poured over meat, eggs, fish, or fowl with a layer of carefully arranged decoration between. Superb for cold bullets or as appetizer dishes.

Farci: stuffed or filled.

Hollandaise: a sauce of lemon juice and butter thickened with egg yolks.

Marrons: chestnuts.

Mayonnaise: an emulsion of egg yolks, lemon juice, and oil, lightly flavored with a touch of mustard and salt.

Mirepoix: the same as Brunoise, except may sometimes have the addition of cubed meat such as ham or salt pork.

Omelets: originated by the Romans, a simple dish prepared by beating eggs then easing them into a hot buttered pan and cooking with care to assure a setting and a light but tender browning. The omelet may be flipped to brown the other side; it may be filled with any desired mixture, or it may be served rolled on itself – a beautiful golden oval.

Pate: a very finely ground blend of meats, usually including liver for smoothness, light seasonings, Madeira wine, or cognac then smoothed into a pan and baked. Served cold. May also be used as a filling for other foods.

Pate a Choux: otherwise known as “creampuff pastry” this is created by bringing to a boil a measured amount of water and butter then plopping in an amount of flour and stirring vigorously. One by one a few whole eggs are beaten in till the dough is glossy and ribbon-like. Dropped into little dabs or spread into a ring mold, the pastry rises to a high, crisp roundness with a hollow center. Upon cooling, this ingenious “opening” can be filled as desired. Gougere is this same mixture baked to any shape but flavored with grated cheese.

Petits Pois Frais a la Francaise: a dish delightful in appearance and flavor and typifying the French love for delicate fresh vegetables. Young fresh peas are boiled quickly with lettuce wedges on top and a buttery glaze at the end. Peas and lettuce in their shimmer of butter may be eaten, deservingly, as a separate course.

Pommes Anna: deceptively simple dish of layers of raw, sliced potatoes and fresh butter baked in a round pan in the oven or in a hot straight-sided skillet. The trick: to unmold as a crusty whole.

Pommes Soufflees: another deceptively simple dish of oval thin potato slices which are twice fried in deep fat. The second time the fat is hotter in temperature and the slices puff and crisp like crunchy pillows of air.

Quenelles: actually a mixture of Pate a Choux plus a very fine puree of ground raw fish, chicken, or veal. Formed into oval balls and gently poached in bouillon, then served cold or hot.

Ratatouille: a delicious mixture of baked layers of browned onions, tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini slices.

Riz a l’Imperatrice: a velvety, molded rice dessert made with milk-cooked rice blended with fruits and Creme Anglais. More fruit to garnish.

Roux: mistaken as the name of a sauce, quite simply the mixture of fat and flour that begins a sauce. It becomes a sauce after liquid has been added, which is thickened by the roux.

Sauce Aioli: a garlic-mayonnaise prepared by pounding (or using an electric blender) moistened bread with garlic till a fine puree is obtained. The addition of egg yolks, then drop by drop of olive oil yields Aioli.

Savarin: a light, sweet yeast dough usually baked in a tube pan and poured over a Kirsch-flavored warm syrup then cooled and served with Chantilly.

Soubise Sauce: a delicate onion sauce prepared by cooking onion in butter till golden, then stirring in a little flour and the desired liquid (white wine, stock, milk, or cream). After straining, the sauce may be served.

Soufflé: a thick sauce of any sweet or savory mixture incorporating the carefully beaten egg whites. Baked in the oven then eaten with great pleasure.

Supremes de Volaille: any dish made with chicken breast, and served with a garnished sauce. The term supremes may be used to refer to the breast meat of fowl or animals.

Tarte or Flan: a baked or unbaked shell into which any sweet or savory filling may be poured, set, or arranged then garnished, topped, or glazed as desired. Commonly called a pie (open-face) in North America.

Terrine: the loaf-shaped pan traditionally used for baking Pates. Thus the baked Pate sometimes takes the name of the pan and is called a Terrine.

Vinaigrette Sauce: the simplest of salad dressings for the finest and freshest greens. A blend of fine oil, wine vinegar, salt, freshly ground pepper, and any desired seasonal herbs. Garlic is added in southern France.

THE BEGINNING OF FRENCH GASTRONOMY

The real turning point in the French gastronomy was the arrival from Italy of a plump fourteen-year old girl named Catherine de Medici. She came to Paris in 1533 to become the queen of Henry II. It was not she who revolutionized the tastes of France; it was her retinue of chefs, pastry makers, and gardeners, the finest from Florence. To realize what an impact this made, it is necessary to examine the culinary accomplishments of France’s neighbor.

At the time of Catherine de Medici’s arrival in Paris, the gastronomic arts had reached their epitome in Florence. The first modern cooking academy, the Compagnia del Paiolo (“Company of the Cauldron”), had been founded there in the early 1500s. Cookbooks had been commonplace in Rome since the first century C.E., with the writings of Apicius. Consumption of vegetables, especially cabbage, common boiled greens, and fava beans were all commonplace, as was the consumption of a variety of fruits such as apples, apricots, peaches, cherries, figs, and many types of melons. Herbs, spices, and many blended sauces were used both in cooking and as flavoring to be added at the table.

The Romans are said to have invented cheese-cake, both a savory and a sweet dessert type using honey. More than a dozen varieties of cheese were known; they were used often after the meal as a dessert with fruits. Breads made with flour and yeast, pasta made from flour and water and shaped in a variety of ways then dried, even the use of tomatoes and corn, newly arrived from the ships of the conquistadores, had some of their first experimental tastes in Italian kitchens.

While Catherine de Medici dazzled the French court with her sumptuous banquets of unusual dishes, the greatest shock must have been her introduction of the fork. Spoons and knives had been used before, but to dine with a fork was revolutionary. The art of making breads, cakes, and pastries, the preparation of fresh vegetables, and the serving of fruits and cheeses were appreciated, but a great favorite was ices and ice cream. There is some disagreement as to whether the first ice creams were introduced by Catherine de Medici or by a Sicilian in Paris, Francisco Procopio, who reputedly opened the first cafe selling ice creams and ices of many flavors. It is certain that Catherine introduced the French court to the iced delicacies, but perhaps Procopio deserves credit for presenting it to Parisians.

From the kitchens of Marie de Medici, Catherine’s niece who married Henry IV came the present French classics: sauce bearnaise and sauce mornay. By now the culinary arts gained even wider appreciation, and while the next king, Louis IV, gorged on endless courses and enormous quantities of foods, Parisians were beginning to enjoy a new stimulation: the first public cafes (in 1669) serving coffee.

The 1700s saw many fads and fancies such as bombe glacee, petits pois (actually introduced by Catherine de Medici), animelles (ram’s testicles), and truffle foie gras (imported truffles from Italy had started the French on a search for their own underground delicacies).

But it was through the efforts and writings of a French agronomist and economist, Antoine Parmentier, that the humble potato was finally accepted as a food. About the same time, restaurants began appearing, much to the consternation of the traiteurs or caterers who had more or less a monopoly on the selling of cooked meats. In 1765, an innkeeper named Boulanger is said to have used sheep’s feet to flavor his soups which he sold as restorantes. This was construed by the traiteurs as an illegal way of selling cooked meats, but once the furor died down, more and more Parisians were enjoying eating out, and by the turn of the century more than 500 “restaurants” had opened their doors, each boasting long and different menus. This was the period of the development and codification of French gastronomy by four of the greatest French chefs and gastronomes: Jean Anhelm Brillat-Savarin (1755-1876) who labored for twenty-five years to produce Physiology of Taste (La Physiologic du Gout); Antonin Careme (1784-1833) who wrote volumes on everything from the chronicling of menus to the construction of confectionary architecture and was called “the king of chefs and the chef of kings”; George Auguste Escoffier (1847-1935) who was regarded as “the emperor of the world’s kitchens,” a title conferred on him by German Emperor William II; and the author of Larousse Gastronomique, Prosper Montagne (1865-1948). It was not uncommon, then as today, that cooks trained in the palaces and wealthy homes opened their own fine little restaurants when they retired.