On French Cooking

It never occurred to me to write about French cooking in the past. Being French and having been taught at early age the rudimentary methods of our way of life, I had assumed in my naïveté that most people were equipped with a certain knowledge of food and could, if asked, whip up a mousseline or a simple country Terrine. To redress this imbalance I propose to write a series on regional French cooking. Let me start with a little history first, because without a frame of reference, we’re all lost!

Prior to the 1500s, three important factors to affect the cuisine of this region are the invasions of Celtic Gauls, c1500 to 500bc who partitioned the land and introduced farming; the take over of the Romans in 56 BC who, together with the Greeks, introduced cheese-making to the south of France; and the Moors’ invasion of France in 718 AD, who are responsible for introducing goats to the region (via Spain). The Moors’ influence extended to the types of ingredients and cooking methods, and the first French cookbooks c1400 are said to have mimicked the Moorish palate.

The foundation of modern day French cooking was laid in the 1500s when the benchmark “haute cuisine” was introduced into the French courts by the Italian Catherine de Medici. Of course it has been perfected by chefs through the ages, however it was during this period that Italian influences changed the culinary course of France not only in cooking methods but also in the ingredients used and the way food was served. We were taught at an early age that the fork had been invented in Italy, not France (we used something that looked like an icepick!)

The Florentine chefs who came over with Catherine were more skilled than the French chefs and introduced the use of ingredients such as butter, white truffles and artichokes as well as techniques and chic dishes such as aspics. They also introduced the contrast between savory and sweet.

By 1652 the subtly of French cooking had taken root. No longer were spices were used to disguise the taste of food but rather to compliment it and the use of truffles and mushrooms had gained favor as flavor enhancers in dishes. Heavy sauces traditionally made with bread as the thickening agent, were super-ceded by stocks or lighter sauces which were made using the roux method and meats were often served with their own natural juices.

It was also at this time that the French chef La Varenne wrote the first French cookbook to present recipes in alphabetical order and to include instructions for cooking vegetables (I did see a copy of this manual, in Australia - out of all places - which was reprinted in the early eighties, I’m sure you could track it down through Amazon or Powells).

By the late 19th century France adopted the method of serving food called Service à la Russe, where dishes are prepared and plated into individual portions before being served to the diner and a series of dishes are served in succession. Prior to this, service à la Française was used, where each course was made up of a large number of dishes from which the diners served themselves, much like our modern day buffet.

Unfortunately, the eating of this fine food or Haute Cuisine was a luxury enjoyed by a minority until the 20th century. When the Bastille was stormed in 1789, about 75% of the French population were farmers who relied on bread and cereals as the staples of their diet and even by the mid 19th Century, only the bourgeoisie ( the new ruling class) ate this wonderful food while 2/3rds of the populace in Paris were malnourished or starving. The parallels that exist today with soaring food prices and riots are a sober reminder of where we could be going in the future if we don’t act now.

There are quite marked differences in the various regions of France partly due to the fact that until the 17th Century, France was divided into small kingdoms, each with its own distinct culture. The cooler climate and bordering countries such as Belgium and Germany have had a direct influence on the cuisine in the north, where dishes tends to be quite substantial. The geographical landscape also has a strong influence. Forest and woodland proffers game and game birds, mountain rivers are rich in salmon, trout and pike and fertile plains produce superb fruit which are often used in tarts as well as in savoury meat dishes. Calvados and Camembert cheese are two of Northern France’s well known products.

Many of the best known French dishes and ingredients (outside of France) hail from central France: escargot stuffed with garlic butter - Escargot a la Bourguignone, beef cooked in red wine - Boeuf Bourguignon and Bresse chicken in red wine - Coq au Vin plus the world famous Dijon Mustard. The wonderful Burgundy wines from the region have always inspired chefs and home cooks alike to utilize them in cooking. Lyon acclaims itself to be the gastronomic capital of France (I concur) and not only boasts of a large number of 3 star Michelin chefs but is also reputed to be the birth-place of Nouvelle Cuisine (I did a stint in the Troisgros kitchen in Roanne, soon the be the subject of a diary). However, despite the latter accolade, homely cooking is still at the heart of central France cuisine.

The cuisine of the south is a wonder unto itself (he he, I’m from there!) With truffles from the Périgord region, foie gras from the Dordogne, Cassoulet from Toulouse, Castlnaudray and Carcassonne and one of the oldest and most exquisite cheeses, Roquefort, many non-French people would say it is French cuisine personified. Add to this a Mediterranean touch with olive oil, tomatoes, aubergines, wild mushrooms and garlic featuring widely in dishes from the Languedoc, Provence and Pays Basque regions, plus the abundance of seafood to be found ultra-fresh on the coastal areas, and its easy to see why French cuisine is held in such high esteem throughout the world.

That’s it for today, in the next installment I will try to make sense of the Normandy style of cooking. Stay tuned!

Tags: de Medici Family, Food, France, Gauls, History