French Cuisine

Magnifique, Formidable, Tres Bien, Gourmet. What do you think of when you imagine French Cuisine? It is too much to describe right?! France does many things right in this world, and one of those things is of course cuisine. Being the Food capital of the world, France offers some of the most extravagant dishes and delicious flavors. French cuisine truly is indescribable and can only be truly explained by taste, and the moment of joy afterwards. Hello, welcome to Mei Wei Cafe's Rendezvous where we will be talking about a particular cuisine in this world. This time we will explore the depths of classic and haute cuisine, the one and only,


                             French Cuisine!

Having a bad day? France's Macaroon are delicate pastries that will sweeten you right up.

Quiche Lorraine, A delicious savory pie eaten anytime and anywhere! Hot or cold! 

Coq Au Vin, a classic French dish that dates back to even Julius Cesar's time!

Introduction:

There are many cuisines in this world that are iconic institutions. French cuisine is more than just iconic, it is an empire. That said, it is a monumental task to cover all there is to know about French cuisine, so there will be various other posts for more specific details. So this post will solely cover general French cuisine. French cuisine is massive and one of the most impressive in the world. The styles, dishes, and flavors in French cuisine varies from region to region each with its unique twist. No matter how different each region is, every French dish will serve to impress. Whether its presentation or flavor, the devotion behind each dish shows us how influential French cooking is in Europe and the rest of the world.

One of the beauties of French cuisine is you cannot explain it. Every dish can be so different. You have dishes like this Steak Tartar 

To this elegant Duck Confit. The two dishes look so different yet are all delicious.

History:

French cuisine has been around for a while, and was known to be ahead of its time for most of history. Even during the middle ages, the French were known to dine on elegant swans and exotics peacocks. This was used with a lot of the spices they had then, including rue, hyssop, cinnamon, nutmeg and other seasonings. It is ironic as most of these spices are not considered French today and rarely used. French cuisine was fantastic for its time, but a miracle happened in Europe. The Renaissance marked the height of Italian art, culture, and of course cuisine. During this time period the Italians were known as the best in Europe. With flavors so innovative and supreme that people across Europe and even Asia sought Italian chefs. France was no different, Catherine de Medici was an Italian lady married into French royalty. With her, she brought personal Florentine chefs and carved the cuisine culture of France. Proper dining, fine etiquette, eating from luxurious china and silverware, and the accompaniment of wine were all introduced. And up until the French Revolution, the rest was history. Up until now, the French has had too many important chefs and masters to re-innovate flavors and sauces, like bechamel sauce, that define this cuisine. France has gone through a lot of tough times in history. And usually this complication would cause changes in culture and henceforth changes in cuisine. Every time a revolution or an ordeal happens, France must redefine its cuisine. So that is why the French Cuisine is so vast with endless dishes and flavors.

Bechamel Sauce, a staple in French sauces, was created by Marie-Antoine Careme after the French revolution and the fall of the guilds. This ordeal forced chefs like Careme to reinvent French cuisine. 

Ratatouille is just an example on how much the Italians have influenced French cuisine.  

 Culture:

France is a nation redefined by its cuisine and cuisine culture. When you are in France you can just tell how big of an impact food has on this beautiful country. Every corner in France has a bistro or cafe serving some of the most authentic and innovative foods and drinks. Seriously, just Paris alone has 40,000 restaurants! Living in America and China we have this preconception that we are the masters of restaurants. We the customers can come in to a restaurant and order anything depending on what we want. When I visited France the biggest culture shock was the customer was not the boss! When we stepped foot into a restaurant we can tell that the chefs were the boss. They HIGHLY recommend what they should serve you and they determine whatever the hours of operations are. Most restaurants are closed from 2:00pm to 6:00pm! But this is a good thing because we can tell that the French are very passionate and caring when it comes to cooking. They are the experts. During early history, France has used a guild system to distribute food and define its cuisine culture. Many guilds throughout large cities would employ various chefs of different skills, like pasty chefs, sauce chefs, poultry chefs, caters, and many more to work to invent food. This was sometimes directly controlled by the French royalty! So the training and ingredients were all covered. When the New World was discovered, so was the New World of new ingredients. France was introduced to many foods from the Americas like potato, squash, tomato, and various beans.

Intense organization and training of chefs and reinventing the cuisine has been done by the French for years.

For the French everything must be fresh! A reason why restaurants close so early is for the chefs to go shopping for fresh ingredients for the dinner shift.

France is now a melting pot society seeing various flocks of immigrants throughout the world at various times in history. This has also led to the reinvention of French cuisine by incorporating the cuisine of the immigrants. The Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Middle Eastern, and a lot of African flavors have been infused into French food. France was also a major player in colonization. Through this, they could explore new lands for new resources and different cooking styles and ingredients to their cuisine. Whether it is French fusion or directly adapting a new dish, the French are very popular of adding more varieties to its large buffet of a cuisine. Dishes like the Vietnamese Banh Mi is directly influenced by the French and a fusion between Vietnamese and French flavors. Food is love, food is life. To the French cuisine means everything, more than just passion. French cuisine can make up an entire culture itself.

Falalfel is a popular sandwich in the Mediterranean area but popularized in France by the immigrants. Like a lot of the foods in France, locals love to explore different cuisines and adding a French touch.

Banh Mi is a Vietnamese sandwich that uses French baguette, pate and Vietnamese meat and vegetables. A fusion that plays a crucial role in both French and Vietnamese cuisine. 

Structure:

The typical French meal consists of 3 courses. An entree or hors d'oeuvre (appetizer) which is served first to open the meal. These could be anything from soup, foie gras, or any small dishes to open our palate. Then the main course, the plat principal would be served next. This is what we came for, the MVP of the meal. These could be any delicious French dish like Steak Frites or Pot au Feu and then finally we have a palate cleanser which could be dessert or fromage (cheese). What is a more delightful way to finish a gourmet meal than to match it with the world's best desserts? Creme Brulee, Crepe, or Profiterole are all beautifully crafted French desserts that taste even better than how it looks! Fromage (cheese) is another way to finish the meal. If processed American cheeses are all that you are used to, be sure to try French cheese before you judge!

Entrees and hors d'oeuvres are served before the main dish like these tartines. And yes! Entrees are appetizers in French cuisine

L'entercote is a very popular plat principal with French locals. It is a delicious and juicy steak topped with world famous green sauce to draw out the flavor of the meat. And of course traditionally served with a heap of fries! 

Profiteroles. Look at it. Imagine how good it tastes. In reality, it probably taste twice as good.

There are also two very important elements to french meals, salad and bread. Salad is usually served after the plat principal and before the dessert or fromage. This is to prepare us for the dessert! French bread is notorious and goes perfect with every French dish. Baguettes a long French bread is usually served with the plat principal. French bread is massive! That deserves an entire posts to itself. For now all you need to know that France has a wide variety of bread, they are all delicious and to die for. I love French bread. I am willing to cross 7 seas and 5 hells to get a taste of authentic French baguette.

The French baguette. Nothing can be more stereotypical or delicious than this loaf of heaven.

Fromage, cheese, is also another big element of French cuisine that deserves its own post too. France has some of the best cheese of the world! An average French person consumes 53 lb (25 kg) of cheese every year!

Cuisines:

France has many types of cuisines, cooking styles that is developed throughout history. Today we will cover 3 of these cuisines.

National Cuisine:
This is as generic as French food gets as the National Cuisine is all kinds of food and dishes served on the national level. Yes, this is a style that has a dish served everywhere across France regardless of region. So if you are ever dying to get some French Onion Soup you know that this will be available across all of France. A lot of breads and pastries are in this National category because of the popularity and demand across the nation. So in conclusion, these are dishes and foods that has earned its right to shine across the national as staple foods across the land. Dishes like this include the baguette, croissants, French Onion Soup, Pot au Feu, Eclair, and macaroons. Basically every typical French food you can think is probably on this list.

Pot au Feu, or pot of fire, is a classic traditional dish around for ages. A lot of French people will tell you how much their friends and families gather around the dinner table to enjoy this dish. Its kind of like the French version of  Hot Pot!

French Onion Soup is a classic must have in France. Its so savor, sweet, cheesy, aromatic that the authentic version is really one of a kind.

Haute Cuisine:

Okay I know sometimes we have stereotypes about French food being very high class, overly fancy, and super expensive for a small portion!! This is exactly what Haute Cuisine is. Developed in the 17th century by master chefs such as Marie-Antoine Careme, this style of cooking focuses on grandiose. The grandness of each dish and bringing the ingredient and flavor to its highest potential. This is usually a small portion of very high quality ingredients and the most meticulous and skillful way to prepare. This is a complex and high class cuisine. It itself is a form of luxury served in the best restaurants and the most luxurious hotels. Overall this style of cuisine is very fine, careful, supreme, gourmet. Nothing else compares in the level of preparation and the over the top presentation.

Every chef and every restaurant has their own special Haute dish. 

Haute Cuisine uses some of the best and rarest ingredients like cavier and truffles.

Nouvelle Cuisine:

Nouvelle cuisine, (new cuisine) is like the son of Haute cuisine. This fine class cuisine was invented in the 1960-70's during a time the world saw a huge revolution in food. Nouvelle cuisine is similar to Haute cuisine in its elegance and luxury status but has also very different approaches. Nouvelle cuisine focuses more on freshness, lightness, and natural in color, taste, and texture. It also focuses on even brighter presentation based on modern Japanese cuisine. This delicate cuisine tries to start a new cuisine and break away from its classic traditional cuisine like Haute cuisine. This is to show how France is making a break from its past and looking forward to the future. It is more conscious of the needs of the people as Nouvelle cuisine emphasizes on the healthiness of its cooking method and ingredients using more natural sauces and flavors unlike Haute cuisine which can have a lot of heavy sauces and ingredients high in fat. Overall France has two cuisine styles that are art forms. The traditional and classic Haute, and the modern and innovative Nouvelle.

The presentation of Nouvelle cuisine is very Japanese influenced 

As you can see, Nouvelle cuisine focuses on a more light and natural presentation and preparation of its food.

Final Thoughts:

France is a nation that loves to eat and cook. They are masters of culinary arts earning them the nickname, the capital of food. There are so many more cuisines, dishes and styles to cover and more will come soon. France is a nation constantly reinventing its cuisine throughout history and through this they have created one of the most complex and intriguing cuisines. Everything however, is delicious. And before you cast any ideas, I highly encourage you to have an open mind and try new French foods. You never know how delicious a new dish can taste like or how good a familiar dish can be like with a French twist. What is your favorite French dish? Did I have anything that I failed to clarify? Please contact me with questions and comments regarding this post and future posts. Salut, I hope you had a great experience today at Mei Wei Cafe and I hope to see you soon. Bon Appetit! 

To please you guys here are more pictures of French food to drool over... You're Welcome!

Croque Monsieur, a classic French sandwich that we can have anywhere and anyime!

When in France make sure you eat pastries! Opera, Paris Brest, Religieuse, and Tarte aux Framboise are all must haves!

Fondue is and meat fondue is also a unique way to dine in on a classic French cooking method

Wherever you go, freshness is key!

I know I know! I did not mention Croissants. I promise their will be a segment dedicated to French pastries.

There are so many things to cover in French cuisine. Cafe and cafe culture is also very apparent and grand in France. Very traditional and trending!

Feel free to contact me at:

meiweicafe@gmail.com