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Culinary Traditions of France
French cuisine is the amazingly high standard to which all other native
cuisines must live up to. The country of France is home of some
of the finest cuisine in the world, and it is created by some of the
finest master chefs in the world. The French people take
excessive pride in cooking and knowing how to prepare a good
meal. Cooking is an essential part of their culture, and it adds
to one's usefulness if they are capable of preparing a good meal.
Each of the four regions of France has a characteristic of its food all
its own. French food in general requires the use of lots of
different types of sauces and gravies, but recipes for cuisine that
originated in the northwestern region of France tend to require the use
a lot of apple ingredients, milk and cream, and they tend to be heavily
buttered making for an extremely rich (and sometimes rather heavy)
meal. Southeastern French cuisine is reminiscent of German food,
heavy in lard and meat products such as pork sausage and sauerkraut.
On the other hand, southern French cuisine tends to be a lot more
widely accepted; this is generally the type of French food that is
served in traditional French restaurants. In the southeastern
area of France, the cooking is a lot lighter in fat and
substance. Cooks from the southeast of France tend to lean more
toward the side of a light olive oil more than any other type of oil,
and they rely heavily on herbs and tomatoes, as well as tomato-based
products, in their culinary creations.
Cuisine Nouvelle is a more contemporary form of French cuisine that
developed in the late 1970s, the offspring of traditional French
cuisine. This is the most common type of French food, served in French
restaurants. Cuisine Nouvelle can generally be characterized by
shorter cooking times, smaller food portions, and more festive,
decorative plate presentations.
Many French restaurant cuisines can be classified as Cuisine Nouvelle,
but the more traditional French restaurant cuisine would be classified
as Cuisine du Terroir, a more general form of French cooking than
Cuisine Nouvelle. Cuisine du Terroir is an attempt to return to
the more indigenous forms of French cooking, especially with reference
to regional differences between the north and south, or different areas
such as the Loire Valley, Catalonia, and Rousillon.
These are all areas famous for their specific specialty of French
cuisine. As time has progressed, the difference between a white wine
from the Loire Valley and a wine from another area has slowly
diminished, and the Cuisine du Terroir approach to French cooking
focuses on establishing special characteristics between regions such as
this.
As part of their culture, the French incorporate wine into nearly every
meal, whether it is simply as a refreshment or part of the recipe for
the meal itself. Even today, it is a part of traditional French
culture to have at least one glass of wine on a daily basis.
Home > Cuisines > France Cuisine
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