"french cuisine" news and stories

'Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1'
by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck
Illustrations by Sidonie Coryn
Knopf -- First published 1961
Buy it on Amazon

Julia would not have been our "French Chef," had she not collaborated with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle to transform their draft of a French cookbook into an essential guidebook to French food for American cooks.

Long before she showed television audiences that it was OK to screw up in the kitchen, Julia Child and the two other "Trois Gourmands" (Child, Beck and Bertholle ran a cooking school of sorts -- Ecole des Gourmands -- in Paris) were teaching the American cook the wonders that are beurre blanc, boeuf bourguignon and omelettes through "Mastering the Art."

"This is a book for the servantless American cook who can be unconcerned on occasion with budgets, waistlines, time schedules, children's meals, the parent-chauffeur-den-mother syndrome or anything else which might interfere with the enjoyment of producing something wonderful to eat." With those words, Child inspired bloggers and chefs and turned French cuisine into something our nation's home cooks could do ... and well. Bon appetit!

See what we tested and find out whether the book's worth buying after the jump.

This summer, it became apparent that France wanted UNESCO to recognize its cuisine as a world heritage. In a post from July, Shayna Glick points out that the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO protects cultural heritages by deeming certain monuments and actual places as a world heritage, in other words, physical objects or sites. Nevertheless, criteria number three of the committee leaves the topic open to cuisine.

A more recent article, from the New York Times, discusses a strategy session that just took place with 6 French chefs, including Guy Savoy, and culinary experts, such as France's pre-eminent food historian Jean-Robert Pitte, with the goal to preserve French cuisine. Together they compiled a list of regional delicacies that should be saved. But, can France compete with the cuisine from other nations? Spain just revitalized its own ambition to win culinary recognition. The Times points out that Italy, Greece, and Morroco all joined the fight.

Ideally, it makes perfect sense for French cuisine to become a world heritage. However, what will prevent every other country from making its national cuisine a world heritage? It seems to me that the criteria needs to be readdressed. In 2003, the Committtee adopted the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. This needs to be more specific. Why not create a specific sub-organization to deal with protecting global culinary traditions.

As much as I love French cuisine, I cannot help but think that making it a world heritage would seem elitist and dismissive of foods from other countries. Isn't there a better way to preserve French cuisine?

What would a dinner table be without its salt and pepper? They've become so ubiquitous in everyone's kitchen. However, we rarely wonder why. Both were heavily used in cuisine for hundreds of years, but so were several other spices. What made people focus on salt and pepper?

The story begins with salt. In Ancient Rome, it gained popularity as a condiment. Italians during the Renaissance served salted dishes at the same time as sugared dishes. It was not until the 17th century that the French created a salt-sweet divide. Salted foods were eaten throughout the meal because they stimulate the appetite. Sweet plates were served at the end; they satiate the appetite and shutdown our desire to eat.

It was in France that salt met its inevitable spicy partner, pepper. 17th-century Classic French cuisine, which developed at the court of Louis XIV, considered pepper and parsley as superior to the various spices imported from the Middle East. In fact, it viewed all spices as vulgar ingredients masking the true flavor of a dish. Pepper was the only spice acceptable. And, it eventually attained the same status as fine herbs which were thought to be more wholesome and exquisite. The French heightened the importance of pepper giving it the status it has today.

Several days ago, I asked you, my beloved Slashfood readers, for help on what to do with about a bazillion cherries I had picked up. One of the overwhelming responses was for a cherry clafouti - the French dessert-t thing that's made with a pancake batter and fruit. I am not yet telling you what I am doing with the cherries -- it may or may not be a cherry clafouti -- but until I post that, here are eight cherry clafoutis from around the food web for your viewing, reading, and perhaps eating, pleasure:

1. Noshtalgia is cheery about cherries
2. Amy does Julia Child's recipe
3. 28Cooks uses sour cherries
4. You might get a muffin top if you eat the clafouti from MuffinTop
5. Mahanandi is the one in the picture
6. Clafouti from Becks N Posh is not for the Frenchman
7. Lucullian Delights adds a little spice
8. Smitten Kitchen's clafouti is a cliche come true