Among the great artists of France, there are painters, poets and
playwrights. There are also chefs.
As Richard Bernstein, author of
”
The Fragile Glory
”
wrote,
”
The French
… have surrounded food with so much commentary, learning and
connoisseurship as to clothe it in the vestments of civilization
itself….
Among the great artists of France, there are painters, poets and playwrights. There are also chefs.
As Richard Bernstein, author of “The Fragile Glory” wrote, “The French … have surrounded food with so much commentary, learning and connoisseurship as to clothe it in the vestments of civilization itself…. Cooking is viewed as a major art form: innovations are celebrated and talked about as though they were phrases in the development of a style of painting or poetry … A meal at a truly great restaurant is a sort of theatre you can eat.”
As with other great masterpieces, French cuisine is slow-crafted, blending skill with deep investments of time. A soup alone can take more than two days to prepare, but each spoonful reveals layers of taste, much like the nation’s revered wines. That could be part of the reason why French cuisine is known as the standard by which all others are measured.
“Haute cuisine,” as it is often called, is a reference to the high standards set in French courts by Catherine de Medici in the 1500s, according to Susan Reiss, author of the French section at Sallys-place.com, a gourmet food and travel site based in the San Francisco Bay area.
This standard was elevated by Auguste Escoffier, who bears the distinct title of Father of French Cooking. From the late 19th century into the early 20th, he brought new heights to the rich cream and flour-based sauces of classic French cuisine.
The 1970s brought the style’s opposite in the form of French Nouvelle, a style centered on healthful cooking, fruit-based sauces and crisp vegetable sides, writes Reiss, but diners in search of the real France look to its regional cuisine, which ranges from the near-German to the near-Mediterranean to something entirely original, according to Christine Richard, manager of Bistro 427 in Hollister.
Richard should know. Her Normandy-based family has been in the restaurant business for more than 130 years. She grew up with fresh food and attention to detail in every dish, every day, enjoying the region’s fresh seafood, exemplary cheeses, distinctive hard apple cider and lamb.
Reputation plays a major role in quality cuisine as most French chefs have a deep knowledge not only of their craft, but of the ingredients that go into it, according to CuisineNet.com, an online dining guide to more than 12,000 cities worldwide.
“Just as the vintner knows the finest Bordeaux comes from the grapes grown on that side of the hill and not this, so too the chef knows not only from which region come the finest petits pois (small, young green peas), but from which town,” the site says. “The same goes with asparagus and even cauliflower. If there is something worth eating and cooking, there is a best representative of such.”
Richard knows these differences well. She extols the virtues of Normandy lamb, noting that it develops a distinct flavor because the sheep feast on salty sea grasses when the tide rolls out. She also said some dishes will never come out right in America. After all, she cannot get the right varieties of fish from the correct towns.
Still, depending on where you go, there is something for everyone, Richard said. In the north of France, sauerkraut is popular, while Normandy families prefer to cook with heavy items such as cream, buckwheat and brandy. To the south, olive oil and tomato-based items are most popular.
“Basically, the only thing French cooks all like to use is butter,” said Richard.
The other unifying element of the cuisine is the nation’s dedication to slow food. As the saying goes, all good things come to those who wait, and Richard’s husband Francis proves this. Not only does he make his own soups each day, he also makes his own stock, bread and mayonnaise from scratch.
“Sometimes you see recipes that say you can do a beef bourguignon in an hour, but no,” she said. “If you want something that is tender and flavorful, you needhours and days of time. That is all it takes: time. It’s not something you can do in a microwave.”
If you have a few hours to spare, you too may just become a gourmand. To get you started, here are a couple of recipes from Bistro 427’s chef, Francis Richard.
Rillettes de Saumon Frais et Fumé
Serves 6-8
3 medium shallots, finely chopped
14 ounces fresh salmon, cubed
14 ounces smoked salmon, cubed
7 ounces plus 1 Tbs. butter
fresh dill, chopped (about a teaspoon)
dash of white wine
salt and pepper
olive oil
Step 1: In a large sauté pan, melt 1 Tbs. butter and simmer shallots lightly. Do not brown. Add fresh salmon and cook until the fish begins to fall apart. Add a dash of white wine and simmer two to three more minutes. Remove to large bowl.
Step 2: In another pan, heat a small amount of olive oil in which to cook the smoked salmon until tender. Add fresh dill as well as a little salt and pepper.
Step 3: Remove to the same bowl as the other salmon mixture and allow to cool slightly before adding butter. Cream all ingredients together and spoon into individual pâté molds. Let cool in refrigerator.
Step 4: Serve with toasted bread or keep in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Crevettes Provençales
Serves 4
24 large tiger shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 or 7 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 or 2 dashes of cayenne pepper
a pinch of curry
dash of olive oil
7 to 8 leaves fresh basil, chopped
6 Roma tomatoes, chopped
Step 1: Lay shrimp in a large, shallow bowl and cover completely with olive oil. Sprinkle mixture with four to five thinly sliced cloves of garlic and add a dash or two of cayenne pepper along with a pinch of curry. Soak for a minimum of two to three hours.
Step 2: Warm a large sauté pan on the stove until it begins to smoke slightly, then throw in the shrimp and sauté for six to seven minutes, turning the shrimp regularly. You can also spoon out some of the garlic and olive oil for added flavor, but be sure to watch the mixture carefully as it may catch on fire. Remove from heat.
Step 3: In a separate pan, warm a dash of olive oil as well as some chopped garlic to taste. Add basil leaves along with tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes have been reduced to a chunky sauce.
Step 4: Pour tomato mixture into the middle of a presentation plate and garnish with a sprig of basil. Arrange tiger shrimp around the sauce and serve.
