Introduction:
The Japanese eat very little fat and
suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British
or Americans.
The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the
British or Americans.
The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks
than the British or Americans.
The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer
fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking
English is apparently what kills you.
Seriously
though, our obsession with what we eat is as old as cooking itself, which
according to the anthropologists, developed with the arrival of the
Neanderthals around 75,000BC. The discovery that cooked meat was more palatable
and nutritious than raw, paved the way for better health and population growth.
Cooking as we understand it, as opposed to just heating meat on a fire, took a
few more thousand years to develop. One of the earliest forms, using the
stomach of an animal as a pouch to heat the contents is still used today,
although some would argue that haggis is not food at all.
Haggis
"It was the haggis, a brownish lump
sitting unobtrusively to one side of the plate, that drew the most riveting
attention. ... Some people approached their haggis with extreme
misgivings."
Tom Knapp, on a traditional Scottish
dinner
Fast forward a
few thousand years to the birth of modern French Culinary expertise, and you
would land in the middle of the 17th Century. The Venetian
Ambassador to Paris
in the late 16th century observed,
“They consume a great deal of meat, which
they load the table with at their banquets…. They ruin their stomachs and their
bowels by eating too much, as the Germans and Poles do by drinking too much”.
As you can see,
stereo types are not a new phenomenon, neither have they changed much.
Plus ça change!!
The changes
that were to make culinary history developed over the next 200 years, and these
are documented in the next section
Delicious Food
"If the divine creator has taken
pains to give us delicious and exquisite things to eat, the least we can do is
prepare them well and serve them with ceremony."
Fernand Point (1897-1955)
La Cuisine Bourgeois
The move out of
the medieval kitchen was marked by the use of a Roux to thicken sauces, instead
of using bread, broken pastry or creamed almonds, as had been used in the past.
The roux was so simple a solution to many culinary problems; it quickly gained
popularity throughout all levels of society.
With the move
from Large Banquets where the menu looked more like a passenger list on Noah’s
Ark, to more intimate suppers in the Salon, and the introduction of cookery
books for the ordinary household (circa 1750), La Cuisine Bourgeoise was born.
By the end of the century, cooking had been elevated into food for philosophy
as well as for stomachs. Thus began the belief by all Frenchmen, and is still
apparent today, that in terms of all things culinary, France reigns
supreme.
"Light, refined, learned and noble,
harmonious and orderly, clear and logical, the cooking of France is, in
some strange manner, intimately linked to the genius of her greatest men."
Rouff (Marcel) French journalist and writer (1887-1936)
In the 19th
Century, French chefs were the most sought after commodity for any self
respecting Aristocrat, and many famous career came to fruition in this Century,
no less a man than the legendary Auguste Escoffier, the Emperor of Chefs. His
“Repetoire de la Cuisine” is still the chef’s bible, and his fame lives on in
many dishes he created, like Peach Melba. However, he would probably be
spinning in his grave if he saw what passes for Peach Melba in the café’s of
today.
Stocks and Sauces:
"Bouillon is the soul and quintessence
of sauces."
F. Marin, 1739
A stock is a flavored liquid base for
making sauce, stew, or braised dishes, as well as soups. There are four main
stocks, Brown, White, Vegetable and Fish. Brown stocks are colored by roasting
the bones and vegetables prior to adding to the water. Obviously, white stocks
eliminate this process. The main ingredients are beef, veal, poultry, game and
for the fish stock, white non oily fish or crustaceans. Root vegetables such as
carrot, onion, celery, together with herbs like parsley and bay are added in
the process. Nothing is wasted in a kitchen, so vegetable trimmings are often
added, especially mushroom stalks. Some
exceptions include, but are not limited to starchy or strong flavors
such as potato, turnip or rutabaga.
Brown stocks can take a lot of time to
prepare, so there are many instant ones on the market. Poultry and Fish stocks
take much less time, but are still time consuming for our modern lifestyles.
Commercially available stocks usually
have lots of salt in them, which add flavor, but beware, especially if there is
a medical reason for doing so. This is true for many ready made products.
"Woe to the cook whose sauce has no sting."
Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?-1400?)
The function of a sauce is to add a
flavor to the dish which is compatible with its ingredients. A French wag once
quipped,
“In England,
there are three hundred and sixty different religions and only one sauce. In France there
are three hundred and sixty different sauces and only one religion.”
Medieval sauces were either hot, or
sweet and sour, and very spicy. The modern French sauces which we are referring
to and making here, were developed in and around the 18th century. Sauces were
defined into Hot and Cold, and the hot sauces further defined as Brown
(Espagnole etc) or White (Béchamel, Velouté etc). Cold sauces are usually based
on Mayonnaise and Vinaigrette. Like all sauces, there are many derivatives from
these basics. As French Chefs worked abroad, they brought back many influences
from around the world, not least from their colonies in Asia
and the Caribbean.
In a professional Kitchen, the Sauce
Chef is a god, and many act like gods too. Woe betide the unwary diner who
seasons his food before tasting it.
"A well made sauce will make even an
elephant or a grandfather palatable."
Grimod de la Reynière
Equipment:
Stockpots are usually large pans,
sometimes with a valve at the bottom to drain off stock. Egg whites and shells
are added to a stock to clarify it. The mixture binds with particles in the
stock and this crust floats to the top, hence the draining valve at the bottom.
Without this feature, the unwanted ingredients have to be skimmed off the top.
Alternatively, you can leave it to go cold, and all the fat etc. hardens on the
top, and this can be easily removed.
“The wine had
such ill effects on Noah's health that it was all he could do to live 950
years. Just nineteen years short of Methuselah. Show me a total abstainer that
ever lived that long.”
Will Rogers
(1879-1935)
Sauce pans need to be thick bottomed,
so as to prevent the sauce from sticking and burning. All sauces need some
simmering to get them to the right consistency, and thin bottomed pans require
constant attention, which is just not practical. Good pans, like good knives,
are worth the investment.
"Nouvelle Cuisine, roughly
translated, means: I can't believe I paid ninety-six dollars and I'm still
hungry."
Mike Kalin
A sieve, called a Chinois, because it
is shaped like a Chinaman’s hat, is also necessary, as many sauces require
straining. These usually come with a stand, so that you can use both hands to
control the pouring and flow. A spoon is often used to help the passage of the
sauce, by pressing it up and down in the sieve.
"Never eat more than you can
lift."
Miss Piggy
Wooden spoons are aesthetically
pleasing, but harder to keep clean. There are many alternatives which are just
as good.
Knives need to be sharp. You have more
likelihood of serious injury with a blunt knife than with a sharp one. The
pressure needed to cut is greater, and if you slip, the resulting accident will
not be pretty. A Steel will only make a sharp knife sharper. They can not
sharpen a blunt knife, so every time you pick the knife up, use the Steel to
keep its edge.
There are many different styles/shapes
of knives, and they all have their specific uses. The knife blocks by companies
like Wüsthof offer great value, especially in the Xmas sales.
Cutting boards vary, but solid wood and
polyethylene are the most common. My own preference is for a large solid wood
cutting board, which does not move and provides plenty of space to do your
work. All cutting boards dull the knife blade, so don’t forget to touch up with
a Steel every time you use it. It will be an automatic reflex soon.
"A clever cook, can make....good meat
of a whetstone."
Erasmus
Terminology:
·
Au Jus: Served with
natural juices.
·
Au gratin: - a term applied to dishes prepared with or without sauce, topped
with breadcrumbs or grated cheese or both, dotted with butter and browned in
the oven or under the broiler
·
Arrowroot: A starchy powder of a tropical tuber, Arrowroot is used as a thickening
agent. Unlike cornstarch, it doesn’t impart a chalky taste when undercooked. Just like cornstarch, arrowroot should be mixed with
cold water before being added to hot liquid. It is commonly used to make fruit
glazes for pastries, as it is also clear.
·
Beurre blanc: Reduction of white wine and shallots thickened with whole butter.
This is traditionally served with either Pike or Chad, and originates from Nantes.
·
Beurre Manié: Equal quantities of butter and flour made into a paste which is
used to thicken sauces on the boil.
·
Beurre Noir: Butter cooked to a dark brown, then adding capers and a dash of vinegar.
·
Beurre Noisette: Butter that tastes like hazelnuts, achieved by
melting butter until it turns a golden brown.
·
Bearnaise: Sauce derived from Hollandaise,
with a tarragon reduction added.
·
Bechamel: A rich white
sauce made from cream and a blonde roux, with an onion pique (onion studded
with cloves and bay leaves.)
"That
fellow Béchameil has all the luck! I was serving breast of chicken á la crème
more than 20 years before he was born, but I have never had the chance of
giving my name to even the most modest sauce."
Duke of Escars,
17th century
·
Bisque: A seasoned
shellfish purée flavored with white wine, fresh cream and Cognac. Crayfish was the principal
ingredient, but lobster and crab have become very popular.
·
Bouquet garni: - a bunch of herbs consisting of parsley, thyme, marjoram and a bay
leaf. Place herbs in hollow of a 2” piece of celery and place bay leaf on top.
Tie together with a piece of string and place in a simmering sauce or stew. Put
dried herbs in cheesecloth.
·
Brunoise: Cut Julienne
into 1/8” squares. Used for garnish or flavour in fine sauces.
·
Coulis: A liquid purée
of either vegetables or fruit. They can be used to flavor sauces, or used as
sauces in their own right. One of the oldest recorded types of sauce, and one
of the easiest to make.
·
Crème fraiche: This slightly tangy cream has a velvety rich texture similar to
that of sour cream Crème fraiche
is ideal for finishing sauces and soups and it does not curdle when heated.
"Custard:
A detestable substance produced by a malevolent conspiracy of the hen, the cow,
and the cook."
Ambrose Bierce, American writer (1842-1914)
·
Crème pâtissière: Confectioner’s custard used for fillings or as a base on which to
layer fruit in the classic Tarte au Pomme/Poire.
·
. Deglaze: To add liquid
such as wine, stock, or water to the bottom of a pan to dissolve the caramelized
drippings so that they may be added to a sauce, for added flavor. Often
flambéed prior to adding more stock.
·
Demi Glace: A rich brown sauce
that has been made by reducing equal quantities of Espagnole, and Estouffade,
by half. It usually has the addition of Madeira.
·
Emulsion: A mixture of one liquid with another. Oil and vinegar, or butter
and eggs are the classic examples. Emulsifying is done by slowly adding one
liquid to another while mixing rapidly
·
Estouffade: Another term for clear brown stock. It is also used to describe a
dish that has been braised. Usually beef.
·
Espagnole: A mother
sauce. Basic brown sauce made with brown stock, tomato puree and a brown roux.
"I like a
cook who smiles out loud when he tastes his own work. Let God worry about your
modesty; I want to see your enthusiasm."
Robert Farrar Capon
·
Fond Blanc: White stock made with veal or poultry bones, root vegetables and selected
herbs.
·
Fond Brun: Brown stock made with beef, veal or poultry bones, root vegetables and
selected herbs. The bones and vegetables are roasted, which gives the stock its
brown color.
·
Fond De Poisson: Fish stock made with non oily white fish bones, root vegetables and
selected herbs. The easiest and quickest to make (approx. 20 minutes cooking
time.)
·
Fond De Legumes: Vegetable stock utilizing the same root vegetables, with the addition of
others depending on the end use.
·
Jardinière: A cut of vegetables which is 1/4 x 1/4x 1 1/2 inches
long.
·
Julienne: A cut of meat, poultry, or vegetables which is 1/8 x 1/8 x 1 1/2 inches
long.
·
Jus: Usually refers
to the natural juice from meat. See Au Jus.
"I believe
that if ever I had to practice cannibalism, I might manage if there were enough
tarragon around."
James Beard (1903-1985)
·
Jus Lié: Refers to the
natural juice from meat which has been thickened by any thickening agent.
·
Liaison: A binding
agent made up of egg yolks and cream, used for thickening soups and sauces.
·
Maître d'hôtel: butter mixed with chopped parsley, lemon juice, and salt and
pepper, and served with meat or fish
·
Macedoine: 1/4” cubes of
fruit or vegetables cut from Jardinière.
·
Mis En Place: French term for getting prepared before service.
Literally translated as “put in place”. This will mean the difference between
organized or chaotic service.
·
Mirepoix: Rough cut root
vegetables for making sauces and stocks. Occasionally used for garnish in stews
and ragouts.
·
Sabayon: A sauce
resembling custard, mainly used for puddings or vanilla ice cream. Sabayon is
made of Marsala wine, sugar, and egg yolks.
·
Reduction: To boil a
liquid-usually referring to wine or stock-thereby thickening the consistency of
the liquid resulting in a thick product with intense flavor.
·
Velouté: A sauce made
with veal stock, cream, and tightened with a white roux.
(Table manners in 1530, before the
widespread use of forks).
"Be careful not to be the first to put your hands in the dish. What you
cannot hold in your hands you must put on your plate. Also it is a great breach
of etiquette when your fingers are dirty and greasy, to bring them to your
mouth in order to lick them, or to clean them on your jacket. It would be more
decent to use the tablecloth."
Erasmus in his Treatise on Manners published in 1530
