1. History of French Cuisine

2. After one taste of French food…I was hooked. I’d never eaten like that before, I didn’t know such food existed. The wonderful attention paid to each detail of the meal was incredible to me. Julia Child

3. “Bouillabaisse is only good because it is cooked by the French, who, if they cared to try, could produce an excellent and nutritious substitute out of cigar stumps and empty matchboxes.” Norman Douglas, British novelist (1868- 1952)

4. Escargot- “Nobody is sure how this got started. Probably a couple of French master chefs were standing around one day, and they found a snail, and one of them said: ‘I bet that if we called this something like “escargot,” tourists would eat it.’ They then had a hearty laugh, because ‘escargot’ is the French word for ‘fat crawling bag of phelgm.’” Dave Barry

5. Climate The climate of France is moderate. While snow falls in the higher elevations, cool, rainy winters are typical. Spring is humid, summer moderate and autumn long and sunny.

6. Geography Three bodies of water: Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, English Channel

7. Geography The three major mountain ranges found in the eastern and southern areas are the French Alps, the Juras, the Pyrenees

8. Geography Rolling plains in northern and western parts

9. Geography Bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain

10. Catherine de Medici 1533, married Henry II of France at 14 Introduced *fork *foods -Italian soups -sauces, spices -aspics, desserts reformed gorging and guzzling women allowed to eat with men

11. French Revolution Before revolution *chefs worked for royalty and nobles After revolution *opened restaurants and cooking schools Famous chefs

12. Marie Antoine Careme 1784-1833 Wrote a series of books on Classic Cooking *methods *recipes *food should be beautiful as well as taste good Moses of Cooking

13. Georges Auguste Escoffier: 1846-1935 Reformed and refined classic cuisine Tasteful simplicity Organized kitchens Speeded up service

14. French Restaurants Restaurant or grand restaurant *elaborate, expensive *”event”, elegant décor *perfect service

15. French Restaurants cont. Bistro and Brasserie *informal *but can still have great food and be expensive *Brasserie (beer hall)

16. French Restaurants cont. Auberge *country inn with lodgings Cafe` *inexpensive snacks

17. French Misc. Principles of flavor *wine based -with herbs -mirepoix -with butter, cream or stock

18. Misc. cont. Foreign Influence *Germans-cabbage, pork *Italian-olive oil, tomatoes Meals *small portions served in sequences of courses *prix fixe-series of courses offered at a fixed price

19. truffle is the fruiting body of an underground mushroom