Welcome to the food page viewed by the French
How a basic local medieval cooking got kick-started into history.
The impact of culinary art on French culture finds its root in the middle age
This cuisine, simple in its origin, refined itself throughout the centuries by staying on a straight course for a continuous search for taste in food.
Sugar. such a sweet change
French cuisine developed throughout the centuries, influenced by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to its own food traditions on the long western coast lines of the Atlantic, the Channel and of course inland. In the 14th century Guillaume Tirel, a court chef known as “Taillevent”, wrote a historic piece, Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France, which records what royalty ate at the time.
French dishes were generally acidic before a sugar-mania hit the country’s kitchens in the 16th century. Then sugar was poured in water, wine, even on fish and meat!
But let us bypass the Dark Ages and focus on the sweeping changes that marked the Renaissance era.
French food will truly become a model for other cuisine in the 17th century, in great parts due to Louis XIV’s magnetism and the allure of his new playground. Versailles.
Chefs François Pierre La Varenne and Marie-Antoine Carême spearheaded movements that shifted French cooking away from its foreign influences and developed France’s own indigenous style.
Fingers or Fork…that is the question
Before 1533, royalties and La Cour de France used pick-forks to shovel food in their mouth. Then the queen, Catherine de Medici introduced the fork and the art of the table, imposed later by her son and king Henri III. But it wasn’t until the 18th century that people started eating with forks. Although the fork was a common utensil in places like Italy, the French thought for a long time that this was a silly way to eat, and mostly used their fingers.
During this “siècle des Lumières” (the Era of Enlightenment) cuisine became a hot button topic, subject of intellectual debate and writing throughout France: food was described as an art form and discussed in terms of harmony, chemistry, and spirituality.
Fun Fact
“Taillevent”, literally means “cut wind” – a nickname carved around Chef Tirel’s well pronounced nose that reminded of the sail of a boat. The nickname cut through the centuries and now recognized as one of the greatest restaurant in France.
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