I'd have to make one "correction" to Kevin's short course.
Careme and Escoffier are the Godfathers of classic French cooking. Ultimately, one could say that Careme invented it and Escoffier codified it.
However, where I quibble is in calling them the Godfathers of modern cooking, which they're not. Classic French cooking is based heavily on liaisoned sauces which enrobe the food. Modern sauces are more like broths; they do not enrobe the food (indeed, the food most often just sits in them) and they do not use liaisons.
Modern sauces, particularly in the 1980s and '90s were based on butter and cream. More recently, even they have been replaced by reductions and jus.
A liaison, btw, is a binding agent that causes other ingredients to thicken and stick to each other. Flour, various starches, eggs are among the more familiar liaisons.
The other trend affecting modern food, and helping to define it, is the inclusion of ethnic cuisines. With the possible exception of Italian, classic French cooking acknowldeged no debt to other cuisines. Nowadays we totally embrace them.
|