French cuisine
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French cuisine is largely defined by its regional diversity - though it is united by a reverence and respect for market-fresh seasonal produce, shared by both skilled chefs and home cooks alike.
Traditionally each region of France has its own distinctive cuisine - from creamy butter-based dishes of the north to olive oil and tomato-laden Provençal stews of the south. The influence of its bordering countries - Germany, Spain, Italy and Belgium - is marked strongly on the cooking styles.
Though French wines are too numerous to detail here, France's quality tipples are the basis of dishes ranging from red wine-infused Burgundian Boeuf bourguignon to creamy white wine-cooked moules à la Normande.
Cuisine bourgeoise
A particular manner of cooking using complex techniques and roux-based sauces has come to be known internationally as French cuisine - this is what the French call 'cuisine bourgeoise' and the top end of this category is known as 'haute cuisine'.
Haute cuisine was a term first used to describe the cooking of Marie-Antoine Carême (1784-1833), who brought together the jumble of dishes that make up French cooking into a comprehensive whole. This complex and refined approach was later built on by 'the father of French cooking' Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935). This style is made up of a complex hierarchy of primary and secondary sauces, branching out from the basic building blocks of flour, butter, milk, stock and egg yolks.
Nouvelle cuisine
In the 1970s forward-thinking chefs such as Michel Guérard updated French cookery. This 'nouvelle cuisine' was characterised by lighter sauces and tiny portions, served in a decorative manner. The current trend is a movement away from both haute and nouvelle cuisine, focussing on simple hearty bistro-like dishes.
Though French wines are too numerous to detail here, France's quality tipples are the basis of dishes ranging from red wine-infused Burgundian Boeuf bourguignon to creamy white wine-cooked moules à la Normande.
Cuisine bourgeoise
A particular manner of cooking using complex techniques and roux-based sauces has come to be known internationally as French cuisine - this is what the French call 'cuisine bourgeoise' and the top end of this category is known as 'haute cuisine'.
Haute cuisine was a term first used to describe the cooking of Marie-Antoine Carême (1784-1833), who brought together the jumble of dishes that make up French cooking into a comprehensive whole. This complex and refined approach was later built on by 'the father of French cooking' Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935). This style is made up of a complex hierarchy of primary and secondary sauces, branching out from the basic building blocks of flour, butter, milk, stock and egg yolks.
Nouvelle cuisine
In the 1970s forward-thinking chefs such as Michel Guérard updated French cookery. This 'nouvelle cuisine' was characterised by lighter sauces and tiny portions, served in a decorative manner. The current trend is a movement away from both haute and nouvelle cuisine, focussing on simple hearty bistro-like dishes.
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