Culinary in the Mediterranean

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Culinary in the Mediterranean

Introduction

The Mediterranean is a sea that borders Europe, and it lies between southernmost countries of Europe and the northern border of Africa. The Mediterranean region entails twenty-three-countries from different continents, including Africa, Asia, and Europe. Despite sharing a coastline of a sea, each Mediterranean country has an exclusive culture, history, and tradition to its food. France is among the most popular countries in the region that has specific dietary practices that are recognized globally as a result of their flavor and finesse. Not only does the French legacy entail attractive monuments, such as Eiffel Tower, but it also includes culinary specialties related to specific regions, sometimes passed down generations. History, types, and influence of food are among the predominant elements that explain the traditional French cuisine.

History of Food

Georges Auguste Escoffier inspired gourmet French food or haute cuisine. During the 1880s and 1890s, under his tenure, Georges instituted a brigade system in some of the leading European and American hotels, as he demanded the division of professional kitchens into five separate sections (Gerber, 2017). Patissier, saucier, rotisseur, entremettier, and garde manger are among the popular stations introduced by Escoffier’s system (Franklin, 2020). Therefore, in every kitchen station, Georges suggested that cooks should specialize in the preparation of different meals, for example, pastries, sauces, fried items, vegetables, and cold dishes. The brigade system reduced the amount of time required to prepare components of any meal as opposed to a single chef preparing one dish from the beginning to end. The lighter approach to meal preparation instigated by Georges inspired the 20th-century changes regarding French cuisine.

In the 1960s, Chef Paul Bocuse introduced nouvelle cuisine, which represented a new way of cooking that stressed the simplicity of flavor, lightness, and freshness. According to Franklin (2020), the new way of cooking simplified preparation of French food since its chefs did not overcook it to retain its natural flavors. Steaming became fashionable as cooks emphasized keeping food as fresh as possible. However, in the 1980s, it marked the saturation point of nouvelle cuisine, forcing cooks to adopt the old haute cuisine (Masson, Debucquet, Fischler, & Merdji, 2016). Therefore, in the present-day, haute and nouvelle styles inspire the preparation of French food, making quality meals available to everyone. In France, cooks prioritize appearance, flavor, and quality of food, enhancing sensory and clean experiences.

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