| cuisine is the amazingly high standard to which all other | | | | culinary creations. |
| native cuisines must live up to. The country of France | | | | Cuisine Nouvelle is a more contemporary form of |
| is home of some of the finest cuisine in the world, and | | | | French cuisine that developed in the late 1970s, the |
| it is created by some of the finest master chefs in the | | | | offspring of traditional French cuisine. This is the most |
| world. The French people take excessive pride in | | | | common type of French food, served in French |
| cooking and knowing how to prepare a good meal. | | | | restaurants. Cuisine Nouvelle can generally be |
| Cooking is an essential part of their culture, and it adds | | | | characterized by shorter cooking times, smaller food |
| to one's usefulness if they are capable of preparing a | | | | portions, and more festive, decorative plate |
| good meal. | | | | presentations. Many French restaurant cuisines can be |
| Each of the four regions of France has a | | | | classified as Cuisine Nouvelle, but the more traditional |
| characteristic of its food all its own. French food in | | | | French restaurant cuisine would be classified as |
| general requires the use of lots of different types of | | | | Cuisine du Terroir, a more general form of French |
| sauces and gravies, but recipes for cuisine that | | | | cooking than Cuisine Nouvelle. Cuisine du Terroir is an |
| originated in the northwestern region of France tend to | | | | attempt to return to the more indigenous forms of |
| require the use a lot of apple ingredients, milk and | | | | French cooking, especially with reference to regional |
| cream, and they tend to be heavily buttered making | | | | differences between the north and south, or different |
| for an extremely rich (and sometimes rather heavy) | | | | areas such as the Loire Valley, Catalonia, and Rousillon. |
| meal. Southeastern French cuisine is reminiscent of | | | | These are all areas famous for their specific specialty |
| German food, heavy in lard and meat products such | | | | of French cuisine. As time has progressed, the |
| as pork sausage and sauerkraut. | | | | difference between a white wine from the Loire |
| On the other hand, southern French cuisine tends to be | | | | Valley and a wine from another area has slowly |
| a lot more widely accepted; this is generally the type | | | | diminished, and the Cuisine du Terroir approach to |
| of French food that is served in traditional French | | | | French cooking focuses on establishing special |
| restaurants. In the southeastern area of France, the | | | | characteristics between regions such as this. |
| cooking is a lot lighter in fat and substance. Cooks | | | | As part of their culture, the French incorporate wine |
| from the southeast of France tend to lean more | | | | into nearly every meal, whether it is simply as a |
| toward the side of a light olive oil more than any other | | | | refreshment or part of the recipe for the meal itself. |
| type of oil, and they rely heavily on herbs and | | | | Even today, it is a part of traditional French culture to |
| tomatoes, as well as tomato-based products, in their | | | | have at least one glass of wine on a daily basis. |