Culinary Traditions Of France

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