Food, for better or worse, is similar to fashion in that styles change. We are going though what I believe is a second era of nouvelle cusine. The first go around brought us some very odd combinations and a few successes. Some of the good ideas stuck and rest fell by the wayside. I strongly believe we are in the same place now and that a lot of what we see today will eventually fall by the wayside. But when we compare all of the acedemic displays of food today to that of formerly glorious French food of the not so past, the French food seems old and set in its ways. Well, that's tradition for you. I'm sorry it can't satisfy every whimsical idea the comes its way. But French food is held to higher standards. We don't ask this question of Italian food do we? I was watching a horrible cooking show that was supposedly French a few weeks ago. All the traditional French dishes were re-interpreted with N. African spices or an Asian twist. Do we do that with Italian food? Do we do that with Japanese food? Only French food seems to require this constant updating less it be judged to be old and stale. No, eventually we will desire the return to traditional French food. At some point we will come to realize that not every dish needs to be made with liquid nitrogen. We will also come to realize that onion soup is something we actually crave while the 22 course tasting menu at blah-blah-blah may have been good it failed to leave its stamp on our memory or inspire these cravings. French food is simply waiting for its revival. And when it does, I'm sure we will take the best techniques of the present and apply them to the recipes of the past. I'm looking forward to it. In the meantime those of us who know and cook French food will be entrusted to keep the tradition alive.
Food, for better or worse, is similar to fashion in that styles change. We are going though what I believe is a second era of nouvelle cusine. The first go around brought us some very odd combinations and a few successes. Some of the good ideas stuck and rest fell by the wayside. I strongly believe we are in the same place now and that a lot of what we see today will eventually fall by the wayside. But when we compare all of the acedemic displays of food today to that of formerly glorious French food of the not so past, the French food seems old and set in its ways. Well, that's tradition for you. I'm sorry it can't satisfy every whimsical idea the comes its way. But French food is held to higher standards. We don't ask this question of Italian food do we? I was watching a horrible cooking show that was supposedly French a few weeks ago. All the traditional French dishes were re-interpreted with N. African spices or an Asian twist. Do we do that with Italian food? Do we do that with Japanese food? Only French food seems to require this constant updating less it be judged to be old and stale. No, eventually we will desire the return to traditional French food. At some point we will come to realize that not every dish needs to be made with liquid nitrogen. We will also come to realize that onion soup is something we actually crave while the 22 course tasting menu at blah-blah-blah may have been good it failed to leave its stamp on our memory or inspire these cravings. French food is simply waiting for its revival. And when it does, I'm sure we will take the best techniques of the present and apply them to the recipes of the past. I'm looking forward to it. In the meantime those of us who know and cook French food will be entrusted to keep the tradition alive.