Moving beyond French cuisine/escoffier

[Stewey]

I have seen the advice given repeatedly on this board, and elsewhere, that we should get over the theory that french cuisine and/or escoffier is "THE" style of cooking that we should learn.

Well, today, I FINALLY agree with that advice!

There are WAY too many reasons why I came to this conclusion, but I just want to share my feelings.

I grew up cooking mexican food. I started at age 3 or 4 with my mom teaching me some easy basic dishes. Throughout the years my love for cooking grew and I have gained experience with all kinds of food from various regions.

Yet, I always would come back to french cooking out of fear that I would not be a complete "person" without it--at the expense of denying, to some extent, my mexican cooking experience.

Today, after making a final dish for my wife, I finally reached my limits with "proper" french technique using Escoffier. It was cotlette d'agneu a la bretton (lamb chops with a veal reduction and flageolets in bretton sauce). It was time intensive mostly because the flageolets required two different sauces (including sauce espagnole-which Pepin called outdated and not made very often) to make the sauce bretton, not counting locating items for and actually preparing the veal stock for the flageolets and the chops.

Rest of the story short, and although the meal was still AMAZING, something just clicked in me that I realized that the final product is what counts. It is nice to know the classic preparations and I will continue learning them...but my previous notions of having french cooking be "THE" style that MUST be at the forefront of my repetoire is now gone.

I now feel no shame in focusing all my attention back to my mexican roots or other styles.

TIME FOR NEW ADVENTURES!

[akila001]

Hi Stewey,

I agree with you. I am French, and I think French food is phenomenal. Yet French food represents so many different types of culture, trends and cooking style. It would be even hard to talk about one french style only.

Cooking is an art, and there is no true way to learn it whether it is French, Mexican, Asian, etc. In the end, you will always learn techniques not to be neglected.

I am glad you will go back to the food that makes you YOU.

[kakibush@chef]

Hello,

First an overlook on my situation: My theme is a mix of modern and africa.
But the food needs to go down well with about anyone in the world.. To put my opinion short, i use alot of differt influances on local and international trends, but for some reason, I believe that a huge ammount of the basics and science comes down to the Frenchman. In alot of cooking, food can be created by putting all sorts of ideas together. To add the sums up, in a couple more years, imagine how good food really will become : PERFECT

[Suzanne]

If it tastes good, it is good. (apologies to Duke Ellington )
If it's made with skill and care and love, it is good. (all of us )
French food, well done, is good. So are Italian, Mexican, Senegalese, Thai, Peruvian, German, Croatian, Mogul, Sichuan, etc. etc. etc. etc. (Suzanne )

The importance of Escoffier is not so much the outcome -- the classic dishes -- but the techniques. Knowing how to make basic sauces, how to make even cuts quickly, how to sauté and poach and fillet a fish: these are skills that can be applied to any cuisine.

[HotChef]

it does not matter which cuisine you cook, i f you have a good fresh basic prep/ soups / sauces half your work is done already.
the classic cuisine of excoffier / paul bocuse/ vatel is basically all the same. good prep / fresh ingredients / carefull cooking.
and for that you don't have to invent the wheel again...