WCC Day 9: France

In this latest installment of our World Cup Cuisine series I tackle the illustrious French and I hope to  do their prowess both on the field, and in the kitchen, fitting justice.  As for the bedroom, I’ll try and keep that far from this discussion.

France crossed a new threshold in qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa?, having never before graced the finals on four consecutive occasions…will this year be different? Les Bleus have become a regular presence in recent years, having earned a reputation as one of world football?s leading teams since the late 1990s.

France’s storied culinary history warrants nary a mention, and I’m sure we’re all rather well acquainted with fine french cuisine.  Being of French descent myself I’d like to take the chance, in the rest of this article, to highlight a few key French culinary elements and I’ll be wrapping things up with a most delectable recipe: A Pork Terrine courtesy of James Martin. Game on!

French Cuisine History

French cuisine has had an extensive evolution over centuries. Starting in the Middle Ages, a unique and creative national cuisine began forming. Various social movements, political movements, and the work of skilled chefs came together to create this movement. Through the years the styles of French cuisine have been given different names, and have been modified by various master-chefs. During their lifetimes these chefs have been held in high regard for contributions to the culture of the country. The national cuisine developed primarily in the city of Paris with the chefs to French royalty, but eventually it spread throughout the country and was even exported overseas.

Let’s fast forward a few years from there and land in the 1960s.  It was at this time that the term nouvelle cuisine was once again used for the first time since the late 19th century.  It was used to describe a new wave in French cooking, piloted by Paul Bocuse, Jean Troisgros and Pierre Troisgros, Michel Guérard, Roger Vergé and Raymond Oliver. This new style of cooking took on many different characteristics:

A rejection of excessive complication in cooking.
The cooking times for most fish, seafood, game birds, veal, green vegetables and pâtés was greatly reduced in an attempt to preserve the natural flavors. Steaming was an important trend from this characteristic.
The cuisine was made with the freshest possible ingredients.
Large menus were abandoned in favor of shorter menus.
Strong marinades for meat and game ceased to be used.
They stopped using heavy sauces such as espagnole and béchamel thickened with flour based “roux”, in favor of seasoning their dishes with fresh herbs, quality butter, lemon juice, and vinegar.
They used regional dishes for inspiration instead of haute cuisine dishes.
New techniques were embraced and modern equipment was often used; Bocuse even used microwave ovens.
The chefs paid close attention to the dietary needs of their guests through their dishes.
The chefs were extremely inventive and created new combinations and pairings.

It’s thanks to this ability to re-invent itself that French Cuisine has remained atop the fine dining circuit for so many years, and many more to come.

Typical Foods

All food groups are well covered in French cuisine.  Typical vegetables include potatoes, green beans, carrots, leeks, turnip, shallots and others.  Fungi have a very special spot in French cuisine as truffles, mushrooms, porcini and oyster mushrooms find their way into expensive orgasm inducing dishes.

As for fruits, you can easily find oranges, tomatoes, tangerines, apricots, apples, various berries and grapes in the typical French diet. Most meats are also part of the diet, but add to that frog, snails, horse and goose and you’ve got a distinctively french menu. French cuisine shines mostly thanks to the array of wonderful herbs the French have cultivated over the centuries and if you find tarragon, sage, fennel, lavender, marjoram or rosemary in your dish, you can most certainly thank the French.

And how could we forget wine?  I could spend a whole day rambling on about french wine, but I think I’ll have to write up an article dedicated to French wines.  You can also check out what our resident wop and frog had to say about wines in Italy and France.

Meal Structure

Breakfast: Le petit déjeuner (breakfast) is often a quick meal consisting of “tartines” (slices) of french bread with jelly, croissants or pain au chocolat (a pastry filled with chocolate) along with coffee or tea.

Lunch: Le déjeuner (lunch) was once a two hour mid-day meal but has recently seen a trend toward the one hour lunch break. Sunday lunches are often longer and are taken with the family.

Dinner: Le dîner (dinner) often consists of three courses, hors d’?uvre or entrée (introductory course often soup), plat principal (main course), and a cheese course or dessert, sometimes with a salad offered before the cheese or dessert. Yogurt may replace the cheese course, while a normal everyday dessert would be fresh fruit. The meal is often accompanied by bread, wine and mineral water.  Restaurants often open at 7:30pm for dinner, a marked difference with the North American supper.

World Cup Cuisine Dish: Terrine Au Porc

Of French descent, I often times feel like my daily cooking barely connects back to my ancestry, and it?s with this thought that I decided I?d dive into something distinctly French, a savory terrine. A terrine is a French forcemeat loaf that is served at room temperature. Similar to paté, a terrine uses more coarsely chopped ingredients.

This terrine makes use of in season asparagus and leeks, both Ontario grown and purchased at our local farmers market. Pair this forcemeat dish with some herb crackers, a fig spread and some cheese and you?ve got the perfect feast for a Sunday brunch.

For the full recipe and an image gallery of the process behind a terrine, simply click here.