French cooking/cuisine topics: an appeal for more

[John Talbott]

Host's Sincere, Desperate, Forelock-tugging appeal

It is painfully apparent, when comparing us, vis a vis, for example, with Italy, that we have few threads on cooking and cuisine. I was reminded of this while dining tonight at a Magrebian resto where I cannot, but Colette can, make a better tagine than they. And then, Margaret Pilgrim's query made me aware that we do have issues worth discussing. Pti has offered to keep the ball rollling, but we need everyone to plunge in. I'll do my best. Thanks,

John

[Vinotas]

Host's Sincere, Desperate, Forelock-tugging appeal

It is painfully apparent, when comparing us, vis a vis, for example, with Italy, that we have few threads on cooking and cuisine.  I was reminded of this while dining tonight at a Magrebian resto where I cannot, but Colette can, make a better tagine than they.  And then, Margaret Pilgrim's query made me aware that we do have issues worth discussing. Pti has offered to keep the ball rollling, but we need everyone to plunge in.  I'll do my best.  Thanks,

John

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I think this is a fantastic idea and I'm surprised it hasn't been done before. Vis-avis Italian cooking, one thing that has always driven me crazy was how Italian food was viewed as simple with excellent ingredients but French meals were considered froo froo with heavy sauces.

Having grown up part-time in France, most of the best dishes I've had there were simple preparations with fresh ingredients. Sure, there have been sauces that were so thick that you could walk on them, but mostly these were at the bastions of fine dining (and they were generally fantastic, I might add).

Not being a sauce-fan, I usually have a KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) philosophy when cooking. I cook a lot, and I tend to make bistrot dishes most of the time at home.

OK, rant over.

Cheers!

Edited June 8, 2007 by Vinotas (log)

[John Talbott]

I think this is a fantastic idea and I'm surprised it hasn't been done before.

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(Well, it sort of was when Lucy/bleudauvergne was onboard fulltime, but.....) Ok vinotas, the ball is in your court and I've stroked it there gently like Agassi not Nadal, start a thread. Thanks.

[Ptipois]

Once I gather all my energy (two months of coqueluche have made me very lazy), I'll give a hand, I promise, and start with a region.

[John Talbott]

Once I gather all my energy (two months of coqueluche have made me very lazy), I'll give a hand, I promise, and start with a region.

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Pti, we'll give you all the help we can, except catching your whooping cough.

[sharonb]

The thing is that when I have a cooking post, I post it in the Cooking forum and not necessarily here... There is something very international about French cooking, such that I wouldn't necessarily think it only applied to the France forum.

What is your take on that?

[Ptipois]

True, but Italian cooking is just as international... even more so than French cooking. It should be pleasurable to the French ego to see French cooking discussed as some archetypal, nationless style of cooking, but it simply does not do justice to reality.

[Jmahl]

True, but Italian cooking is just as international... even more so than French cooking. It should be pleasurable to the French ego to see French cooking discussed as some archetypal, nationless style of cooking, but it simply does not do justice to reality.

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In my experience both French and Italian cooking are largely regional. They only become an internationalized style when viewed from the outside. In the opportunities I have have in speaking to Italians my experience is that they insist that traditional cooking is local specific. You hear things like, "we don't do it like that here."

Thank you for allowing me to confuse the issues.

Jmahl

[Ptipois]

They only become an internationalized style when viewed from the outside

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Agreed, except on this point. In the case of France, there is such a thing as an internationalized style viewed from the inside (because the French were instrumental in building it). It's the "export" category of French cooking that has been known internationally as "French cuisine" for about 2 centuries. However, it is far from covering the whole phenomenon, and it has to be distinguished from the other culinary aspects of France — regional, domestic, popular, etc. — which do not differ much from their equivalents in Italy or in other European countries.

French haute cuisine as the rest of the world knows it can be misleading. It can mask the complex reality of French cooking instead of helping to understand it. So indeed it does make a lot of sense to have threads about cooking in the French forum.

Edited June 9, 2007 by Ptipois (log)

[John Talbott]

The thing is that when I have a cooking post, I post it in the Cooking forum and not necessarily here... There is something very international about French cooking, such that I wouldn't necessarily think it only applied to the France forum.

What is your take on that?

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I think you've all got a good point. I think we have to be careful not to encroach on the Cooking forum's territory, but I think there are times when the query/thread is best posted here because the ingredients, preparation, persons knowledgable about answering etc are reading here rather than there. Again, I think Italy has set the pace/standard.

John

[Chufi]

I would love it if there were threads for different regions, with lots of people joining in to cook from a certain region for a month. I would not feel knowledgeable enough to start such a thread, but would be very happy to play along once its started. I´m sure many people mostly hanging out on the Cooking forum will - it takes only a couple of posts here and there on the Dinner thread, referring back to this forum, to get people interested - thtat´s how it worked for the regional Italy threads anyway.

[John Talbott]

I would love it if there were threads for different regions, with lots of people joining in to cook from a certain region for a month. I would not feel knowledgeable enough to start such a thread, but would be very happy to play along once its started. I´m sure many people mostly hanging out on the Cooking forum will - it takes only a couple of posts here and there on the Dinner thread, referring back to this forum, to get people interested - thtat´s how it worked for the regional Italy threads anyway.

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You're in luck; Pti has agreed to write a series and will start soon with Normandy.