The Evolution of Culinary Arts over the Centuries - Essay Example

CULINARY ARTS – PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE Introduction While there have been many individuals have contributed to the evolution of culinary arts over the centuries, there have been a few whose contribution has been more significant than most. Five such individuals who came from differing backgrounds are Caterina de Medici {a Queen}, Francois Vatel {son of a farm laborer}, Antoine Parmentier {a pharmacist}, Marie-Antoine Careme {a destitute kitchen boy} and Georges-Auguste Escoffier {a restaurant apprentice}. These five persons who greatly impacted culinary arts history between the 16th and 20th centuries have one thing in common - French nationality. Caterina de Medici Italian Caterina de Medici, who was born in 1519, was the niece of Lorenzo ‘The Magnificent’ de Medici, who ruled Florence {Italy}. She automatically obtained French nationality when she married Henry of Orleans, the King of France, at an early age. When she relocated to France from Italy, Caterina brought along a large entourage that included several cooks, all experts in Italian cooking which had contributed to the gastronomical supremacy of Florence for centuries. The exposition of their expertise by the Florentine cooks in France set off such a revolution in the history of culinary art that Caterina de Medici, without whom it would never have come about, is credited with laying the foundation for modern cuisine to flourish. The Florentine cooks introduced to the French new dishes such as peas and beans, duck in orange {canard a l’orange}, béchamel {balsa mella}, crepes {crespelle} and onion soup {carabaccia}. The cooks specializing in pastry-making displayed their expertise with items like pasta, fruits in syrup, marmalades, ice creams and sorbets. The Italians also demonstrated a totally new protocol of the dining table {in which Florence was far better than other Europeans} consisting of elegant table setting, high-quality silverware and glasses, fine embroidery and napkins, delightful perfumes and luxurious lingerie, and most of all, proper table etiquette. The impressive Italian contribution was topped by Caterina who unveiled the fork and demonstrated how it should be used. The Italian revelations enriched the existing French culinary arts {which was in a productive discipline of its own} allowing the French to improve and add to their own achievements (Chef2Chef Recipe Club). Chef Francois Vatel Nearly 100 years after Caterina de Medici and her Italian entourage began the French culinary arts’ revolutionizing process in France during the 16th century, a valuable and spurring contribution was provided by Francois Vatel, the son of a French farm worker called the ‘master of the kitchen’ because of his extraordinary skills in the culinary arts. His reputation spread so swiftly that he was first enticed by the Superintendent of Finances in Chantilly {France} to work in his kitchens, before moving on to officiate as a chef for Chantilly’s Prince of Conde. Chef Vatel was responsible for the creation of several new culinary dishes such as Crème Chantilly, Vatel Duck sauted in Madeira Wine, Lobster Quenelles with Shrimp Sauce, Turtle Soup, Creamed Chicken, Fried Trout, Anchovies Sevigne, Strawberry Bombe and Melon with Parma Ham. He was so dedicated to his career, and so passionate about achieving sumptuous excellence at all times in his cooking that he committed suicide when an insufficient quantity of fish was delivered, making it difficult for him to properly feed {in his distinctive Vatel style} King Louis XIV and his huge entourage during a gala dinner function (The Kitchen Project). Chef Antoine Parmentier Almost 100 years after Vatel’s 17th century culinary art exploits, it was the turn of Frenchman Antoine Augustine Parmentier to make a lasting contribution of his own. Although the potato was discovered nearly 2 centuries earlier, it was unknown in France. Parmentier, who worked as a pharmacist, recognized the vegetable’s immense culinary potential while serving as a Prussian prisoner in the Seven Years War of the 1750s. Determined to make it a regular part of French cuisine, Parmentier exaggerated the value of the potato by planting the crop in 50 acres of land and appointing guards to keep watch (Indepthinfo.com). His plan worked and his fellow citizens soon began eating it more and more. Parmentier invented a series of potato dishes such as hash browns, potato salad and a uniquely lavish 20-course dinner containing bread, soup, porridge and sponge cake all made totally of potato (Trevino). He also demonstrated how the potato could be used as a substitute for wheat flour – a valuable lesson that was gratefully used whenever wheat was scarce (Carpenter, 14). Parmentier’s exceptional efforts were primarily responsible for carving a special niche for the potato in French cuisine during the 17th century, from which position it was destined to move to wider and greater culinary accomplishments. Chef Marie-Antoine Careme Frenchman Marie-Antoine Careme’s contribution to culinary arts began in the 19th century. He is looked upon as the premier globally famous celebrity chef because he invented the distinctive high art concept of culinary art called ‘haute cuisine,’ a magnificent style of cooking preferred by celebrities, the rich elite and royalty. After experiencing a grueling destitute childhood during which he worked as a kitchen boy, Careme showed the first glimpse of his extraordinary culinary talent when he unveiled his ‘pieces montees’ {richly decorated centerpiece confections} in the display window of Sylvian Builly’s patisserie in Paris where he worked. The tall confections were made of sugar, marzipan and pastry in various architectural shapes like temples and pyramids. His ‘pieces montees’ gained such fame that Careme was called upon to provide creations for the rich elite in Paris society including French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Careme went on to work as chef de cuisine for several political bigwigs notably French government foreign representative and gourmand Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord at whose table he served such exquisite dishes at the Congress of Vienna in 1819 that the distinguished delegates’ ability to make aesthetic culinary judgments was totally updated (Culinary Institute Inc.). Careme’s other influences on culinary arts range from the commonplace {such as inventing the chef’s traditional headgear called the ‘toque’} to the speculative - like revolutionizing the field of sauces by not only creating a number of new varieties, but also grouping all of them into standard categories founded on 4 mother sauces. His second speculative influence involved putting an end to the system of serving all dishes at the same time and replacing it with the practice of serving every dish in the sequence stated on a menu {called ‘service a la russe’}. Careme rounded off his very impressive contribution to the field of culinary arts by writing many encyclopedias {such as the 5-volume L’Art de la Cuisine} on cookery containing a large number of his own recipes, layouts for menus, lavish table arrangements and plans for arranging professional kitchens (Culinary Institute Inc.). Chef Georges-Auguste Escoffier Adding his own contributions during the latter part of the 19th and early 20th century, Frenchman Georges-Auguste Escoffier impacted culinary arts not only in France during his time {as the previous 4 individuals detailed herein did}, but in other Western countries as well. His illustrious career, which began in Nice {France} where he served as an apprentice in his uncle’s restaurant, took him to several places ranging from the stylish French Le Petit Moulin Rouge in Paris to fashionable high-class restaurants in Monte Carlo, London and Switzerland. Escoffier impacted culinary arts in 5 distinctive ways. Firstly, he renovated and modernized the menu by not only simplifying the ‘service a la russe’ style that was earlier introduced by Careme, but also by inventing the first ‘a la Carte’ menu. Secondly, he modified the cooking style by decreasing the number of courses served, stressing on utilization of seasonal foods and less heavy sauces, and eliminating extravagantly ornamented garnishes and vulgar food displays designed to impress people. Thirdly, he modified professional kitchen arrangements by replacing the existing individualized parts that operated independently {causing labor duplication and wastage} with a unified single unit. Fourthly, Escoffier invented a large number of dishes, the most famous of them being ‘Peach Melba’ which he created as a mark of honor and respect to Austrian singer Nellie Melba when she stayed at Hotel Savoy in London where Escoffier worked as Head of Restaurant Services. Lastly, he wrote several valuable cookery books such as Le Guide Culinaire and Le Livre des Menus to impart his extraordinary culinary talent to others (Culinary Institute Inc.). Escoffier’s impact on culinary arts also proved to be advantageous to the hotel industry. Working in collaboration with Cesar Ritz, Escoffier introduced important changes by uplifting the grades of hotel hospitality to great heights. Cesar Ritz went on to open many of his own hotels like Hotel Ritz {Paris} and Hotel Carlton {London} in both of which Escoffier organized the restaurants and restaurant services. Escoffier’s immense contributions to culinary arts and his considerable impact on the hotel industry not only earned him several honors {such as Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur in 1920), but also prompted Kaiser Wilhelm II to praise Escoffier by saying: “I am the Emperor of Germany, but you are the Emperor of Chefs” (Culinary Institute Inc.). Impact of the Five Individuals on Present and Future Culinary Arts The new and impressive culinary arts demonstrated by Caterina de Medici’s Italian entourage served not only to revolutionize the French culinary arts during the 16th century, but the resultant Italian-French combination set the platform for the modernization of the entire Western European style of cooking (Gisslen, 8) which built on further enhancements and developments during the next 5 centuries to reach its present stage of grand excellence not only in Western nations but in most parts of the world. Today, Caterina de Medici’s influence is still very much apparent in many ways in any high-class restaurant such as the widespread use of the fork, excellent dining table arrangements, refined table etiquette and several of the Florentine chefs’ recipes {like onion soup and the very popular pasta} that were introduced to the French in the 16th century. Chef Francois Vatel’s 17th century exploits continue to influence present day culinary arts in the form of his various culinary recipes {especially his Crème Chantilly and trademark Vatel Duck sauted in Madeira Wine} that high-class restaurants gratefully follow. Chef Antoine Augustine Parmentier, who popularized the potato and highlighted its valuable nutritive value in France during the 18th century, set off a chain of events that made the vegetable initially popular in France and the rest of Western Europe before developments in the culinary arts during the following centuries catapulted the potato into its present day status as a very popular global mass consumption item; today, it is used abundantly in a bewildering variety of dishes that are not only made in homes but served in restaurants of all grades all over the world. In addition to this, several of Parmentier’s own tasty potato dishes {notably hash browns and potato salad} have presently become household names. Given the undeniable fact that the French contribution and influence is the foundation from which the present culinary arts structure has evolved, Chef Marie-Antoine Careme, who Dumas praised as the ‘apostle of gastronomes’ (Ferguson, 76) gifted the ‘haute cuisine’ concept to culinary arts in the 19th century. Since then it has undergone perhaps the most enhancement and development among all culinary art concepts to develop into its very impressive stage today wherein the uppermost echelons of society including royalty, film stars, politicians and other rich elite members mandatorily patronize the style. Secondly, Careme’s unique ‘pieces montees’ centerpiece decorations made of sugar and marzipan in various intriguing shapes commonly adorn present day celebration events especially birthdays and weddings. Thirdly, his two seemingly simple yet unique inventions {the chef’s ‘toque’ hat and the menu} are presently visible in any restaurant all over the world. Lastly, his innumerable recipes {especially his sauces} that are documented in his valuable cuisine books are presently used not only by restaurant chefs but by all classes of people interested in serving a memorable meal. Perhaps the most significant contributor to culinary arts after Careme, Chef Georges-Auguste Escoffier’s 20th century legacy continues to be seen at present in the famous ‘a la Carte’ menus presented by high class restaurants in addition to his many recipes {especially his trademark ‘Peach Melba’} that are contained in the several books that are regularly referred mostly by chefs but also by ordinary people all over the world. Escoffier’s impact on the hotel industry {professional kitchen arrangements and upgrading of hotel hospitality and restaurant service levels} in relation to culinary arts continues to be presently followed by star-grade hotels {especially the Ritz and Carlton chains in whose premier kitchen layouts Escoffier was personally involved} and high-class restaurants all over the world. While the impact on culinary arts that was made by the five individuals in the past continues to be gratefully followed by the present generation, it is certain that their vast and indelible influence will be honed and developed to lift culinary arts to greater levels in future. References: “About Chef Francois Vatel.” The Kitchen Project. 2005. 22 Dec. 2009. Carpenter, Kenneth John. “Protein and Energy: A Study of Changing Ideas in Nutrition.” USA: Cambridge University Press. 1994. Ferguson, Priscilla Parkhurst. “Accounting for Taste: The Triumph of French Cuisine.” USA: University of Chicago Press. 2004. Gisslen, Wayne. “Professional Cooking.” USA: John Wiley & Sons. 2007. “Inspiration from Master Chefs.” Culinary Institute Inc. 2009. 22 Dec. 2009. “Potato! – History.” Indepthinfo.com. 2009. 22 Dec. 2009. Trevino, Laramie. “Garden-Grown Spuds Surpass Market Varieties.” The San Francisco Chronicle. 2005. 22 Dec. 2009. “Under the Sign of the Lily – The Food of Tuscany.” Chef2Chef Recipe Club Magazine. Vol.5, Issue 123. 2003. 22 Dec. 2009. Read More