Trials and Tribulations of…French cooking versus English cooking
From Paris by Pascale Vernetti
Food in France is big business…I realized over Easter when faced with two amateur chefs ( my father and an uncle) trying to decipher the recipe of slow cooked lamb and discussing in great length the merits of using a deep pan, pot or a shallow dish. Counting out the number of garlic cloves was paramount…I had to get militant and boot this disorganized army into order so as to get the food ready for the following day!!
That is when I realized out how important food is to the French family. This debate did, in fact, brought us closer and made me realize that the act of cooking can be the pillar of family harmony!
I always thought that only the French talked about food while eating… apparently not! All nations around the Mediterranean Sea proceed likewise. Whether in England, eating, was, 15 years ago, an activity solely done to sustain oneself!
However with Brits gaining more wealth, middle-class started to travel abroad to the “continent” on a more regular basis, the hobby of cooking became, like DIY, a passion! We only saw TV programs on eating, DIY, doing DIY while eating…cooking while doing DIY ? remain to see!
The Brits embraced it with a fury: restaurants won Michelin stars…the best onologist in the world was British…
Gathering one’s family around a good dinner at night on a regular basis is definitely a French activity…in England the children eat after school at 4Pm and have a cookie and a glass of milk just before bed. Parents just grab whatever is available and crash in front of the TV. In France this is not thinkable.
But how about the food itself? I’d say that France has still definitely got the freshest…crispiest and most diverse products by far. England with its massive supermarkets driven by margin and profit, still offers nice town markets with fresh products …at a prohibitive price!!
Thank God for Jamie Olliver , a new age chef, who, bless his cotton socks, tried to introduce a stable way of eating in the school system as it was promptly established that the government was spending more money per head on prisoners than on its primary school pupils…
I for one, am extremely grateful to the primary school system who gave children a piece of fruit per day… as a result, my son loves pears and apples.
Looking through my cookbooks – both in English or French- I cannot help but notice how innovative the Brits are when mixing spices or sweet and savoury ingredients such as cooking ham in demerara sugar or eating stilton while sipping port, mixing Cinnamon spice with chilies or vanilla with pepper.
This is what I enjoy the most about cooking : trying out new recipes especially when they come from exotic places. I visualize myself wearing an Indian sari when cooking my Punjabi’s friend best ever authentic chicken curry and get really excited when I need to explore a Chinese superstore in Belleville in order to locate the ravioli dough to prepare a Wonton noodle soup. I believe that is what makes the British cooking so different from the French cooking : they embrace other cultures as their own. When asked a few years ago what was the national dish in the UK, most Brits answered a curry!
French cooking is, I suppose, very French. One must respect the correct procedure of cooking, the measuring of quantity is a must and presentation is everything – The French have a point as testing a dish begins with the eyes! Bless the new trend of verrines Eg (the art of using glassware to display food)…this does all the hard work of presentation for me.
Refinement would be the key word when thinking of French food. When I compare the photos of the dishes in the cookbooks, the French win every time…colour is subtle, the way the dish is layed out is elegant, every small details has been thought about….
So French cooking or English cooking?
Of course there is no overall victor, for the merits of each are so different. The French most definitely win on quality of products, but the English win on their recipes full of originality and flair. For the presentation I would have to pick the French for their meticulously arranged, artistic dishes… always served by a Brit smiling attentive waiter of course!
From Paris Pascale Vernetti
Bicultural career coach - p.vernetti@hotmail.com
Tel 0033 6 32 05 20 04 Paris - France
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