France: Home of the Finest Cooking

I’m so excited to start the fall off with our culinary “travels” to France! And since the summer Olympics were just in Paris this year, it got me thinking about French cuisine.  French cooking is still considered to be some of the best in the world, so this should be a delicious journey!

French cuisine started off like any other in the European world. Heavily influenced by the spice trade, other countries and a shifting political atmosphere, it really didn’t find its own unique flair and presence until the Medieval Ages. At that time, Paris became a sort of center for many of the medieval guilds that sprung up. These guilds helped people learn the different trades and arts and kept the secrets, rules and traditons of the trades. Different levels were conferred as you advanced through the guild.  

This is one reason why the prominence of French cooking began to take center stage as Europe moved further along in its history. Cooking schools sprung up many of which became very well known. The aristocracy of France expected the best and the best chefs came to prove their skills and learn new practices. French cooking gained its reputation and having a French chef became the height of style and a mark of wealth.

And French cooking has never quite lost its allure as we can tell by the popularity of Julia Child’s cookbooks that came out in the 1960s, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. French cooking, even today, is known for its elegance, good flavor and innovation.

But what really makes French cooking so good? Maybe it’s all that cheese and wine? 🙂 Or the freshness of the ingredients? Some of those things we are going to explore in other posts, but I think one of the real reasons French cooking is so good is all the time and apprecation put into making the best dishes that you can and really enjoying the food before you! Definitely a good lesson we all can learn!