BRIEFING
immigrant and more. Tis diversity concerns places of practice and revolves around specific chefs. Te first chefs were artisans and servants, whose status evolved in parallel with the formalization of gastronomy, says Jean-Robert Pitte in Histoire des Cuisiniers en France, until the contemporary coexistence of artisans, assemblers, creators and managers. Tis French heritage is rich... and heavy at the same time. In Mythologies, philosopher Roland Barthes viewed the national narrative surrounding French gastronomy as nurturing a kind of nostalgia for a culinary golden age. Te risk? A frozen gastronomy, cut off from its living customs. Yet its vitality lies precisely in movement: crossbreeding, transmission, experimentation, and invention. French cuisine now co-exists with other
equally creative and influential cuisines, including Spanish, Japanese, Peruvian, Danish, and Korean. In 2003, journalist Arthur Lubow announced in Te Guardian that the phenomenon of chef Ferran Adrià’s elBulli restaurant in Catalonia meant that French cuisine no longer led the world. Tis critical view must be qualified: Adrià himself acknowledges the major influence of Escoffier’s Guide Culinaire and Nouvelle Cuisine Française on his avant-garde trajectory. French heritage continues to shape and inspire, even in places where people claim to be free of it. French chefs today realize that France
cannot rest on its inherited prestige. Te vegetalization of menus, the valorization of “neglected resources” and the relocalization of supplies noted by Frédéric Zancanaro in La créativité culinaire: Les trois étoiles au guide Michelin, reflect a new form of French culinary intelligence, as chefs deal with the imperatives of sustainability, transparency, corporate and social responsibility. Consideration of culinary and
gastronomic culture at university requires a multi-disciplinary approach. Only then can French cuisine and gastronomy be appreciated not merely as a fixed heritage, but as a living cultural project.
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F
rench culinary culture has its roots in a rich and complex history, shaped by centuries of
exchange, innovation, and regional traditions. French cuisine is considered as an art that combines respect for the terroir with the quest for excellence. And it’s the diversity of
France’s terroirs, the richness of its local produce, that really spawned French gastronomy. Each region has contributed its own specialties, techniques, and ingredients, creating a unique culinary mosaic. Dishes from sun-drenched Provence, for example, are often infused with aromatic herbs. Trough the ages, French
food has been influenced by movements of people and goods. When the Romans invaded, they
Co-chairs of FCSI France, Sylvain Caussignac from HACS and Restauration CONSEIL; and Nicolas Sadmi from ALMA Consulting
brought with them advanced agricultural methods, plus new crops, such as olives, and vines. In the Middle Ages, as trade routes to the East flourished, cuisine was marked by powerful flavors and the use of rare spices. Ten during the Renaissance, when Italian chefs arrived at the French court, bringing refinement, French gastronomy began to take shape. Te 17th century saw the
emergence of the first codified recipes and the birth of haute cuisine, thanks in particular to figures such as François Pierre La Varenne. Tis movement culminated in the 19th century when Auguste Escoffier modernized and organized professional cooking. Today, French cuisine is a
balance of tradition and modernity, a tribute to terroir and creativity. Each dish is journey through time that celebrates France’s rich gastronomic heritage. It is this heritage that chefs strive to pass on in Michelin-starred cuisine.
“For me, French gastronomy is an art of living; a balance between tradition and modernity. A passion handed down from generation to generation.”
Michelin-starred chef Guillaume Pape of Restaurant L’Embrun
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