Indulge by Karen Anand: Ooh la la!

I hear a lot of people are off to France this summer and the centre of attraction will hopefully be to enjoy some great French produce – cheese, wine, chocolates and bread at least. French food has acquired a reputation of being the western world’s greatest culinary gift and the term ‘fine dining’ is almost synonymous with the French restaurant. The French themselves are of course the best ambassadors of their own cultural and culinary ‘superiority’. How did this begin and more so, is it true today? Haute Cuisine or classic French cooking has been the focus for much of the criticism of French food but it is also a major reason that France continues to be such a top culinary nation. The first French restaurant (not inn or bistro) opened about 200 years ago. It was the French revolution in 1789 that led to the creation of top notch restaurants after the execution of rich aristocrats. They had previously employed chefs and kitchen staff and once they were gone, chefs had to find a way to earn a living. Along with skill and creativity came an academic rigour to their trade perfecting French dishes until it reached a level of technical excellence unmatched by any other cuisine. In the early 20th century, the famous chef Auguste Escoffier of the Paris Ritz, standardised and codified cooking practices and recipes, many of which are time consuming and rule bound….these are still followed today throughout the world. Look at Julia Child’s Bible to French gastronomy, ‘Mastering the art of French Cooking’ in 2 volumes and the Larousse Gastronomique like War and Peace of the food world.

Chef Patrick Terrien at Le Cordon BleuThe French treat their chefs like superstars. Way before Masterchef came on the scene. French chefs were flying around the world like missionaries, waving the culinary French flag with zeal and converting many in the process. But it isn’t just fancy food which I would term “French”. The bistro, usually a family run establishment serving fresh produce of the day, is as much “French” as any Michelin star restaurant, as is the patisserie and the boulangerie. The French baguette – a simple loaf of crusty white bread about 2 feet long, has become the symbol of the entire nation. In fact it was Louis XIV who preferred white bread made with yeast to the previously whole wheat sourdough more hearty style of bread and so the baguette made from refined flour became a status symbol. The French love their food and they are obsessed with quality and produce and will go to any lengths for the correct butter or breed of chicken. There is a huge respect for the “produits du terroir” (food of the soil) and every corner of France associates itself with a few exceptional ingredients essential to dishes of that area – poultry from Bresse, salt from Guerande, melons from Provence, shell fish from Brittany and of course great wines and cheese from every region in the country.

French tripIn the 70s, Europe witnessed a trend known as ‘nouvelle cuisine’. This was a term to describe the cooking of legendary French chefs like Paul Bocuse, Roger Vergé and so on, which was a reaction to the classical, stuffy, orthodox style of traditional cooking. They replaced heavy, flour thickened sauces with light ones, olive oil often replaced butter and cooking times were reduced to preserve the natural flavours of the food.  The result was a new simple cuisine which was both elegant, light with an emphasis on presentation. There were many jokes about Nouvelle cuisine for at least a decade after that: people complained about the small portions – the famous joke doing the circuit at the time “waiter, waiter, I’ve ordered steak and I can’t find it on my plate. Waiter – move the pea over and you’ll find it underneath”…and the fact that the food was always under-cooked and over-priced. Looking back, what emerged was a whole new way of looking at food. Food moved into the world of artistry. Molecular gastronomy is the 90s version of Nouvelle cuisine. It is a term coined in 1988 by a Hungarian physicist and a French chemist to describe and explore the science behind traditional cooking methods. It must be said that even French chefs are using ‘compressions’, ‘foams’, ‘froths’, ‘vapours’, ‘spherification’, ‘deconstruction’ – terms which would feel more at home in a chemistry lab than in a three star Michelin kitchen. Classical dishes are deconstructed (product – garnish- sauce) and reconstructed with a more intense and defined flavour which takes the diner completely by surprise. However classical French cuisine, whether in a restaurant or a corner bistro, with its firm emphasis on taste, produce and meticulous execution, still has a fan in me

Demystifying French food – French dishes and what they mean

Frothy Caramel with Coffee and caramel cream from Le Cordon BleuGratin – a baked dish with melted cheese on top.

Vichyssoise- a cold creamy leek and potato soup created by a French chef in the US

Croissant- everyone’s favourite French morning pastry, named after their “cresent” shape

Salade Niçoise – a salad which originated in Nice in the south of France containing everything from the area- tuna fish, little black olives, bell peppers, tomatoes, French beans and anchovies

Baguette- the most popular French loaf of bread – a long, crispy stick

Quiche – “real” men may not eat this according to an old English food guide, but this pastry shell filled with a creamy, savoury custard and bake, has become popular in the most unlikely places.

Crêpes – thin pancakes, the most famous one being Suzette, served with a buttery orange sauce and flambéed with orange liqueur

Omelette- lightyears away from our indigenous ones, these are big, creamy, light and fluffy with a soft, almost runny centre and stuffed with anything from herbs to ham and cheese.

Soufflés- egg custards which “puff up” or rise when they are baked. Cause for much excitement. Cheese ones and chocolate ones are very popular

Crème caramel- your basic upside down caramel custard

Crème Brulée- the same thing but with a sugar crust which is burnt with a torch and made with cream instead of milk

Tournedos Rossini- a filet of steak topped with foie gras (goose liver) and truffles (the underground black fungus not the chocolate). Named after the Italian composer, Rossini, who ordered it in a Parisian restaurant

Ratatouille- a vegetable stew with aubergines, tomatoes, courgettes, onions, garlic and herbs from Provence in the south of France…they always offer this to vegetarians

Lobster Thermidor- the famous grilled Lobster doused with white wine, béchamel sauce, cheese

Bouillabaisse- the legendary seafood stew from Marseilles with an assortment of fish mussels etc in a tomato broth. It can be humble (traditionally the scorpion fish rascasse was integral to it) or fancy with lobster and should be accompanied by rouille, a garlicky sauce

Soupe àl”Oignon- a thick soup made by slow cooking browned onions in stock and finished off with a slice of melted gruyere (cheese) on toast

Terrine- traditionally a paté made in an earthenware dish (terrine) but vegetable terrines which have become fashionable often imply layers of vegetables, set together and served cold in slices

Duck à l’Orange-roast duck with a sauce made from orange juice, Grand Marnier, sugar and vinegar

Coq au Vin- chicken stew slowcooked in an obscene amount of red wine, mushrooms, onions, bacon and stock

Boeuf Bourguignon- a slowcooked beef stew cooked traditionally with red wine from Burgundy

Steak au Poivre- filet of steak panfried with loads of crushed pepper, flambéed with Cognac and finished off with a little cream in the pan which creates the sauce.

Sole Meunière- panfried fish (sole) with lemon, butter and parsley

Where to find French products in Pune:

La Bouchee d’Or – French baker Brice Poisson churns out fabulous baguette, mouthwatering almond croissant and a range of really authentic patisserie and bakery products, freshly baked every day

  • 6, Ground Floor, Gera Plaza, Boat Club Road, Off, Dhole Patil Road, Tel: 020 26160400
  • Clarion Park, Behind Gaikwad Petrol Pump, Opposite Patanjali, Aundh Tel: 073876 11573

Le Plaisir – Siddharth’s macarons, bread, chocolate mousse cake, croque madame

  • Prabhat Road, Opposite Cox and Kings, Near Kelkar Nursing Home

Tel: 020 6524 6526

Some of the best chocolates and patisserie in the city:

  • Hyatt Regency, Ground Level, Off Pune Nagar Rd, Pune,

Tel: 020 6645 1507

Pune Baking Company

Fantastic patisserie and in house made chocolates

  • JW Marriott Hotel, Senapati Bapat Road, Durga Nagar, Model Colony, Shivaji Nagar,

Tel: 020 6683 2360

Daily Treats

Newly relaunched in the lobby with good breads and sandwiches

  • The Westin, 36/3B, KP Annexe, MundhwaRoad, Mundhwa, Tel: 020 67210064

Karen Anand04-06-16Food Guru Karen Anand is one of India’s best known food and travel writers. Based in Pune, Karen has over the last 25 years also overseen the production of gourmet products. She is also founder of the popular Farmers’ Market which now runs in seven Indian cities. Indulge will appear every other Saturday on Pune365.

 

Karen Anand