French food quotes | The Rambling Epicure

Food History: Before there were Restaurants, there were Street Kitchens

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, October 5, 2012 Permalink 0

Some form of restaurant has existed ever since humans have been eating. The phenomenon grew as large cities formed, and as people traveled on the ancient silk roads in the Middle East and China, and in the Roman Empire, often in the form of inns where one could both sleep and eat.

Street kitchens and food trucks are by no means a modern invention. Jean-Robert Pitte says in his essay “The Rise of the Restaurant”:

Throughout the world, the principal type of eating establishment has always been the street kitchen, where a person can buy a precooked dish for a modest sum. They have always existed in China and still exist throughout Asia, even in industrial and postindustrial countries such as Japan…Street restaurants are still common in Latin America and the Middle East and Africa… (from A Culinary History: Food, edited by Jean-Louis Flandrin and Massimo Montanari)

French Food Fact: What is the true meaning of the word “fondue”?

Published by Jonell Galloway + Saturday, November 19, 2011 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

For most of us, the word “fondue” conjures up images of poking those long skinny forks into a piece of bread and dipping it into a Swiss-style melted cheese fondue on the table in front of us, while sitting in a rustic chalet in the mountains with a beautiful view out over the mountains. Fondue certainly can mean that, but it doesn’t always.

The word literally means “melted” in French and should, if all be told, be used as an adjective. Although the name has been twisted a bit from the original meaning over the years, it still strongly retains traces of the original meaning, since it always includes the sense of something solid like cheese or chocolate melting into a sauce or pulp. The one exception to this is Burgundy fondue, which is basically like a smaller version of the medieval boiling pot of oil that was poured over the heads of invaders, and if spilled on you, it may not kill you, but it is highly possible it will leave you with lifetime scars.

The original fondue originated in Switzerland, and consists of a cheese sauce made with cheese, corn flour, kirsch, garlic and sometimes flavorings, such as wild mushrooms, tomatoes, shallots, depending on the canton.

Eighteenth-century French gastronome Brillat-Savarin also used the term in his Physiologie du goût, or Physiology of Taste, considered one of the great classics of all time on French cuisine. His fondue consisted of scrambled eggs and cheese, and the cheese was melted.

Many vegetable preparations also go by the name fondue. When vegetables are cooked slowly in fat for a very long time, they eventually start to “melt” and form a pulp. They can then be used to make sauces or as constituent elements in other dishes, for example fondue of carrots or fondue of onions.

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, November 17, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Thursday, November 17, 2011 Permalink 0

by Simón de Swaan

XVIII . He who plays host without giving his personal care to the repast is unworthy of having friends to invite to it.—Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin was a French lawyer and politician, and gained fame as an epicure and gastronome. His famous work, Physiologie du goût (Physiology of Taste), was published in December 1825. The full title is Physiologie du Goût, ou Méditations de Gastronomie Transcendante; ouvrage théorique, historique et à l’ordre du jour, dédié aux Gastronomes parisiens, par un Professeur, membre de plusieurs sociétés littéraires et savantes. The book has never been out of print since it first appeared, two months before Brillat-Savarin’s death. Its most notable English translation was done by food writer and critic M.F.K. Fisher, who remarked, “I hold myself blessed among translators.” Her translation was first published in 1949.

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Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, November 16, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Wednesday, November 16, 2011 Permalink 0

by Simón de Swaan

Let the revolting distinction of rich and poor disappear once and for all, the distinction of great and small, masters and valets, of governors and governed. Since all have the same needs and the same faculties, let there be one education for all, one food for all.–François-Noël Babeuf, 1796

François-Noël Babeuf, known as Gracchus Babeuf (in tribute to the Roman tribunes of the people and reformers, the Gracchi brothers, and used alongside his self-designation “Tribune”), was a French political agitator and journalist of the revolutionary period.

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, November 15, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Tuesday, November 15, 2011 Permalink 0

by Simón de Swaan

Thought depends absolutely on the stomach, but in spite of that, those who have the best stomachs are not the best thinkers.–Voltaire, 1770

François-Marie Arouet, better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a writer, historian and philosopher of the French Enlightenment, famous for his wit and for advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state.

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, November 11, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, November 11, 2011 Permalink 0

by Simón de Swaan

X. Men who stuff themselves and grow tipsy know neither how to eat nor how to drink.–Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin was a French lawyer and politician, and gained fame as an epicure and gastronome. His famous work, Physiologie du goût (Physiology of Taste), was published in December 1825. The full title is Physiologie du Goût, ou Méditations de Gastronomie Transcendante; ouvrage théorique, historique et à l’ordre du jour, dédié aux Gastronomes parisiens, par un Professeur, membre de plusieurs sociétés littéraires et savantes. The book has never been out of print since it first appeared, two months before Brillat-Savarin’s death. Its most notable English translation was done by food writer and critic M.F.K. Fisher, who remarked, “I hold myself blessed among translators.” Her translation was first published in 1949.

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, October 12, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Wednesday, October 12, 2011 Permalink 0

by Simón de Swaan

Good food is in effect the basis for true happiness.–Auguste Escoffier, c. 1912

French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer August Escoffier (1846 – 1935) popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods. He is a legendary figure among chefs and gourmands, and was one of the most important leaders in the development of modern French cuisine.

Three of Escoffier’s most noted career achievements are revolutionizing and modernizing the menu, the art of cooking, and the organization of the professional kitchen. Escoffier simplified the menu as it had been, writing the dishes down in the order in which they would be served (service à la Russe), referred to Russian style service. He also developed the first à la carte menu. His books are still used by culinary students and chefs alike.

French Food Quote: Daily Food Quote, August 29, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Monday, August 29, 2011 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Wheat can only be packed away in the granary after being threshed, which is necessary to separate it from the chaff. And so it is that my soul cannot enter into Paradise without the martyr’s palm leaf, from which the butchers so violently ripped my body.–Jacques de Voragine, bishop of Genoa, when speaking of the martyrdom of St. Agatha

Le froment ne peut être serré au grenier qu’après avoir été fortement battu pour être séparé de sa balle ; de même mon âme ne peut entrer au paradis avec la palme du martyre que mon corps n’ait été déchiré avec violence par les bourreaux.–Jacues de Voragine, évêque de Gênes, en parlant du martyre de sainte Agathe

French Food Quote: Daily Food Quotes, August 23, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Tuesday, August 23, 2011 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

The funeral home employee asked the widow if her husband were incinerated, would she rather it be in a French oven or an Italian oven. She replied: “Oh, a French oven! My husband couldn’t stand Italian food!–Alphonse Allais

L’employée des pompes funèbres demandait à la veuve si on brûlerait son mari qu’on devait incinérer, dans un four français ou un four italien : “Oh ! monsieur, le four français ! Mon mari ne pouvait pas sentir la cuisine italienne ! — Alphonse Allais

French Food Quote: Daily Food Quote, August 22, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Monday, August 22, 2011 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

Thus it is Gastronomy, to tell the truth, which motivates the farmers, fineyardists, fishermen, hunters, and the great family of cooks, no matter under what names or qualifications they may disguise their part in the preparation of foods.–Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826)
The Physiology of Taste (1825)