As a Rough draft grows and morph in to different projects it is always nice to see what needs to be done to finish it up. Right now the dates have to go, basic grammar and spelling checks because I was too sleep deprived to hammer the fine details. Lengthening and pictures of course. Still same rules as apply with these excerpts as the last set. They are all first draft and we have along way to go on them.

 

 

July 2nd – American Cuisine

American cuisine is more then the few chefs on television all the time. In fact even thinking they are representing American cuisine is like saying the trail blazers are great foot ball players only because they play a pro sport. Many may even see it as a joke on words like jumbo shrimps or common sense. Exploring my home country’s cuisine can maybe get a better view of your own home whether its another part of America or another country altogether.

Some of the basic points of this part of the book will be learning how ingredients made their way to each section of land. Distinguishing how the food was grown, sold, or brought in speaks to the way things were back in the era where such foods were new as well as how they were valued. For many of the older recipes certain things had to be done so that the food would be able to hold longer with less effort. Back in older eras such as the wild west or the pioneer rush eating food was a had to do action and not so much as something to be fussed over much. Flashy sauces and more costly ingredients making their way in to the dishes of the era were more found in the establishments popular in larger cities. Moving to the more rural areas such things may only be made rarely or bought in to save time while celebrating.

Respecting these people who in the untamed times of each section could make simple food taste so good should be revered as nowadays we may face different problems such as the loss of flavor and the increase of artificial chemicals. Time was not so liberally implanted as it took time for the families of the past to pickle and preserve everything they could while thinking up the recipes to get the most bang for their buck.

We all need to try and make the best food we can so we can live the best lives we can. This does not take an over abundance of food though which is something we must learn within our borders.

Three Waves of Cuisine

In cooking one can boil the where of their culinary homeland pretty easily. When it comes to recipes the case is a little harder, but still manageable. Many times though when people ask someone who cooks what kind of food they like to cook this little detail goes out the window. In any case here are the three general time frames of cuisine.

Classical
This would be the recipes that are often heralded by many critics. These are the ones that have passed from generation to generation. Things that have been around for many years in some cases hundreds or even thousands. From here you will see less technical ways with common ingredients of the era. This food often while have a higher bar of detail in flavoring using a strict set of ingredients while still trying to create new recipes within it. Le Tour D’argent’s hey day was due to more popular recipes that could be seen as classical french food. Often times also the French, Japanese, Chinese, and Italian cuisines will go more back in to their culinary history as they have many centuries of recipes to go through in a style of food that has been found pleasing on the world stage.

Modern
This would be the most popular time frame of cooking simply with what you have using the basic techniques that the common person has access to. Most places nowadays will go through this era of food as it is often the easiest to create often by here say or just by the equipment and time available to cook. Here is where will we say newer countries really begin to make their stand as well as some who maybe have not been given the same opportunities due to simple lack of knowledge about it. This would include a fair mix of countries including the America’s, Spain, Indian, Korean, and most of the Arabic states.

Neo Cuisine
This is where fusion would be situated, and the realm of neo cuisine is the unexplored the new and brash scientific edge meeting a different set of flavor combinations that neither era of cuisine before it could have dealt with. David Chang has a great penchant for making good food no matter the ingredients. Another style of food that would be here is molecular gastronomy. Where more of the new ground is still being made. Every national cuisine can be done in to a new style making it an interesting exchange between the new style and the older version. A restaurant idea could be even made on highlighting the difference between the old and the new while having the tasters enjoy them both in their own special ways.