CHAPTER 1: History of Modern Food Service
The Value of
History is that it helps us understand the present and the future .In food
service ,knowledge of our professional heritage helps us see why we do things
as we do ,how our cooking techniques have been developed and refined, and how
we can continue to develop and innovate in the years ahead .
How can we challenge old ideas unless we know what those old
ideas are?
KNOWLEDGE IS THE BEST
STARTING POINT FOR INNOVATION!!!!!!
Cooking neither has been a discovery nor it has been an invention, it
has been an evolution and food has changed with times and societies. The
accidental discovery of fire changed the way we eat food today.
Maybe one day some piece of meat accidentally
landed in fire and it tasted good .it could have been that the whole animal
fell into a fire and got char grilled accidentally to create the world’s first
barbeque. Even till this day the cuisine of nomads and tribes essentially whole
spit roast.
After
the Colonies were built and the civilization set in, societal structure started
developing based on the type of work being done by different people. Man tried
to classify food too, food started to be classified as Food for the Warriors, royal
cuisine and the poor man’s food.
Then
after people started following different Religions, religious barriers
prevented Muslims from eating Pork and beef for Hindus, Jewish follow kosher
laws and many others.
The
origins of Classical and Modern Cuisine
Quantity cookery
has existed for a thousand of years, as long as there have been large groups of
people to feed, such as armies. But modern food service began at the time of
the French Revolution in 1789.
The 18th
Century – Boulanger’s Restaurants
The word restaurant is derived from the French word restaurer
(to restore). Since the 16th Century, the word restorative
has been used to describe rich and highly flavored soups or stews capable of
restoring lost strength during recuperation from illness. Restoratives, like
all other cooked foods offered and purchased from outside the house, were made
by guild members. Each guild had the monopoly of preparing certain types of
food items.
Before this time of the French Revolution the great chefs were
employed in the house of French Nobility. With the revolution and the end of
the monarchy, many chefs suddenly out of work opened restaurants in and around
Paris to support themselves.
CAREME
----------MARIE –ANTOINE CAREME(1784-1833)
As a young
man Careme learned all the branches of cooking quickly and dedicated his career
to refining and organizing culinary techniques. At that time he worked as a
chef to wealthy patrons, kings and head of state. He was perhaps the first real
celebrity chef.
Careme emphasisized
procedure and order. Is goal was to create more lightness and simplicity. He
added seasoning s and other ingredients not so much to add new flavors but to
highlight the flavors of the main ingredients. His sauces were designed to enhance,
not cover up, the food being sauced .For example, for hundreds of years, cooks
boiled meats before roasting them on a rotisserie in front of the fire. But
when chefs began thinking and experimenting rather than just accepting the
tradition of boiling meat before roasting, they realized that either braising
the meat or roasting it from the raw state were better options.
ESCOFFIER-----GEORGES-AUGUSTE
ESCOFFIER (1847- 1935)
He was the great
Chef of this century and is revered by chefs and gourmets as the father of the
20th century cookery.
His 2 main contributions were
·
The simplification of the classical cuisine
and the classical menu.
The basic cooking methods and preparation s
we study today are based on the Escoffier’s work.
·
The reorganization of the kitchen.(The
classical Kitchen Brigade).
This resulted in a stream lined workplace
that was better suited for turning out the simplified dishes and menus that he
instituted. The system that he established is still in use today, especially in
large hotels and full service restaurants.
The typical banquet menu of the 18th
century, each course consisted of as many as 20 separate dishes or more .mostly
a variety of meats and poultry, all placed on the table at once and the guest helped
themselves. Escoffier rejected what he called the general confusion of the old
menus in which sheer quantity seemed to be the most important factor. Instead
he called for order and diversity and emphasized the careful selection of one
or dishes per course, dishes that would follow one another harmoniously and
that would delight the taste with their delicacy and simplicity.
Escoffier’s
cookery books and recipes are still important reference works for professional
chefs.
Twentieth
and twenty-first centuries Changes
A number of French Chefs like Fernand Point in the late 1960’s
and early 1970’s became famous for a style called “NOUVELLE CUISINE” (NEW COOKING).
They rejected many traditional principles, such as dependence
on flour to thicken sauces, and instead urged simpler, more natural flavors and
preparations. In traditional classical cuisine many dishes were plated in the
dining room by waiter’s .Nouvelle cuisine, however, placed a great deal of
emphasis on artful plating presentations done by the chef in the kitchen.
After the middle of the twentieth century, as travel became
easier and as immigrants arrived in Europe and North America from all around
the world, awareness of and taste for regional cuisines grew. Chefs became
knowledge able not only about the
traditional cuisines of the other parts of Europe but about Asia ,Latin America
and other places, which actually gave rise to Fusion cuisine.
“FUSION
CUISINE”—THE USE OF INGREDIENTS AND TECHNIQUES FROM MORE THAN ONE REGIONAL OR
INTERNATIONAL CUISINE ON A SINGLE DISH.
New technology:
Sous vide
(Soo veed,
French for “Under Vacuum”) Sous vide began simply
as a method for packaging and storing foods in vacuum sealed plastic bags.
Modern chefs, however, are exploring ways to use this technology to control
cooking temperatures and times with extreme precision. As a result, familiar
foods have emerged with new textures and flavors.
In simplest terms, this food preparation technique is a two-step
process: 1. Vacuum-pack the food item,
plus any seasonings or marinades, in an appropriate plastic bag.
2. Cook the food item, while
in the bag, at a constant low temperature, usually in a special water bath.
Molecular
Gastronomy
Another approach to cooking precision was pioneered by the Spanish
Chef Ferran Adrià in his acclaimed restaurant, El Bulli. Adrià explores new
possibilities in gels, foams, powders, infusions, extracts, and other
unexpected ways of presenting flavors, textures, and aromas.
This
approach to cooking is called molecular gastronomy.
DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGES DUE TO MODERNIZATION AND IMPROVEMENT IN
TECHNOLOGY.
Today’s Kitchens look much different from
those of Escoffier’s days, even though our basic cooking principles are the same.
Also the dishes we eat have gradually changed due to the innovations and creativity
of modern chefs.
·
DEVELOPMENT
OF NEW EQUIPMENT
The easily controlled heat of modern
cooking equipment, as well as motorized food cutters, mixers and other
processing equipment has greatly simplified food product5ion. Research and
technology continue to produce sophisticated tools for the kitchen like tilting
skillets and steam jacketed kettles which can do many jobs and are popular in
many kitchens.
Modern equipment has made many
food service operations to change their production methods. With sophisticated
cooling, freezing and heating equipment, it is possible to do some preparations
further in advance and in large quantities. Some large multi unit operations
prepare the food in quantity, packaged, chilled or frozen and then heated or
cooked to order.
·
DEVELOPMENT
AND AVAILABILITY OF NEW FOOD PRODUCTS.
Modern refrigeration and rapid transportation
caused revolutionary changes in eating habits. Fresh foods of all kind became
available throughout the year. Exotic delicacies’ can now be shipped from
anywhere in the world and arrive in peak condition.
The development of preservation techniques
not just refrigeration but also freezing, canning ,freeze dying vacuum packing
and irradiation increased the availability of most foods and has also made some
foods affordable that were once rare and expensive. Techniques of food
preservation have brought in convenience foods and recently convenience foods
have accounted for an increasing share of the total food market.
Some professional cooks fear that
these products will eliminate the need for skilled chefs. However it still
requires skill and knowledge to handle convenience products properly.
Convenience foods and advanced equipment free cooks from some of the drudgery,
so that cooks have more time to spend on those jobs that require skill and
experience.
·
SANITARY
AND NUTRITIONAL AWARENESS
The
Development of the sciences of microbiology and nutrition had a great impact on
food service. Earlier there was little understanding of the causes of food
poisoning and food spoilage. There was also little knowledge of nutritional
principles. Today, nutrition is an important part of a cook’s training.
Customers are also more knowledge able and the demand for healthful, well
balanced menus is increasing constantly. It
is important for cooks to keep up to date with latest nutritional
understanding.
Referencebooks:ProfessionalChef(SeventhEdition)-WayneGisslen
Food Production Operations- Parvinder .S.
Bali
---First Year Notes-Food Production
