On Feb 15, 2007, at 12:58 PM, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
> As to the cuisine - is there such a thing as the American cuisine
> as opposed
> to "ethnic" cuisines available here?
<http://web.naplesnews.com/ceandw/012007/great_plates.html>
In 2004 Aqua Grill hired him as executive chef. He built a following and a reputation for nouvelle American cuisine there. His definition: “American cuisine is the realm of everything. You have French, you have Italian, you have German, you have any kind of European flair. Everyone lives here. So I just bring it all together.”
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<http://www.gayot.com/restaurants/features/nouvellecuisine.html>
First, a dinner was an opportunity to satisfy all our senses, beginning with sight. Food had to be presented in an artistic manner playing with colors and forms, and the plate had to be arranged as a work of art similar to a sculpture or a painting. New instruments were available such as food processors and state-of-the-art ovens and there was no reason not to use them for elaborate new preparations. But mostly, these chefs emphasized the quality of the products and their freshness and proclaimed that it was not necessary to overload them with heavy sauces based on flour and butter or to overcook them, especially fish. This simplification would reveal the true taste of the food and would constitute a healthier fare to boot.
Guérard was probably the most instrumental in this healthy orientation. Today he runs a spa in Eugénie-les-Bains, where you can enjoy superb food and shed weight by the same token. But I remember the little bistro where he started. Le "Pot au feu" was located in a suburb of Paris, in a small street of Asnières. The white collars of the Phillips electronic company nearby formed the core of the delighted clientele, indulging at lunch in wonderful chaud et froid de volaille. Outhier, who had worked at L'Oriental in Bangkok, was the one who introduced the Asian accent with spices and herbs. He knew how to use them: in minute quantities with subtle touches only. His best pupil was Jean-Georges Von Gerichten. Bocuse was the authority, the leader.
There was also a consensus on the "load factor". All agreed that we did not need as many calories as in the past. Banquets in the 19th century were often composed of six or seven meat, poultry, or game dishes, not counting several appetizers and desserts. In these days elevators did not exist, driving had not replaced walking, houses were barely heated. Calories were necessary to survive in this environment. This was no longer the case, hence the trend to diminish the size of the portions which, of course, generated some exaggerations in the size of the reduction.
As we traveled across France, we discovered more and more restaurants and bistros where young chefs were paving the way of the new gastronomy in France. We acted then as the federators of these trends, introducing the pioneers to one another and publicizing their concepts and compiling our discoveries. The process culminated in writing the code of the new gastronomy in a famous article of our magazine in 1972, for which Henri Gault (who died in 2000) forged the name "Nouvelle Cuisine." The "Nouvelle Cuisine" was live and well.
"Those chefs forged nothing less than a revolution," writesour colleague David Rosengarten in his book It's All American Food, showing the world that French technique and new, modern culinary ideas were not incompatible." The revolution was well on its way and nothing could stop it. It swept the entire world, beginning with the U.S. America was particularly receptive, because it is always open to innovation and also because gastronomy was then a barren land. American chefs jumped on the concept and "Nouvelle Cuisine"-oriented restaurants started to flourish in New York. Among the first were "An American Place" and the "Sign of the Dove".