History of French Cuisine (Week 3)

French cuisine can date back all the way to the middle ages. In the beginning, French meals were served "service en confusion", which means that meals were served all at one time. The dishes were determined by the season and what food was available. There was a tendency to shy away from large menus, and focus on the quality of the individual dishes themselves. During the 15th and 16th centuries, French cuisine began to become influenced by Italy. Italian cuisine was way ahead of many other countries, and used many more diverse ingredients. As the 17th and 18th centuries approached, Paris became known as "the central hub of culture and economic activity and as such the most highly skilled culinary craftsmen were to be found there". Additionally, the French Revolution was a major turning point of the food industry in France. More chefs were experimenting with different ingredients and dishes, due to the lack of guilds (a medieval association of craftsmen or merchants). Today, a French meal is split into Le petit dejeuner (breakfast, which consists of tarts or pastries), Le dejeuner (lunch, which is the largest meal of the day in France), and Le diner (dinner, which typically contains three courses (the entrée, the main course, and dessert)). One of the most essential items in French cuisine is wine, which is traditionally paired with each individual course.

Week 2: Italian Food!

This week the country I focused on was Italy, so I made an herb-ricotta ravioli, and Saint Joseph's Zeppoles...

Ravioli:
Italian raviolis have been dated back to the 14th Century, and are a household staple for many of those in Italy. For this recipe, I was planning on making the pasta from scratch, but later realized that I couldn't because I didn't have a pasta machine to make it from. So, I was able to purchase pasta sheets from a local Italian market. I also got fresh ricotta and parmesan from the market, which was very delicious. The filling consisted of ricotta cheese, grated parmesan cheese, egg, and parsley. It was easy to make, but the hard part came when I actually had to create the raviolis. I laid one piece of the pasta sheets down, placed mounds of the cheese filling a few inches apart from each other, and then placed another sheet on top of that. After, I had to seal the pasta, and cut them into squares. Let me put it this way -- I don't think I will be making homemade ravioli again anytime soon. In the end, it was delicious, but it took over an hour and a half just to fill and cut the raviolis. I would rate this recipe a 10/10. Below are photos of the raviolis... 

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/ricotta-and-herb-ravioli.html

St. Joseph's Zeppoles:
In Italy, for the feast of San Giuseppe (St. Joseph's Day), every Italian household makes its version of St. Joseph's Cakes, or Zeppole. These "cakes", which are very similar to cream puffs, were relatively easy to make. The pastry consists of water, butter, sugar, flour, and eggs -- simple! On the other hand, the filling was not as easy. It contained flour, sugar, cornstarch, milk, vanilla extract, and egg yolk. The ingredients themselves weren't difficult, but the process to make the filling/custard was lengthy. I had to use a double-boiler, which is why the custard took so long to thicken. After, it took about 2 hours to completely chill. All in all, I would rate this recipe a 7 out of 10. Here are some pictures!

http://olives-n-okra.com/saint-josephs-day-zeppole/

Week 1: Decisions, decisions...

After lots of researching and eliminating many recipes, I have narrowed down the two recipes that I will be preparing for each week. Check it out!

Week 2 (Italy): Herb and Ricotta Ravioli and St. Joseph’s Puffs
Week 3 (France): Salade de Tomates et Fromage and Crepes (French Pancakes) 
Week 4 (Germany): Pork and Sauerkraut and Apple Strudel
Week 5 (Greece, Belgium, Switzerland): Kourabiedes (Greek Butter Cookies); Stoemp (Belgian mashed potatoes); Cheese fondue 

Getting Started

When I was first presented with this 6-week-long project, I was clueless as to what I could possibly have as my topic. I have multiple hobbies, but none that I would consider as a “passion”, which is why I found it extremely difficult to even come up with one topic that I would want to explore deeper. I started with the obvious… soccer – but there was really no way I could expand on that idea. That’s when I decided to delve into the arts. Painting techniques, photography, and music were just a few of the topics that I had started to consider. But that is when I thought beyond creative arts and came up with the idea of the culinary arts. I have always been a big fan of cooking, ever since I was little. I started as just a young kid, helping my mom with the small things, like measuring, pouring, the typical things that you’re assigned to as a 7-year-old. As I got older, I got more adventurous, taking on more complicated recipes by myself. Although, I never expanded onto international food/recipes. That is when I got the idea to explore cooking all around the world. Food is something that connects each and every country all across the globe. I plan on exploring recipes from different countries throughout Europe over the next 7 weeks. Each week, I will choose two dishes from varying countries that specifically have cultural significance.

After researching countries that are well-known for their cuisine, I have created a timeline of which country’s food I will be exploring each week. Here it is:

Week 1: Italy

Week 2: France

Week 3: Germany

Week 4: Greece

Week 5: Belgium

Week 6: Switzerland

Week 7: Poland

At the end of this process, I plan on having a better understanding of the cuisine that is found across Europe, as well as an improved appreciation for the every-day food that I eat here in the United States. Wish me luck!

Welcome to the World of Cooking

Hello! Welcome to my adventure in exploring the world of cooking and the cuisine found on all seven continents. I would say I'm a pretty mediocre cook myself, but I've always stuck to the "safe" stuff. Hopefully over the next six weeks, you can learn about the variety of foods found around the world, as well as what goes into these recipes.