Haute cuisine

Haute cuisine (literally "high cooking" in French) is a cooking style that originated in France under the influence of the great chefs Antoine Carême and Auguste Escoffier. It was a refinement of traditional cooking techniques that also including a radical reorganization of the way kitchens were run. Haute cuisine is still at the heart of much French restaurant cooking, although modern cooking has evolved and diversified, largely under the influence of international cooking styles and changing dietary preferences.

The Food

The style is characterized by complex dishes requiring elaborate preparation. Sauces are used extensively. Portions are often small to allow for multiple courses. Characteristically, the food is quite rich, incorporating a generous amount of butter and heavy cream. Desserts are particularly elaborate and rich.

Compared to nouvelle cuisine that developed in France in the 1970s, there is less emphasis on exotic and seasonal ingredients, less emphasis on presentation and visual appeal, fewer herbs and spices are used, and there is greater reliance on sauces.

History

For France, see entries on French cuisine, Antoine Carême and Auguste Escoffier.

In the United States, restaurants serving haute cuisine became popular in the 1920s and reached the peak of their popularity by the early 1970s. They have been in decline ever since, with several trends working against them:

• Beginning in the 1970s, people ate out more often but at less expensive places.
• Also in the 1970s, a movement towards ethnic food, particularly Cantonese, Mexican, and Italian food gained momentum.
• At the same time there was increasing concern about the health effects of fat and cholesterol in food, in conflict with the rich sauces and gravies used in the cuisine
• In the 1980s, the rise of nouvelle cuisine came at the direct expense of haute cuisine
• In the 1990s, the trend toward casual dress and more avant-garde interior design in restaurants worked against the haute cuisine ambiance