Throw Away Your Microwave - Gourmet Foods Are Back!
It is encouraging to see that the appreciation of gourmet foods has begun to climb once again, and that we are gradually breaking the bonds of dependency upon instant gratification, instant meals and frozen food. Although modern conveniences have allowed us to cook and prepare, or open and microwave, a complete meal for ourselves or for our family in a matter of minutes, these can never even begin to come close to the flavours and delights of fine food, traditional meals and gourmet foods. Gradually we are learning this, and learning to appreciate the finer things which the kitchen can create.
The word gourmet is French, and translated literally means wine taster. This is perhaps appropriate, since much of traditional French cooking not only involves the complimentary bottle of wine, but France is perhaps the epitome of gourmet food and fine cuisine. So many of what one might term the world's finest dishes originate from France, and even today there are French influences in many dishes throughout the world. This is not to suggest that French cuisine is wholly uninfluenced by other countries. Indeed, it is easy to see where several of France's traditional meals and dishes have come from by their ingredients and the method of cooking.
For example, Germanic influences can be seen in French cooking towards the east, with heavy use of lard and the use of sauerkraut and pork sausages. But at the same time, further west, it is easy to see Spanish influences, with more use of herbs and tomato based products. But one thing which seems to let France stand alone when it comes to gourmet food is the attention to detail. French dishes, as with the eating of them, take time. They cannot be hurried, and they certainly can't be unwrapped, stuffed in a microwave, blasted for three minutes, slapped onto a plate and eaten from your knees while watching your favourite soap.
But somehow modern living has demanded quicker results, instant food and despite the many time saving devices we enjoy, from washing machines to cars, we seem to have less and less time to spend in the kitchen creating good, wholesome food, instead preferring to order it, microwave it or unwrap it. But gradually we have become more influenced by the one device which doesn't save time but can distract is from such culinary experiences - the television.
Increasingly today the television has been the catalyst for getting people into the kitchen and cooking better, more nutritious meals, and savouring the delights of gourmet foods rather than the short lived satisfaction of instant food. With a vast number of cooking programmes, and even entire channels dedicated to cooking, more and more of us are being encouraged to try out the traditional recipes and long lasting flavours - the meals we used to enjoy, and the foods which do us so much more good than those served up in coloured paper.
It is for this reason that gourmet food gifts have become more popular, with fine foods and delicious specialties now appreciated much more than they have done for many years. Perhaps until recently many people had little idea what to do, or how to appreciate such fine food. But today that is changing, and we are slowly returning to the kitchen to appreciate gourmet foods and traditional recipes which may take longer, but are so much more gratifying and fulfilling. We are beginning to learn what it is that we have been missing for so long.
Although it is easy to assume that gourmet food always takes a long time to prepare, this isn't necessarily the case, and indeed there are a great many assumptions which have been laid to rest thanks to the increased attention the world of food has been receiving through the medium of the cookery programs now dominating our television. French restaurants have long faced the challenge of managing to combine traditional French food and serving gourmet food whilst also watching the clock and coping with a rapid influx of demands from hungry customers. This has given rise to Cuisine Nouvelle, the French style of gourmet cooking which takes much less time, serves smaller portions and incorporates exquisite dressing and presentation.
It is these influences which have also helped to wake up our taste buds and appreciate they we can enjoy gourmet foods, and incorporate gourmet food gifts into our recipes and meals without losing out on time or money. We have also learnt to appreciate that presentation really can make a difference, and decorating a gourmet dish in a delightful way adds far more than one might imagine when compared to merely slopping a heap of microwaved gloop onto a lap tray.
Karl Mabrook is a professional food critic, nutrition expert and journalist who has long championed gourmet foods and strongly recommends gourmet food gifts.
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