Make a Culinary Statement
by Judi Sandall
judi.sandall@chefschoolreview.com
Chef School Review Columnist
Use your culinary expertise to make a personal statement. Chefs have been using food as commentary on religion, politics, and class for centuries.
Religion
The Puritans had a deep-seated distain for fancy or highly seasoned food, which they regarded as “a form of sensual indulgence.” Consequently, their austere diet was a culinary statement in support of their religious piety. The Quakers made a similar culinary statement with their own penchant for ‘plain and simple’ boiled vegetables and meats.
Early Southern chefs, on the other hand, took their inspiration from the more exotic culinary influences of Africa, France, Spain, and the Caribbean and their fried, simmered, and highly seasoned fare is legendary. A city such as New Orleans was worlds away from Boston not only in geographical distance but culinary distance as well.
Class
Throughout history, chefs tended to prepare dishes with ingredients that were readily available or that could be locally grown. If you were one of the aristocracy, however, you had culinary choices that weren’t available to the commoners. The French term, haute cuisine [literally, high food] clearly speaks to this class distinction. Even today, if you’re wealthy, your food tends to be made from fresher or more expensive ingredients, more artfully prepared, and served with a 1995 Chateau Margaux rather than a domestic red for $6 a bottle.
Ethnicity
With the influx of immigrants to the U.S. in the early 1900’s, ethnic food served to either unite people or divide them. Today, however, chefs have successfully woven alluring foreign food tastes like Asian and South American into the culinary fabric of our culture.
Politics
Chefs and consumers alike have also taken a political stand against corporate food with the establishment of the Slow Food Movement, the adoption of vegetarian diets, and the decision to buy and consume only naturally- and locally-grown foods. If you want to make a similar political statement, or simply want to make your own culinary statement by inventing a new fusion cuisine, now may be the time to get your culinary degree.
Source
About the Author
Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a BA in English Literature.
Posted on October 16, 2006 at 4:48 PM
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