French cuisine has a long history dating back to the Middle Ages. Some iconic French dishes include the baguette, steak au poivre coated in cracked black peppercorns, Gugelhupf yeast cake filled with raisins and nuts, crème brûlée consisting of a rich custard topped with caramelized sugar, and tarte flambée made with thin bread, cream, onions and bacon. French cooking techniques and terms have significantly influenced Western cuisine.

1. International Cuisine Familiarization
-French Cuisine
BLACER,DOLORES
CELESTINO, EDCEL
CORTEL, MARY GRACE
CRISTOBAL, MARIEL JADE

2. French Cuisine: History
In the Middle Ages, Guillaume Tirel Taillevent,
a court chef, wrote Le Viandier, one of the
earliest recipe collections of Medieval France. In the 17th
century, La Varenne and the notable chef of Napoleon and
other dignitaries, Marie-Antoine Carême, moved toward
fewer spices and more liberal usage of herbs and creamy
ingredients, signaling the beginning of
modern cuisine. Cheese and wine are a major part of the
cuisine, playing different roles regionally and nationally, with
many variations and appellation d'origine contrôlée
(regulated appellation) laws.

3. Gault and Millau "discovered the formula" contained in ten
characteristics of this new style of cooking. The first
characteristic was a rejection of excessive complication in
cooking. Second, the cooking times for most fish, seafood, game
birds, veal, green vegetables and pâtés was greatly reduced in
an attempt to preserve the natural flavors. Steaming was an
important trend from this characteristic. The third characteristic
was that the cuisine was made with the freshest possible
ingredients. Fourth, large menus were abandoned in favor of
shorter menus. Fifth, strong marinades for meat and game
ceased to be used. Sixth, they stopped using heavy sauces such
as espagnole and béchamel thickened with flour based "roux", in
favor of seasoning their dishes with fresh herbs, quality butter,
lemon juice, and vinegar. Seventh, they used regional dishes for
inspiration instead of haute cuisine dishes. Eighth, new
techniques were embraced and modern equipment was often
used; Bocuse even used microwave ovens. Ninth, the chefs paid
close attention to the dietary needs of their guests through their
dishes. Tenth and finally, the chefs were extremely inventive and
created new combinations and pairings.

4. French cuisine was codified in the 20th century
by Escoffier to become the modern version of haute
cuisine; Escoffier, however, left out much of the
regional culinary character to be found in the regions
of France. Gastro-tourism and the Guide
Michelin helped to acquaint people with the
rich bourgeois and peasant cuisine of the French
countryside starting in the 20th
century. Gascon cuisine has also had great influence
over the cuisine in the southwest of France. Many
dishes that were once regional have proliferated in
variations across the country.

5. Knowledge of French cooking has contributed
significantly to Western cuisines and its criteria are used
widely in Western cookery school boards and culinary
education. In November 2010, French gastronomy was
added by UNESCO to its lists of the world's "intangible
cultural heritage" along with Mexican cuisine.

6. French Terms
Affiné - Refers to a product that has been aged in order to more
fully develop its taste. Can refer to cheese, wine, foie gras and
more.
Baveuse - Refers to an omelet whose center is still slightly liquid.
Blanc de Cuisson - A liquid made from water, flour and lemon juice
used to keep foods from oxydizing and losing their color while
cooking.
Blanchir - Placing something in boiling water for just a few minutes
before removing it and placing it in cold water. This procedure
allows vegetables to keep their colors and helps make tomatoes
and fruits easy to peel.
Braiser -Cook something slowly, with just a little liquid and a lid on
it.

7. Brider -Hold together a chicken or other meat with string or
skewers while it is cooking.
Brunir - Cook a food just until it's surface is caramelized -
does not necessarily mean that the food is cooked through.
Brunoise - Vegetables cut into very little pieces.
Chaud-Froid - Something that has been cooked but is served
cold in gelatin.
Chemiser - Literally to put a shirt on. Use wax paper to keep
foods from sticking to baking pans, etc.
Chiffonade - Herbs or salad leaves that have been rolled and
very finely chopped.
Clouter - Clouter an onion means to stick cloves in it.

8. Confit - Meat or poultry that has been cooked and conserved
in its own fat. Can also refer to fruits conserved in a sugar
syrup.
Court-Bouillon - Liquid made from water, herbs, and either
vinegar, lemon juice, or wine and used to cook fish.
Déglacer - To dissolve cooking juices attached to the sides of
a pot or pan with a little hot liquid to create a sauce or the
start of a sauce.
Depouiller - Add a cold liquid to a hot liquid in order to get the
fat to rise to the top so it can be skimmed off.
Ecailler - To open an oyster, clam or mussel or to remove the
scales from a fish.
Ecumer - Remove the fat and/or foam formed on the surface
of a liquid using a ladle.

9. Emulsion - A liquid that has droplets of fat evenly distributed
throughout. Mayonnaise is an emulsion.
Faisander - Hang game meat in a cool, dark and airy location
so that it begins to decompose. This is done to add flavor
to the meat.
Farce - Stuffing or dressing.
Flambee - To ignite alcohol that has been poured over a
preparation. The alcohol burns and leaves just its flavor.
Frémir - To keep a liquid just below the boiling point.
Glace de Cuisne - Reduced meat stock.
Glacer - To decorate a cake or other pastry with a smooth
and shiny layer of icing.
Julienne - Vegetables cut in very slender slices, smaller than
matchsticks.

10. Liaison - The thickening of a sauce, perhaps with cream or
corn starch, at the end of cooking.
Luter - To seal a cooking dish with dough made from flour
and water.
Macédoine - Mixture of finely diced fruits and vegetables.
Macérer - To soak a food in a liquid (particularly alcohol) so
that it takes on a new flavor.
Mijoter - To cook something slowly on the stovetop with the
lid on.
Moudre - To grind, in particular spices and coffee.
Napper - To cover a dish with sauce.
Paner - To cover a food with flour, beaten egg, and/or bread
crumbs.
Parmentier - Refers to recipes that include potatoes.
Poêler - Cook something in butter or oil with the lid on.
Rectifier - To correct the seasonings of a dish before serving.

11. 5 Famous Dishes
 Baguette which is "a long thin loaf
of French bread" that is commonly
made from basic lean dough (the
dough, though not the shape, is
defined by French law). It is
distinguishable by its length and
crisp crust. A standard baguette has
a diameter of about 5 or
6 centimetres (2 or 2⅓ in) and a
usual length of about 65 centimetres
(26 in), although a baguette can be
up to a metre (40 in) long.

12. Steak au Poivre

13. Steak au poivre or pepper steak is a French dish that consists
of a steak, traditionally a filet mignon, coated with loosely
cracked peppercorns and then cooked. The peppercorns form a
crust on the steak when cooked and provide a pungent but
complementary counterpoint to the rich flavour of the high-quality
beef. The peppercorn crust itself is made by placing the steak in
a bed of cracked black (or mixed) peppercorns. Typically, the
steak is seared in a hot skillet with a small amount of butter and
oil to cook it. The steak is seared at a high temperature to cook
the outside quickly and form the crust while leaving the interior
rare to medium rare. The steak is then left to rest for several
minutes and then served.
Steak au poivre is often served with pan sauce consisting of
reduced cognac, heavy cream, and the fond from the bottom of
the pan, often including other ingredients such as butter, shallots,
and/or Dijon mustard. Common side dishes to steak au
poivre are various forms of mashed potatoes and pommes
frites (small fried shoestring potatoes). Steak au poivre may be
found in traditional French restaurants in most urban areas.

14. Gugelhupf
Gugelhupf is a big cake, derived from
the Groninger Poffert, and has a
distinctive ring shape or the shape of
a torus. It is usually eaten with coffee,
at coffee breaks.
Gugelhupf consists of a soft yeast
dough which contains raisins,
almonds and Kirschwasser cherry
brandy. Some also contain candied
fruits and nuts. Some regional
varieties (Czech, Hungarian and
Slovenian) are also filled, often with a
layer of sweetened ground poppy
seeds.
It is baked in a special circular pan
with a central tube, originally made of
enamelled pottery.

15. Crème Brulee
 Crème brûlée also known as burnt
cream, crema catalana , or Trinity
cream is a dessert consisting of a
rich custard base topped with a
contrasting layer of hard caramel. It is
normally served cold.
 The custard base is traditionally
flavoured with vanilla, but is also
sometimes flavoured
with lemon or orange (zest), rosemary,
chocolate, Amaretto, Grand
Marnier, coffee, liqueurs, green
tea, pistachio, coconut, or other fruit.

16. Tartee Flambee
Tarte flambée is
an Alsatian dish composed of
bread dough rolled out very thin
in the shape of a rectangle
(traditionally) or circle, which is
covered with fromage
blanc or crème fraîche, thinly
sliced onions and lardons. It is
one of the most famous
gastronomical specialties of the
region. Contrary to what the
direct translation would
suggest tarte flambée is not
usually flambéed, but cooked in a
wood-fire oven.