Tuesday, October 11, 2016



Andrea MacMichael
Food and Travel Seminar
10/10/16
Secret Ingredients Reading Response
            In the Dining Out section of Secret Ingredients, I found myself immersed in French cuisine. It seems to be universally understood that French cuisine is rich, buttery, heavy, purposefully fancy, and filling. It is interesting to read that despite many food ‘revolutions,’ French cuisine has pretty much maintained its character as being the best, as well as the richest.
            I found it very interesting to read how dining out has evolved over time, because I know little about how food trends have changed in other countries like France. As is pointed out in “Is There a Crisis In French Cooking’ by Adam Gopnik, French cuisine has lost some of its quality. Nowadays, customers don’t want to pay such steep prices to dine at French restaurants all of the time. People are more health-conscious, and other countries like Great Britain and even cities like New York are cooking great food that has gained more popularity than ever before. I was astonished to read that in the late 1920s, women would not eat much at French restaurants anymore, and it was no use “taking a woman to a great French restaurant except to show her off” because the women were thinking more about their health.
            French cuisine was known as the best and the fanciest, food that transported people who ate it for the first time. After reading Adam Gopnik’s section, I can understand why French cuisine has for so long been considered by many food critics to be the ultimate dining out cuisine. Gopnik delectably describes how the food is handled with expert care and attention, and how it is homemade using excesses of butter and wine and oil. A.J. Leibling in his “The Afterglow” piece also attests to the decline in French restaurant quality, from being the best, to being more equated to three-star quality food. The style of cooking and the makeup of the food has not been affected drastically, but the quality and consumer expectations of French cuisine have declined. In many ways I think this attests to how, at least in America, our societal attitudes have changed. As a general statement, we are a lazier society. We enjoy convenience and our lives are structured around schedules- we don’t often have time or money for fine dining. So much of our attitude is found in the way we eat. However, it is also clear across all these sections that people long for food like French cuisine and food that is buttery and rich, because this is the food that lights up our taste buds and makes eating special. Not only is this what we want, but this is how cooks do their cooking in restaurants. As much as we say we want to eat healthy, people tend to fall back to what seems indulgent. The cooks love the dirt and grime of creating this food in the kitchen, and we as consumers love to eat it.
            That is why I also really enjoyed reading the “All You Can Eat For Five Bucks” section by Joseph Mitchell and “A Really Big Lunch” by Jim Harrison because these pieces focused on extreme indulgence and overeating. It was amusing and somewhat eye-opening to read about the sloppy, sweaty beefsteak and the thirty-seven course meals in France. On one end of the spectrum, people ate an extreme amount of beef with their hands on the ground, often for celebratory purposes, while a similar amount of food was eaten in 37 courses but in a luxurious, French manner. It seems universal that people long to eat in this way. It means you are of a certain status- that you can afford to eat too much. I think food is rooted in celebration, and is a symbol of our desires.

8 comments:

  1. Andrea, I enjoyed your closing comment that "food is rooted in celebration, and is a symbol of our desires." In my analysis, I also focused on this idea, as many of my (and many other people's) family celebrations like holidays are firmly grounded in food. The dining room table heaped with steaming platters of food is where my family gathers to celebrate, and I think it was spot-on for you to include this in your piece.

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  2. Andrea, you focus on the aspect of French cuisine that was evident throughout the chapters of the “Dining Out” section from the reading. You state that “people long for food like French cuisine and food that is buttery and rich, because this is the food that lights up our taste buds and makes eating special.” I totally agree with this statement because I often find myself dreaming about the French eclairs I had years ago in Paris. I long for French food.

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  3. Andrea, I also felt immersed in the French cuisine while reading this chapters, however, as I stated in my response I would have liked that the essays were more varied and not only focused on the French cuisine. I agree with your statement " I think food is rooted in celebration, and is a symbol of our desires.", since food has a very important place in celebrations everywhere.

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  4. Andrea, I also felt immersed in the French cuisine while reading this chapters, however, as I stated in my response I would have liked that the essays were more varied and not only focused on the French cuisine. I agree with your statement " I think food is rooted in celebration, and is a symbol of our desires.", since food has a very important place in celebrations everywhere.

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  5. I agree with you that it seems universal for people to want to indulge when they eat. Jim Harrison's 37 courses is definitely an example of this. I also thought it was interesting that women didn't really go to nice restaurants in Paris to eat, but to be shown off. I really thought this seemed like a very animalistic thing to do, and the fact that this is thought of as almost taboo now by the majority of the western world is a testament to how far we've come.

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  6. Andrea,
    You said American people are lazy, but the same thing is happening in Japan. Japanese cuisine (even casual ones) takes much time to cook it, so some people for example students like me don't cook it at all. We tend to rely on instant foods. It is not only good for our health but also our culture. Maybe we have to reconsider about "accesivility".

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  7. Andrea! I really dig your analysis of American attitudes seeping into American food and traditions around food. I appreciated your comments because, yeah, America is occupied with doing things quickly, and not always better.

    Much Love,
    Sarena

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  8. Andrea,
    I also found the history and backstory aspects of the book to be very interesting. Of course food always has a backstory, which is shown through culture and religious practices. But I had never truly thought about it before reading this book. It was so interesting to learn about how certain things changed but many things stayed the same throughout time.

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