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Chef Fernand Point (1897-1955) is considered by most experts to be the father of modern French cuisine working from his restaurant "La Pyramide" just south of Lyon. He was not very old when he died, but he lived a "larger than life" life burning the candle at both ends. After WWII he caused a revolution in French cuisine. He trained a generation of French master chefs including Paul Bocuse, Alain Chapel, Louis Outhier, Jean and Pierre, the Brothers Troisgros, Francois Bise, Michel Guérard, and Roger Vérge. They shucked off the restraints of the prevailing style of Montagné and Escoffier, and invented a very much lighter, inventive freer style of cuisine, grounded in traditional techniques and disciplines but without the shackles of what had come before and without being a slave to sauces. Quite apart from the food itself, it had to excite all five senses, especially the visual.
To quote from "Dining in France" by Gault-Millau, "Nouvelle cuisine advocated a few simple practices that seemed to correspond to changing tastes. People began to demand lighter food in keeping with their concern for health and fitness. There was a trend toward simplicity and the use of fresh products and seasonal ingredients; shortened cooking times allowd vegetables and fish to retain their natural flavors and nutrients. Lightness became the new watch-word, with alcohol, flour, butter, cream and fat avoided entirely or kept at a minimum. Menus grew smaller, which meant restaurants no longer had to keep stocks of unused food in the refrigerator. The menus also changed often, to make use of seasonal product and reflect the chef's latest inspiration. New kitchen technologies such as food procesors and microwave ovens were adopted as well. The look of dining itself changed. Large plates, called 'American plates' in France, allowd chefs to arrange food in an appetizing way and avoid unintentional mixtures."
These young chefs used herbs and spices extensively. Their sauces and stocks were much lighter. Nouvelle Cuisine created light dishes with a distinct tastes - combining flavours instead of overruling them - and emphasized less intrusive service. Elegant yet simple dishes and pure tastes are the hallmarks of Nouvelle Cuisine. Of course, this is an over simplification, but this story is about Restaurant Alain Chapel but Chapel's roots are important. He was one of the movers and shakers.
These chefs also threw off regional restraints in their quest for flavors. Several cultural events all occurred at much the same time that allowed them this success and the world to know about them. First was the instant promotion in the food press spear headed by the famous writing team of Gault and Millau. This publicity could be broadcast in print, radio and TV into every home in the country. Second was the freeway system that allowed passionate "foodies" to get to these restaurants, many of which were not in big cities, but out in the country or in provincial towns. That same highway system allowed refigerated trucks, jets allowed overnight air shipping and together the means to get really fresh ingredients from the far reaches of France, Europe and the whole world, to the kitchens allowing the chefs to play with flavors and ingredients regardless of their origin. (This same phenomena allowed Nouvelle Cuisine to morph into "Fusion").
Many of these chefs traveled extensively especially to Japan where they bonded with the Japanese chefs bringing many of their tastes and ingredients back with them. Of course, the Japanese also fell in love with French cooking and many of these same French chefs opened French restaurants in Japan. Alain Chapel was one of the first with his restaurant in Kobe in the hotel Portopia still in business today. In fact it was there that current Executive Chef Philippe Jousse was assigned and working on the death of his mentor. He was brought back to Mionnay to take over the kitchens and continue to produce the signature cuisine of Alain Chapel ever since by Suzanne Chapel, Alain Chapel's widow.
Nouvelle Cuisine also quickly lost favor as people got fed up with the tiny, precious portions of so many of its practitioners. But it then formed the base of the cuisine that evolved taking root in traditional recipes using local, regional ingredients, even actual traditional dishes, but producing them in completely new and imaginative ways with modern techniques. An example was Chef Roland Mazere of "Le Centenaire" in the Dordogne who served up the local foie gras as a light mousse." It inspired a freedom to experiment. It allowed chefs throughout France, indeed, throughout the world, to throw off the constraints of the old rules and break new ground.
We focus on this because this culinary revolution produced the hugely varied cuisine we enjoy today, filled with inspiration and inventiveness, even when it doesn't work, it is still fun and exciting. But most of what we enjoy today owes its existence to that hand full of acolytes of Chef Fernand Point "La Pyramide" who gave these hugely energetic both the discipline, the training and the motivation to burst forth on the world and take it by storm. Alain Chapel was one of the first of of these graduates who in his turn, inspired others like Alain Ducasse who has eclipsed his mentor many time over but always pays him homage.
"Dining in France" by Gault-Millau, while published in 1986, is still a marvelous introduction to French cuisine and is still available today through Amazon.com.
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