INTERNATIONAL

CUISINE
WRITTEN REPORT

SUBMITTED BY:
ARABELO, Lance
DANO, Dylan
ROMAN, Melissa

SUBMITTED TO:
Professor Meneses
INTERNATIONAL CUISINE WRITEEN REPORT

HISTORY OF THE CUISINE

CUISINE
Cuisine, the foods and methods of preparation traditional to a region or population. The major
factors shaping a cuisine are climate, which in large measure determines the native raw materials
that are available to the cook; economic conditions, which regulate trade in delicacies and
imported foodstuffs; and religious or sumptuary laws, under which certain foods are required or
proscribed.

Climate
Climate also affects the supply of fuel; the characteristic Chinese food preparation methods, in
which food is cut into small pieces before being cooked, was shaped primarily by the need to
cook food quickly to conserve scarce firewood and charcoal. Foods preserved for winter
consumption by smoking, curing, and pickling have remained important in world cuisines for
their altered gustatory properties even when these preserving techniques are no longer strictly
necessary to the maintenance of an adequate food supply.

World Cuisine
World cuisine is traditionally divided into regions according to the common use of major
foodstuffs, especially grains and cooking fats. In Central and South America, corn (maize), both
fresh and dried, is the staple. In northern Europe, wheat, rye, and fats of animal origin
predominate, while in southern Europe olive oil is ubiquitous and rice becomes important. In
Italy the cuisine of the north, featuring butter and rice, stands in contrast to that of the south, with
its wheat pasta and olive oil. China likewise can be divided into rice regions and noodle regions.
Throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean there is a common thread marking the use of
lamb, olive oil, lemons, peppers, and rice. The vegetarianism practiced in much of India has
made pulses such as chickpeas and lentils as important as wheat or rice. From India to Indonesia
the lavish use of spices is characteristic; coconuts and seafood are used throughout the region
both as foodstuffs and as seasonings.

Staple foods
The use of staple foods cuts across economic and class distinctions. Even where the contrast
between the haute cuisine of the professional chef and the simple fare of home cooking is
marked, food preferences constitute a unifying factor in regional culture.

HISTORY OF COOKING
The origins of cooking cannot be exactly traced, but for sure, it has evolved significantly. For
cooking to be possible, the discovery of fire must have happened first. Most likely, the first
person who discovered how to cook has done it by accident. Maybe, raw meat happened to fall
in a fire, and man has found out that it was tastier and easier to chew. Since then, the rest was
history.

Prehistoric
It was believed that primitive humans have begun to cook 250,000 years ago by tossing a raw
piece of something into the fire. The first method of cooking was roasting, where a fish or a bird
was placed on the end of a stick and held over an open fire. Some scientists say that the Peking
man roasted meat, but there wasn’t enough evidence to support the claim.

It was the sole cooking technique until the Aurignacian people of France started to steam food
wrapped in leaves over hot embers during the Palaeolithic Period. Pottery was introduced during
the Neolithic Period, and humans learned to cook in clay pots and used containers made of wood
and antlers. The earliest dish was a crude paste, made by mixing water with cracked kernels of
wild grass. When dropped on a hot stone, the paste will turn into bread, which was the Stone Age
version of the Romans’ pulmentum or the Italians’ polenta.

Ancient
Egyptian wall paintings that date back to 4000 BC show that ancient Egyptians used cooking
methods such as roasting, broiling, frying and boiling. There were also Biblical references to
ancient methods of cooking, and early carvings from Assyria and Babylonia indicate the use of
charcoal in cooking pans. Baking came during the invention of the oven, and the first ever oven
discovered dated back 6,500 years ago. During 168 BC, the first baking guild was established in
Rome.

The civilization of Mesopotamia brought one of the biggest developments in human history.
Plant irrigation and cultivation, as well as plant and animal domestication, were done by people
of Mesopotamia since 9,000 BC. Crops such as grains, barley, wheat, beans, peas, lentils, leeks,
turnips, onions, radishes, and garlic were being planted during 3,000 BC, and the Mesopotamian
diet is usually made up of such. People knew how to take care of sheep, cattle, and ducks for
food. They also hunted pigs, deer, game birds, gazelle, and fish. Generally, meats were smoked,
dried or salted for preservation, and were cooked by roasting, broiling or boiling.

Boiling and stewing were done using pots placed near the fire, or in cauldrons suspended over a
fire by hanging from a tripod formed by three poles joined at the apex or by fastening chains
attached to a beam. A basic dish was made up of lentils, beans, and grains.

When the Egyptian civilization began around 3,100 BC, more types of animals were
domesticated and more food-bearing plants were grown. By then, the nobles and the rich were
served with elaborate stews which were prepared with more sophisticated cooking methods.
Meanwhile, the peasants’ basic meal consisted of bread, onions, fruit, and beer. The leavened
bread was also believed to have been first prepared in Egypt.

The Roman Empire made cooking into an art form. During the 1st century AD, simple meals
were replaced by elaborate banquets, and chefs specialized in disguising food. That time, the
earliest collection of recipes that survived in Europe was also written, and it was known as the
Apicius or De re coquinaria. The compilation was done in between the 4th and 5th century AD.

Medieval
In the Middle Ages, what people eat depends on who they are. During feasts, large numbers of
invited guests were served different dishes of varying number and quality of courses according to
social status. The rich always ate better than the poor (and it looks like it has never changed,
even today).

The average men had no kitchen; but in castles, monasteries, and palaces, there were huge
kitchens equipped with all kinds of cooking wares and utensils. Huge houses had bread made in
tall ovens, and their dinner included a roast, white bread, quarry, and custard or pudding.

From the 1400s through the 1500s, spice trading became popular, and more ingredients had been
gradually added to recipes. Portuguese vessels reached South Africa, India and China to trade
spices. These were used generously to create savory and flavorful dishes.

Renaissance
The Renaissance period brought in famous cooks and notable advancements in cuisine. That
time, Italy had the most famous, skilled and creative chefs in Europe who took fine dining into
new levels. The banquet tradition and the flavors of Medieval times were carried over to the
Renaissance.

The menu during the Renaissance period has greatly expanded. You can find a large selection of
foods like pasta, bread, hard biscuits, wine, rice, cheese, pecorino, pizza (with no tomato sauce
yet), sausages, omelets, meatballs, pork, fish and small birds or game. People developed a taste
for the giblets of butchered animals. Soups and stews were staple foods and were eaten both by
the poor and the rich. Cakes and flan became popular for desserts. Olive oil was used in
cooking. Milk and dairy products became a need, and most households could make their own
cheese.

In addition to spices, fruit and citrus became basic flavoring agents. They also used light sauces
made of aromatic plants or fruit, to be mixed with bread, flour, eggs or almonds.

In 1533, Catherine de Medici arrived in France from Italy. She brought her master chefs with her
who carried Italian staples like broccoli, artichokes, veal, baby peas, and pasta. The French court
tasted, and the country’s cuisine started to produce the most complex and refined dishes in the
West.

When Louis XIV was king of France, his second wife founded a school that granted blue ribbons
for girls who won honors in cooking. Up to now, the blue ribbon is a symbol of high quality in
food. His steward, Louis de Béchameil, had the béchamel sauce named after him. And during his
term, coffee was popularized in the French Court because of his ambassador of the Turkish
government.

Modern
Other processes on handling food were developed in the coming centuries. One of the biggest
changes came in the mid-17th century when the cast-iron range was developed and began to
replace open fireplaces. It radiates more heat and burns less fuel than typical fireplaces. The first
instance of cooling was recorded in 1748 when William Cullen at the University of Glasgow
tried to produce refrigeration. It was successful but did not advance past the laboratory stage.
The first refrigeration machine, however, was developed in the US in 1844. Meanwhile, the tin
can was invented as a tool for preserving food in 1810. Its development was triggered by the
problem of feeding military forces in the field. In addition, gas was first used for cooking during
the 1840s – and since then, the use of gas in the kitchen has been popular.

The 1700s and the 1800s brought us our fast food favorites. The sandwich was invented by John
Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich in 1762. The Margherita pizza, the first relative of the pizza
we know today, was invented in 1889. Meanwhile, the first hamburger and steak sandwich were
sold in 1895.

In 1765, the first modern version of the restaurant appeared in Paris and was opened by a soup
salesman named Boulanger. That was also the year when the word “restaurant” was used for its
current usage for the first time. And by 1789, just before the French Revolution began, there
were already 100 restaurants in Paris. Some of the most notable chefs of this period include Jean
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, who published the first book on the fine art of gastronomy, La
Physiologie du gout, or “The Physiology of Taste”; and Marie-Antoine Careme, who was the
first “celebrity chef” as he served European royalties and pioneered in early French haute
cuisine.

It was during the 1860s when the first cereal and margarine were introduced. That decade,
Kellogg started to manufacture toasted wheat flakes and other vegetarian foods in the US.
Margarine was developed using beef fat as a primary ingredient.

20th century
During the 20th century, science and technology became significantly advanced, so food
preparation and preservation were greatly affected. Processes like refrigeration, freezing, heating,
and canning had improved, making preservation of foods a lot easier.

The use of electricity in homes also started in this era and it paved the way for the development,
manufacture, and use of electric kitchen appliances. The first electric range was introduced in
1914. The microwave was invented in 1947. Other kitchen gadgets like potato chip slicer,
mixers, waffle irons, coffee makers and blenders emerged during this century.

Food preparation had become a lot easier even for non-cooks because of the development of
packaged mixes. Ready-to-cook mixes for baked goods (like pancakes, cookies, and cakes),
instant coffee mixes and powdered milk and chocolate, as well as easy-mix sauces like gravy and
curry, became very popular.

The American cuisine largely evolved and developed during this era. In 1931, a perpetual best-
selling cookbook entitled The Joy of Cooking by Irma Starkloff-Rombauer was published. The
cookbook, which celebrity chef Julia Child considered as “a fundamental resource for any
American cook,” is a comprehensive compilation of classic American and European recipes with
detailed discussions of every aspect of food preparation and clear explanations of culinary
techniques. It enlarged the American cuisine as a whole, and it has sold more than 18 million
copies.
The history of cooking is very broad and long, and new kitchen developments are still being
made throughout the years. There is still a lot to improve and discover, but the stories of
inventions and developments are too wonderful to not appreciate because they are the reason
why we enjoy food so much today.

CONTRIBUTORS IN THE WORLD CUISINE

The word cuisine, which we get from the French, comes from the same Latin roots and is similar
to the Spanish word cocina, which means “kitchen.” La cuisine literally means “kitchen” in
French but the word has a plasticity that causes it to be used to mean “a style of cooking,” or
even “to cook”

Classical French cuisine has been extraordinarily influential in the culinary world.

1700s-FRANCOIS PIERRE DE LA VARENNE - Varenne established the foundation for what

o Roux- is the standard for binding sauces and thickening agent that is made with fat
(usually butter) and a wheat flour.
Marie Antoine (antonin) Carême - Father of Haute cuisine
-codified the 4 French Mother Sauce
- First celebrity chef in the world

o Haute cuisine - or Grande Cuisine is the preparation and cooking of a high quality food
following the style of traditional french -cuisine

o The Mother Sauce - refers to any one of five basic sauces, which are the starting points
for making various secondary sauces or "small sauces”

it was often reported that there were only two French “mother” sauces: the white sauce and the
brown sauce. The white sauces is what we would call today a béchamel and the brown sauces
was then, and still is, called espagnole, but more often today is called a demi-glace

Careme identify the 4 Mother sauces such as the Espagnole, Veloute, Allemande and the
Bechamel

Escoffier complete the classification of the main group sauces such as the Espagnole, Veloute,
Emulsions, Bechamel and the Tomato Sauce

THE KITCHEN BRIGADE SYSTEM

NOUVELLE CUISINE
o A Pared-down internationalized versions of French cooking that placed a premium on
fresh ingredients prepared in a lighter style and presented artistically on the plate.

- Roger Vergé, a founding father of Nouvelle Cuisine who developed a highly influential
version of Provençal cooking, which he called “The Cuisine of the Sun”
- In the 1960’s Mr. Vergé, along with chefs like Paul Bocuse, The Troisgros brothers and
Michel Guérard, helped blasé the rail for Nouvelle Cuisine.
- Paul Bocuse, Pronounced (boh-KYOOZ) a preminent French restaurateur who became
one of the first celebrity chefs was named “Chef of the Century”, popularized the
Nouvelle Cuisine movement of lighter and seasonal fare and created an international
cooking contest dubbed the culinary Olympics.

INNOVATIVE PROCESS FOR MAKING SAUCES

- Chef Yannick Alléno is known for his innovations in modern sauce techniques, creating
complex, bold sauces through a frozen extraction process known as Cryo Concentration.
The first step: the EXTRACTION
Where cooking the food under a vacuum with specific time and temperature.
The second step: CRYO CONCENTRATION
Where the liquid from the first step will be reduced in order to condense and preserve its aroma.
The third and last step: BLEND
When different extractions are mixed in order to create the perfect trussing for a specific dish.

FOOD PRESERVATION

- Nicolas Appert , a French chef, confectioner, and distiller who invented the method of
preserving food by enclosing it in hermetically sealed containers. Using corked-glass
containers reinforced with wire and sealing wax and kept in boiling ater for varying
lengths of time, he preserved soups, fruits, vegetables, juices, dairy products,
marmalades, jellies and syrups.
RESOURCES:

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/09/world/europe/roger-verge-a-founder-of-nouvelle-
cuisine-dies-at-85.html#:~:text=Roger%20Verg%C3%A9%2C%20a%20founding%20father,He
%20was%2085.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/paul-bocuse-french-chef-who-popularized-
nouvelle-cuisine-movement-dies-at-91/2018/01/20/d97ce864-fde3-11e7-a46b-
a3614530bd87_story.html

https://www.irishfoodguide.ie/2011/04/nouvelle-cuisine-inventor-paul-bocuse.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicolas-Appert

https://www.unileverfoodsolutions.com.ph/chef-inspiration/world-cuisines/french-
cuisine/extraction-techniques-for-extraordinary-sauces.html

https://hashtaglegend.com/culture/yannick-alleno-master-sauces/

https://didyouknowhomes.com/history-of-cooking/?fbclid=IwAR2g-RkSd5ikpmJRXn_8yyce--
f43Rs0dyoqP6qfI7SUOR4MvyiCWnbb7X4