Foi Gras: The Development Of The Modern French Restaurant Industry

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Rolling Heads and Foie Gras: The Development of the Modern French Restaurant Industry
How did the French Revolution and the upheaval of the guild system in France contribute to the rise of the French restaurant industry?
Introduction
There are two distinct schools of thought when it comes to the history of the restaurant. The first states that following the French revolution all of the members of the high society were dead, exiled, or imprisoned and the chefs who used to work in their kitchens found themselves unemployed. As a result all of these unemployed chefs opened up restaurants and began to serve to the common plebian the dishes that were once only reserved for those of the upper class. However this explanation is far too simple and …show more content…

In Le cuisine roial there are only two medieval based dishes in over six hundred pages of recipes. Spices other than pepper began to appear in the ingredients, spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. The critique of food became less about the cut of meat or the quality of the vegetable and more about the sauce that it was covered in, the spices and most importantly the flavors. Although access to finer foods increased for French commoners their cuisine was still out of step with the high Parisian cuisine. But what the shift did indicate was that the demand in the market was changing. French people wanted more and they wanted better. The finer tastes which the French are credited with were beginning to emerge. This yearning for decadent food mirrored the stirrings in all of France. There was a revolution on the horizon and their tastes were reflecting their attitudes, the lower class of France wanted equality in life and in …show more content…

His bigger accomplishment was the opening of his eatery in Paris. As mentioned in the Almanac, he served bullions and other health foods. More people flocked to the restaurant for the restoratives he sold and over time he expanded his business. Overall Chantoiseau was able the use his pull with the French crown to get granted special rights to begin to serve wine and beverages in his acclaimed restaurants. This was unheard of at the time due to the enormous influence of the French guilds who wanted to keep different areas of commerce separate. A Parisian could not buy gingerbread at the same place as he or she bought pastries. His contribution to our modern idea of a restaurant in often understated but he was the man responsible for beginning to bring various foods together. This combination of food and drink was the beginning of a revolution in the hospitality industry and would eventually give rise to a modern form of a

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