Articles

A Timeline of The Restaurant The hospitality industry has existed since the beginning of Western culture. People have always been forced to travel for one reason or another, which means there has always been someone there to make money from travelers. Food, a bed, shelter from the storm – these are things people have always […]

Photo by Kent Wang Axoa A specialty of Gascony made with seasoned ground veal, onions, and plenty of sweet and hot red peppers. Blanquette de veau This classic French stew is made from veal, mushrooms, and onions. The stew is first simmered in a white stock, then served in a velouté sauce finished with egg […]

The Michelin Guide awards restaurants between one and three stars, and they are coveted. Getting one, or one more, can create a legend; losing one can result in significant heartbreak. The Guide itself says that “certain establishments deserve to be brought to your attention” because of the quality of the cuisine served. Since the Michelin […]

A list of the most commonly used terms that you will most-often see in a menu. These terms are usually exact words or derivations from their originating country’s cuisine, so the country of origin is listed along with the term. Ahi Ahi is the Hawaiian name for yellowfin and bigeye tuna. Aioli (France) Aioli is […]

One upon a time, a customer simply had to eat what the Chef was cooking that day in any given restaurant. That all changed with the introduction of the Brigade System by Georges Auguste Escoffier. His experience as a French Army Chef led him to develop the Brigade system of chef hierarchy. This way he was […]

An Interview with Maury Rubin Maury Rubin, the chef/owner of Manhattan’s The City Bakery and author of Book of Tarts, first put hot chocolate on his menu in the winter of 1992. At the time, the only other upscale venue that offered the beverage served it frozen (this was pre-Starbuck’s). Now, City Bakery, with its […]

by Melissa Clark While growing up, I never much liked chocolate. My birthday cakes were always made from strawberry-pink ice cream, and my candy preferences tended toward caramels, candy corns, and sugared nuts. Aside from the occasional bite sized bar of Hershey’s special dark, or a marshmallow-topped cup of Nestle’s Quik, chocolate was just not […]

A Chocolate Timeline It’s almost impossible to believe it now, but for most of its very long history, chocolate was not something people ate. It was a beverage, and not only was that beverage rarely hot, it was usually not sweet. Once the Spanish arrived in the New World and began to survey the riches […]

Photo by The British Library French cooking can be split and grouped along geographical lines. Each region of France has it’s own distinct style of cooking along with regional ingredient and recipes. Even the way a french meal is eaten and at what time can vary from place to place. Here is our fast guide […]

Photo by jules:stonesoup Sauces are, of course, a crucial element of French cuisine, and the French cook can recreate the canon of sauces from a limited set of techniques and ingredients. Here’s a quick run down of some very basic sauce-stuff: Basic French Sauce Descriptions Béarnaise: A relative of hollandaise, béarnaise is a reduction of […]