5: Sociology Of Nouvelle Cuisine
The author means to consider the social implications of "novella cuisine," which is the highly affected manner in which food has been served in upscale restaurants for about the past three centuries. The mode is generally characterized by small portions of food arranged decoratively and sold at highly elevated prices - as contrasted to the traditional meal which is more generous in its portions and less concerned with its appearance.
It's suggested that nouvelle cuisine is "very much a producer's product" that is less concerned with satisfying the appetite of the diner than with showcasing the culinary and artistic skills of the chef - but which nonetheless yields to the demand of consumers whose approval is necessary for its commercial success.
The characteristics of nouvelle cuisine
It's noted with some irony that "nouvelle cuisine" is almost three hundred years old, having originated in the cookbooks of certain chefs of the 1730s. For a time it fell out of fashion but resurfaced in the 1880s with Escoffier and others of his tome. Nouvelle cuisine has been described as some as the pinnacle of evolution in the development of French haute cuisine, and has held this status since.
The notion of nouvelle was not explored in much detail, until its characteristics were listed in the 1980s by Gault and Millau:
- The method of cooking is not complicated, but focuses on skill in basic techniques
- Cooking time was reduced, such that food could be cooked to order rather than prepared in advance.
- There is a focus on the quality and freshness of ingredients
- Restaurants serve a smaller menu of dishes that change frequently
- Strong marinades were rejected and meat was served fresh rather than aged or preserved
- Rich and heavy sauces were eliminated, though lighter sauces were still used so long as they did not interfere with (or cover) the taste of the ingredients - in plating techniques, sauces are served beneath rather than over food, so there is no suspicion that something substandard is being hidden
- In the same regard, the tableware (dishes, places, cutlery, etc.) is kept simple rather than elaborate as the food is to take precedence over what it rests upon or is consumed with.
- There is respect, rather than disdain, for regional cookery and local ingredients
- Traditional cooking techniques are used - food processors, microwave ovens, and frozen foods are not precluded, but discouraged.
- Some dietetic implications were important: red meats are frowned upon, frying is discouraged, and the use of sugar and salt is reduced.
- Innovation, creativity, and experimentation are valued over adherence to tradition in the presentation and content
- The expensiveness of nouvelle cuisine is justified by the high quality of ingredients and the amount of labor required in preparation
Two factors that have nothing to do with the cuisine are also noted. First, the focus turned from the restaurant owner to the chef as the producer credited for food, and "chef-owners" of are most highly respected. Second, there was a strong preference for independent restaurants rather than those that were attached to hotels or any sort of "chain."
The basic qualities of nouvelle are not merely an approach to preparing and presenting food, but they reflect a range of social values and concerns - which the author intends to describe in terms of the construction, production, and consumption of the cuisine that demonstrate cultural values that underlie the culinary principles.
The social construction of nouvelle cuisine
Nouvelle aspires to be superior to both common cuisine and previous traditions in haute cuisine in terms of quality - it seeks to be "the very best there is" in terms of ingredients and techniques.
This is by comparison to the moral imperatives that are obvious in home cooking: it is expected to provide sustenance and nutrition for the family to the best of their abilities and budget. Haute cuisine means to exceed the abilities of the home cook, whereas lesser forms of cuisine may mean only to match home cooking, or to provide a lesser degree of quality for the sake of efficiency and expediency.
However, in haute cuisine there are still compromises. Nutritional value of food is not ignored, but may be compromised for flavor or presentation. Adequacy of food is not entirely ignored, but is often compromised to the point where it is justly criticized from being "a miniscule meal at an exorbitant price."
Nouvelle, in its desire to elevate cuisine to the highest level of art, is particularly guilty of both charges. The skill of preparation is demonstrated lavishly, and to the detriment of the functional benefits (taste and nutrition) of a meal.
There is also some mention of the "second-rate imitators" of nouvelle, who have attempted to copy it in some regards but to an inferior breadth and degree. (EN: This is similar to the way that the premium market imitates certain elements of the luxury market.) Aside of contempt, the purveyors and aficionados of nouvelle have felt the need to unmask "faux nouvelle" to preserve their own esteem.
There's also a level of contempt and discrediting to be done of novelty cuisine, such as molecular gastronomy, whose focus on unusual ingredients and bizarre techniques departs foo far from the realm of "cuisine" and becomes gimmickry and performance art.
In these regards, Nouvelle attempts to define for itself a space between "not enough" and "too much" creativity, which results in some uncertainty - partially by design to keep the practice exclusive to a small number of chefs - which is likely the reason it was 250 years before anyone presumed to document its principles.
The social production of nouvelle cuisine
Food preparation may be entirely utilitarian, but when it is produced as cuisine it is conceptualized and executed in a social context, and is influenced by the values, beliefs, and ideologies of the producers. Not all cultures have cuisine - some merely cook.
The author assert that individualism is at the heart of nouvelle - there are no formulas or traditions, but a loose set of standards in which the individual chef many demonstrate his culinary flair. Creativity is emphasized, and creativity is the act of an empowered and unencumbered individual.
Individualism is also reflected in the status given to the chef-owner in nouvelle, as the chef cannot be as broadly creative if he is beholden to an owner whose interest is purely financial and who is often averse to the risk of failure by offering patrons something strange and unfamiliar. In business terms, the nouvelle establishment must be eternally entrepreneurial, never settling into a routine business of offering the same menu and focusing on efficiency gains.
If individualism taken to the extreme produces narcissism and arrogance, then nouvelle is unrepentantly guilty of these flaws. A nouveaux cuisiniers perceives himself as a chef of exceptional creativity that elevates them above their peers, and when this self-perception is reinforced by a sizable body of regular customers who pay exorbitant prices, a chef becomes an intolerable egoist and feels he has earned the right to his inflated self-esteem. Within their profession, they are the elite, proven and validated.
(EN: The author does not mention this, but the present area of media attention further fuels elitism, by rewarding a chosen few with celebrity status on a grander scale. The chef is not hidden in the kitchen, nor is his renown limited to the local market, but he becomes highly visible and world-famous.)
The three primary traits of the nouveaux cuisinier are entrepreneurship, artistic freedom, and individualism - but these are counterbalanced by responsibility. When an individual takes sole credit for his success, he also must shoulder the full blame for his failures.
All other roles in the restaurant are marginalized. The wait staff are merely porters who carry plates to the tables. The customers themselves are not in a position to be appeased or accommodated, but are expected to gratefully accept whatever is put before them and failure to appreciate the offering is evidence of their own failure rather than that of the chef. Even the owner or manager of a restaurant is marginalized, to accept and even be grateful to a chef who is in a position of power to generate income rather than weakness as a mere employee who merely follows orders. All power and all productive capital derive from the kitchen, with others in minor supporting roles.
The social consumption of nouvelle cuisine
Nouvelle cuisine is decidedly bourgeois in its character and consumption. The lower classes haven't the income to indulge themselves, and the upper classes have achieved a pinnacle and have no desire for attention. The middle class, however, are eager to vie for esteem and have the income to do so by making public demonstration of their affluence and taste.
In that sense, nouvelle cuisine supports the agenda of the nouveau riche, or those who have the desire to be perceived as having achieved a new status in society. It is a form of conspicuous consumption to declare "I have arrived" ad "I belong" to an audience who doesn't already revere you are and may doubt your legitimacy.
The "naturalness" of nouvelle is also important as a statement of values: to appreciate it is to seem restrained and refined - it is expensive but not wasteful in that there is value in the cuisine itself. Its consumption is neither gluttonous nor greedy, but luxurious and refined. In that way consuming nouvelle signals not merely affluence, but the manner in which money is spent is suggestive of the way in which money was acquired.
The quality of nouvelle is suggestive of purity: "nouvelle cuisine is sanitized gastronomy" in its insistence on the highest quality and meticulous preparation. In a sense, it is "consuming virtue" as a means of purifying oneself.
It's also briefly remarked that short cooking times also make the preparation of nouvelle a gentlemanly endeavor. When the techniques of nouvelle are brought into the home, the host can prepare courses in a few moments. Aside of giving the host the ability to be more involved in serving his guests (to perform the action to provide for guests personally rather than regulating it to a servant) without withdrawing from their company to tend to chores.
At the same time, the ability to perform nouvelle in the home does not invalidate its qualities as an art form that is performed by a talented professional chef. Instead, it makes "talent" more democratic, much in the way that being able to play a musical instrument with some degree of talent demonstrates refinement and skill that elevates the individual as a "renaissance man" whose skills and interests are diverse.
Conclusion
It is perhaps overly charitable to suggest that haute cuisine in general and nouvelle in particular is a means of uplifting peoples' tastes. But it would also be overly cynical to suggest that it is a means to support elitism and express narcissism. Nouvelle has about it elements of both, but such can be said of any philosophy that sets an ideal and describes the means to achieve it.
Ultimately, it is a manner of performing a task, and "manners" are the core of etiquette and fashion, both of which have similarly been extolled and criticized for similar (manners function to accommodate others in society and demonstrate superiority) and are similarly neglected or over-emphasized.
It is also suggested that nouvelle contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction. If the principles of nouvelle are not adopted widely enough it will perish, but if they are adopted too widely then it will become commonplace and indistinctive - much as any behavior of distinction loses its distinctiveness when it is widely embraced.
As such it is foreseeable that nouvelle may in time be replaced by another fashion, but it is likely to remain a part of the culinary scene, whether peripheral or central, as its core principles are integral to "serious" food and eating. But the duration of its reign would be difficult to predict - it is less about how long it will sustain itself and more about when the next "new" thing will be discovered.
As for nouvelle itself, it has waxed and waned over the past three centuries, but maintained its integrity - and so long as it maintains its integrity can be expected to remain part of the culinary scene.