To prepare excellent French cuisine, one must understand French cooking terms and techniques, use fresh ingredients, and have the proper equipment. It’s important to use the correct herbs and spices, and consult glossaries and conversion charts. French cooking techniques include braising, flambéing, and poaching.
There are many important elements to learn to prepare excellent French cooking at home, including an understanding of French cooking terms and techniques and a familiarity with traditional French spices. Most French cooking techniques are incredibly simple and easy to master, although there are some recipes that require rigorous procedures and perfect execution to produce restaurant-quality results. The key components of most French food preparation are fresh ingredients, basic cooking skills, and the equipment to properly follow recipe instructions. There are many books, magazines, and websites that can provide a lot of information about French cuisine and how to prepare it properly.
The art of French cooking begins with understanding the basic terms of French cooking. This knowledge is incredibly important for reading recipes correctly and ensuring the reader understands how to carry out the instructions. Most well-written French cookbooks contain a glossary of terms to help the beginner cook on this issue. The reader should expect to see terms that refer to techniques, specific types of ingredients, and measurements. In some cases, it may be necessary to consult a measurement conversion chart to ensure that the correct amounts of ingredients are being added to the dish.
Many of the techniques used in basic cooking are also used in French cooking. For a brand new cook, it may be necessary to revisit what actions those terms refer to. For example, the word whip can refer to both the action and the tool used. There are cooking techniques unique to French cuisine, including braising, flambéing, and poaching. Definitions of these terms can be found on food TV shows, in cookbooks, and on French cooking websites, often with videos or illustrations to better describe the techniques.
Many culinary experts believe that one of the most important elements of French cuisine is using the best, freshest and correct type of herbs and spices in recipes. Like other countries, there are specific herbal blends used in different regions of France. To produce a truly authentic dish or meal, it is imperative that you use the exact combinations of herbs and spices called for in the recipe. Some grocery stores and markets carry French spice blends, such as Herbes de Provence, which include savory, thyme, marjoram, and lavender. Other herbs can be purchased individually fresh or dried as needed.
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