SC - Greetings...

[Elaine Koogler]

Adamantius caught me in a slip-up...I should have said "du Fromage" instead 
of "au Fromage".  His discussion concerning Escoffier and Careme was spot on, 
as well.  The vast majority of "classic" French cookery is based on the 
teachings of Escoffier, Brillat-Savarin, Paul Bocuse and Michel Careme, all 
of whom are relatively 19th century.  While Escoffier was very adamant about 
"modernizing" the professional kitchen, the volume of his work was, in part, 
based on some very old techniques and ideas. But, due to his nature and 
attitude towards modern cooking, IMO, it is doubtful that any medieval 
recipes he may have been using would have resembled the original after he was 
finished.  Bocuse and Savarin tended to be a little more rigid in their 
attempts to "salvage" the nobility and tradition of classical cooking, but 
even they could not hold out long against the rush of the modern age.  So, in 
effect, they may have, at the same time, helped modern cooking achieve the 
level it has today, and clouded the waters we may have used to peer into the 
past.

Balthazar of Blackmoor.