France, Germany, Italy, China

Introduction of French Cuisine

French cuisine is one of the three great cuisines of the world. French cuisine is characterized by the use of fresh seasonal materials, coupled with the chef's unique personal conditioning, to complete the unique art of fine dining, whether visual, olfactory, taste, touch, sympathetic nerve, are unparalleled realm, and in the quality of food service level of the atmosphere of the meal, but also the requirements of the overall performance of the refinement of the performance

In the domestic market, the French cuisine is represented by a delicate, romantic, elegant and expensive, the real name of the French cuisine. Romantic elegance and expensive, really expensive French cuisine, eat a meal may be up to one person 7,000 yuan or so, the price depends on the type of dishes, because the French cuisine attaches great importance to the freshness of the raw materials, so the domestic French restaurants are mostly used in the way of eating by air, attracting a lot of gourmets to come here, but also caused the price of the French cuisine remains high situation.

French cuisine is characterized by juicy flavor, and eat French food must have exquisite tableware and picturesque dishes to meet the visual; pungent aroma of wine to meet the sense of smell; the entrance to the delicious to meet the sense of taste; glasses and knives and forks in the serene space under the staggering, it is the highest enjoyment of the sense of touch and taste. This attitude of using all five senses together develops a deep and dedicated taste.

In recent years, French cuisine has been constantly improving and pushing the classical dishes of the past to the so-called NouvelleCuisine and applying them to each other in a way that emphasizes flavor, naturalness, technique, decoration and color. French cuisine because of the different geographical locations, and contains many regional dishes special Northern France, animal husbandry is prevalent, a variety of cream and cheese to people's appetites. The south is rich in olives, seafood, garlic, fruits and vegetables, and spices.

BURGUNDY

The Burgundy region

produces large quantities of red and white wines, snails, chicken and mustard sauces. Famous dishes are the red braised chicken (COQAUVIN), the red wine braised beef (BOEUFALABOURGUIGNONNE) and the Burgundy roasted snails (ESCARGOTBOURGUGNONNE).

NORMANDY Normandy

Produces large quantities of seafood, butter, whipped cream and apples. One of the better known dishes is the Normandy seafood stew. The addition of apples to many dishes is the region's best feature.

CLSACE KANSAS

This region is home to France's most famous foie gras. More famous dishes are the cheese and bacon tart (quichélorraine) and choucroute (bacon with sauerkraut).

PROVENCE

Because of its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea and Italy, the region's cuisine tends to be more Italian. Olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, fish and various spices are often used in the cooking process. Famous dishes are Marseille-style seafood (BOUILLABAISSE) and chicken legs in Poufan (SAUTEEDFROGLEGPROVENCE) and so on.

French cuisine in the selection of materials preferred beef (BEEF), veal (VEAL), lamb (LAMB), poultry (POULTRY), seafood (SEAFOOD), vegetables (VEGETABLE), snails (ESCARGOT), truffles (TRUFFLE), foie gras (GOOSELIVER), and caviar ( CAVIAR; and in the ingredients used a lot of wine, butter, fresh cream and various spices; in cooking, the fire accounts for a very important part, such as beef, lamb usually cooked to six or seven minutes cooked; seafood cooking must be cooked properly, not overcooked, especially in the production of sauce (Sauce), more special efforts, which uses a wide range of materials, whether it is stock (Stock), wine, fresh cream, butter, sauce, sauce, sauce, sauce, sauce and sauce.) It uses a wide range of ingredients, such as stock, wine, whipped cream, butter, or various spices and fruits, all of which are used very flexibly.

France is one of the world's proud producers of wine, champagne and brandy, so the French are very particular about the use of wine in food and drink. For example, they drink lighter open-flavored wine before meals; white wine or bourbon when consuming salads, soups and seafood; red wine when consuming meat; and a small amount of brandy or dessert wine after meals. In addition, champagne is customarily used in celebrations, such as marriage, birth, celebration, etc..

French cheese is also very famous, and there are many kinds of cheese. According to the type of points are fresh and hard, half hard, hard, blue mold and smoked five categories; usually eat cheese will be accompanied by bread, dried fruit (such as walnuts, etc.), grapes and so on. In addition, French cuisine in the enjoyment of the use of tableware is very important, whether it is a knife, fork, plate or wine glass, because these can set off the noble temperament of French cuisine.

In recent years, France has been hit by the economic downturn and changes in the eating habits of young people, which have led to an increasing decline in the overall price and standard of traditionally expensive and sophisticated gastronomy (Gastronomie). Fewer and fewer French people are willing to pay astronomical prices for a single meal. Michelin and Gaultmillau, two of France's leading food critics, have been promoting a new culture of good value for money for years now, and many previously unattainable restaurants are trying to cut prices to attract more diners.

German food

The character of a country's cuisine is always related to its national character. For example, the French are romantic, so French cuisine is also like a flowery flavor; the Japanese are stereotypical, introspective, and because of the small size of the country, so Japanese food is delicate, small, light and tasteless. The German nation, it seems that the blood has an innate spirit of rationalism, their dishes are also like the German character, focusing on economic, practical, affordable, not so much to talk about ostentation, but also without losing the beauty of the outside.

Evolution is a good thing or a bad thing, one thing is for sure, is that the Germans are not a particularly gifted people to eat, and will not be keen on how to make the dishes to be incredibly complex and fancy new, unlike their neighbors, the French, to eat a dinner may want to eat the whole night, a German, would certainly think it is in the crazy. So basically, German cuisine has evolved by absorbing the characteristics of other European cuisines and simplifying them or changing them to suit their own tastes. It is economical, large in quantity, and has a little bit of Western style. And German food is a closer to the Chinese taste of Western food, Germany is the European countries consume the largest amount of pork, which is also similar to China, German food in the famous Bavarian roasted pork elbow, roasted pork kneecap, the taste of each even if they have not eaten any Western food Chinese can accept it.

Like other Western food, a complete German meal also includes soup, appetizer, main course and dessert after the package, but most Germans will never eat slowly and methodically from the appetizer, usually called a main course and soup, of course, beer is indispensable, to use a meaner word to describe the Germans, as long as there is beer to drink, in fact, what to eat is indifferent. The restaurant is not very big, the decoration is simple and plain, which is also like the German nature. A lot of wall paintings and small ornaments are THORSTEN's idea, the window is the hotel's sky garden, a large amount of green influx, very natural. Everywhere exudes the German flavor, practical, the pursuit of beauty, but not luxurious, not excessive.

Italian food

Some people ask the mother of Western food is which country's food I think most people will say is France only, now I solemnly tell you that the mother of Western food is Italian food! The Italian nation is a gourmet nation, they have a long history in food, as their art, fashion and cars, always like to elaborate. Italian cuisine is elegant and noble, but also strong and simple, and emphasizes the original flavor. Italian cuisine is very rich, with thousands of dishes, and in addition to the familiar pizza and spaghetti, it is famous for its seafood and desserts. The long history of Italian food, the European and American countries have a deep impact on the catering, and the development of a variety of factions, including French, American food, so there is a "mother of Western food" of the name.

Italy is located in the southern part of Europe on the Apennine Peninsula, with a population of more than 76 million, the vast majority of which are Catholic. Since the construction of the city of Rome in 753 B.C., the Roman Empire has developed an advanced ancient Roman civilization on the basis of absorbing the essence of ancient Greek civilization, thus becoming the political, economic and cultural center of Europe at that time. The princes and nobles, led by the city of Florence, demonstrated their strength and power by researching and developing cooking techniques and having skilled cooks, and took this as a sign of honor and glory. Therefore, the common people thought that as long as they could become masters of cooking, they would have the opportunity to be in the circle of nobles, so the whole country was filled with the fun of research and development of cooking skills, which pushed the development of catering industry to the heyday, and then laid down the sacred status of the "Mother of Western Cuisine", and influenced most of the regions in Europe, which was known as the "Continental European Cuisine". It is known as the "originator of continental European cooking".

The Italians have contributed a lot to the Western food culture. In 1533 A.D., the Italian princess Catherine Di Medici married Henry II, Dauphin of France, took 30 chefs to introduce new food and cooking methods to France. The French, on the other hand, will be the two countries on the culinary merits of the fusion, and gradually carry it forward, creating today's most prestigious representative of Western cuisine - "French cuisine". Second, the Italians invented the dinner fork, which set a new cultural note for the table.

Italian cooking is known for the world's fine cuisine, it is different from French cooking, has its own style characteristics:

Dishes focus on the original flavor, pay attention to the use of fire.

Italian cuisine pays the most attention to the essence of the raw materials, the original color, finished products strive to maintain the original flavor. In the cooking process very much like to use garlic, green onions, tomato sauce, cheese, pay attention to the production of sauces. Cooking methods such as stir-frying, frying, grilling, braising, stewing, etc. are mostly used. Often the main ingredients are wrapped or marinated, fried or grilled, and then cooked with the ingredients, resulting in dishes with exceptional flavors and multiple layers of texture. Italian cuisine is very particular about the heat, with many dishes being cooked to 60 or 70%, while others require tenderness and blood, such as Roman-style fried chicken and Angus steak. Rice, noodles and macaroni require a certain degree of firmness.

Make use of the natural flavors of ingredients to create beautiful dishes.

Italian food is always prepared with olive oil, black olives, parmesan cheese, spices, tomatoes and Marsala wine. These six ingredients are the heart and soul of Italian cuisine and represent the ingredients that are so abundant and so well utilized in Italy that Italian cuisine can be called "authentic and traditional" without equal. The most commonly used vegetables are tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, cabbage, lettuce and potatoes. Rice is widely used as a side dish with meat, oysters, squid, pheasant and mushrooms. The Italians are very particular about the preparation and processing of meat, such as air-dried beef (Drybeef), air-dried ham (Parmaham), Italian sausage, Bolognese sausage, bolognese leg, etc. These cold meat products are ideal for appetizers and wine accompaniment, and are renowned all over the world.

Cooking with rice and pasta is very varied and full of flavor.

Italians are good at making pasta and rice products, almost every meal must be done, and a variety of different flavors. The famous ones are pasta and pizza. Pasta with different shapes and colors, oblique shape is to let the sauce into the pasta tube, while there are stripes of powder so that the sauce to stay on the surface of the noodles, the color represents the noodles with different nutrients. The red noodles are made by mixing red bell peppers or bell pepper root into the noodles during the noodle making process, the yellow noodles are made by mixing saffron pistils or pumpkin, the green noodles are made by mixing spinach, and the black noodles are the most visually striking, with cuttlefish ink used, and all of the colors come from natural ingredients, not from coloring. The pasta flavors are dominated by three basic sauces: a tomato-based sauce, a whipped cream-based sauce and an olive oil-based sauce. These sauces can also be varied with seafood, beef, vegetables, or simply with spices.

Regional differences create local cuisine.

Due to the differences in climate and terroir between the north and south, there are four major cuisines in Italian cuisine. North Italian cuisine: The main ingredients of pasta are flour and eggs, especially lasagna and lasagna noodles. In addition, the north produces medium-length rice, which is suitable for cooking Italian Dosso and Milanese Risotto. Butter is favored for cooking. Central Italian cuisine: represented by Dolce Negra and Lazio, with specialties such as Dolce Negra beef, artichokes, and Bocconcini cheese. Southern Italian cuisine: specialties include hazelnuts, mozzarella, bergamot oil and Pausillonella mushrooms. The main ingredients of pasta are durum wheat semolina, salt and water, including macaroni, spaghetti and fettuccine. The cuisine prefers to cook with olive oil and is good at utilizing herbs, spices and seafood in its dishes. Small island cuisine: represented by Sicily, y influenced by the Arab, food style is different from the rest of Italy, still seafood, vegetables and all kinds of pasta-based, specializing in salted dried fish roe and blood citrus.

Taste of Italian food is extremely elaborate, generally eat first appetizer, such as soup or pasta, Risotto rice, corn cake, pizza. The main course includes a seafood plate and a meat plate. Italian meals, seafood cooking than meat variety, the traditional menu will keep a side column, popular side dishes such as sautéed parsley Paulownia mushrooms, tomato and cheese salad, etc., while the modern entrees will be accompanied by more vegetables and starchy food to balance the nutrition, without the need to choose another side dish, famous entrees are; stuffed flowers and branches, herbs, leg pan-fried cowboy meat slices and grilled beef tenderloin with mushrooms in red wine sauce, and so on. Then comes the salad, dessert or cheese, Italian desserts are a wide array of pastries, ice-creams and wine-scented fruits, the more famous ones are Italian cheesecake, Sicilian trattoria ice-cream, tiramisu and so on. After dessert, the waiter will bring the cheese cart. Cheese is a very common food in Italy, and there are about 400 kinds of cheese, which can be served as a dish or accompanied by red wine. Common Italian cheeses include BeiPaese, Fonfina, and Provolone. After the meal, you can drink a cup of espresso or foam coffee to help digestion, preferably accompanied by a little almond cookie. Italian dishes are large, so to avoid waste, choose one for each course.

Italians generally like fat, spicy, sweet and sour flavors, focusing on thick, fragrant and rotten dishes, and pay attention to the matching of dishes and wine. General fish and white meat (beef, chicken, etc.) with white wine, meat dishes with red or pink wine. Paste, vegetable porridge and so on according to its sauce to decide the wine, fish and shellfish sauce with white wine, if the meat with red or pink wine, the Italians do not like to eat minced meat and fat pork, and the bread is only white bread.

Introducing several Italian signature dishes

Italian cuisine, which originated during the Roman Empire, is the mother of Western cuisine, and even French cuisine is sheltered by it to its present size. Experts also say that it is the most oriental Western cuisine (Chinese pasta was introduced to Italy in the eighth century).

To taste Italian food, first browse through a proper Italian menu, which is usually divided into appetizers (antipasti), first courses (soups, pasta dishes), second courses (meat, seafood) and desserts, and sometimes subdivided into vegetable options, but most often appetizers or first courses come with vegetables, so they are not mandatory.

The full course meal is a choice of one appetizer, one each of the first and second courses, and a dessert. If you have a limited appetite, you can choose one of the appetizers or the first course, or skip dessert. But remember, Italy is the second home of travelers, so you don't have to be tied down to eat Italian food, but rather, you can have a lively and enjoyable meal with a great atmosphere.

The trouble is, Italy is like the Mecca of food, and each place has its own specialties and flavors that local restaurants can only pick and choose. But basically, there is still a place for each, such as the north of Italy, due to its proximity to the mountainous regions of France and Austria, and the richness of the agricultural and livestock industries, the flavor is warm and rich, and the grilled dishes, which are troublesome to make, are the most popular.

Southern Italian cuisine is rich in seafood and vegetables, color cooking have obvious Mediterranean style, spices under the heavy, simple techniques, highlighting the original flavor. In the center of Italy, there is a combination of both, especially in the volcanic soil, a variety of vegetables, spices, derived from a number of rich taste of the historic dishes.

To further explore the original flavors, here are some of Italy's signature dishes:

Veal slices: Milanese veal, cooked with celery, onion, bay leaf and other spices in white wine until tender, then cooled and thinly sliced, and drizzled with a mayonnaise sauce made from calamari and mashed fish (all representative of Italian fish).

Meat Plate: Named after a famous Venetian family, it is traditionally served with thin slices of raw beef, garlic olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and cheese. An alternative version is served with raw fish.

Ravioli soup: pasta that resembles small ravioli. Nayan main for stringy meat, cheese, ham, vegetables, etc. This way of eating is boiled and served in broth.

Salad: Italy's abundance of lettuce, zucchini, bell peppers, small octopus, snappers, pine nuts, rimmed cauliflower, etc., to make a salad just add extra virgin olive oil, wine vinegar, salt, pepper, tops lemon juice can be tossed.

Authentic pasta: There are hundreds of different kinds of pasta, but the most authentic is the round, slender kind. The northern part of the dish is served with a meat sauce made of sautéed stringy meat (foie gras and bacon for the real thing) mixed with tomatoes; the central part is served with a creamy egg sauce made of sautéed cheese and bacon cured meats with egg yolks; and the ancient flavor is a pine nut sauce made of pine nuts, pita, garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper stirred in.

Italian fried rice: Italian South eat pasta, Italian North good rice. This loose, non-stick round rice is cooked with seafood, mushrooms, green beans and cheese, and served cool.

Noodle lumps: the practice is very similar to [taro dumplings], with boiled taro or pumpkin, barley, etc. and flour mixed and kneaded, and then molded into small pieces, eaten compared to pasta.

Milan veal shin meat: Milan's signature dish, veal shin bone cut into rings, white wine, tomatoes, spices and stewed for a long time, the bone marrow is the essence of its.

Ham and cheese steak: ham, cheese, beef are Italian specialties, the focus is on fried ready to eat, no other sauces, topped with a little olive oil to make the meat more tender.

Red stewed white beans tripe: Italian people eat offal (except intestines) to the specialty of white beans and tomatoes stewed tripe, is a famous dish in central.

Roasted quail with vegetables and roasted lamb chops with spices: the former is a seasonal dish for hunting in summer, while the latter is a new favorite among local diners, featuring a variety of spices marinated for many hours before braising and then grilling, without dipping in the sauce, it's fresh, sweet and tender.

Seabass in eggplant sauce: Italians eat fish in stews, topped with a variety of sauces, while other seafood is simply fried, grilled or boiled, all in its original flavor.

Tiramisu: take long finger-shaped cookies soaked in coffee juice, milk, and then coffee juice, cheese, chocolate, whipped cream, etc. into a sauce, to a layer of cookies, a layer of sauce in the form of stacked into seven layers, refrigerated and then eaten.

Chinese Cuisine

Chinese cuisine has gone through 4,000 to 5,000 years of development. It consists of successive generations of court cuisine, governmental cuisine and various local cuisines, the main body of which is each local style cuisine. Its superb culinary skills and rich cultural connotations are world-class.

China's vast territory, the natural conditions, people's habits, economic and cultural development of different places, in the diet and cooking and cuisine categories, the formation of different local flavors. The two major flavors of the north and south, since the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period began to appear, to the Tang and Song dynasties fully formed. By the early Qing Dynasty, Lu Cuisine (including Beijing and Tianjin and other northern regions of the flavor of the dishes), Su Cuisine (including Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui region of the flavor of the dishes), Cantonese Cuisine (including Fujian, Taiwan, Chao, Qiong region of the flavor of the dishes), Sichuan Cuisine (including Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Yunnan region of the flavors of the dishes), has become China's most influential local dishes, later known as the "four major cuisines".

The "Qing Barnyard Papers" described the dietary situation at the end of the Qing Dynasty, saying: "The difference in the nature of food in different places is due to the habits of the people in the north who are addicted to onion and garlic. The northern people are addicted to onion and garlic, the Yunnan-Guizhou-Shanghai-Shu are addicted to spicy products, the Cantonese are addicted to light food, and the Soviets are addicted to sugar." And more specifically analyzed the characteristics of the local cuisine: "Suzhou people's diet - especially like more fat, cooking methods are all five flavors and harmony, but more sugar, and seat plus five spices." "The diet of the people of Fujian and Guangdong - food more seafood, meals must be accompanied by soup, the Cantonese people are good at eating creatures, do not seek to improve the depth of the fire." "Hunan and E. people's diet - like spicy products, although the food in front of the zhang, Jane wrong full of front, no pepper and mustard not under the carpet, the soup is more." "North people eat onions and garlic, also to the north production is better ......" and so on, and so on. Although the cited places, not enough to illustrate the whole picture of the cuisine, but from this we can see the characteristics of the country's four major cuisines.

With the further development of the catering industry, some of the local dishes more and more other unique characteristics and become a faction, so that, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, adding Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan, Hui local dishes into the "eight cuisine", and then add Beijing, Shanghai, there is a "ten cuisine The "Ten Cuisines". Despite the multiplication of the development of the cuisine, but people are still accustomed to the "four major cuisines" and "eight major cuisines" to represent up to tens of thousands of kinds of local flavors in China. Each local flavor dishes in the famous thousands of kinds, they choose materials carefully, fine production, many varieties, different flavors, pay attention to color, aroma, taste, shape, ware all good coordination and unity, enjoy a high reputation in the world. Most of these famous dishes have its own history of development, not only reflects the exquisite traditional skills, there are all kinds of beautiful and moving legends or tales, become an important part of China's food culture