frmichelin1-4, Exercise 3: Classical cooking and nouvelle cuisine

Model answer (check the details):

| | Classical cooking | Nouvelle cuisine |
|---|---|---|
| Sauces | Rich, based on flour, butter, cream and long-cooked stocks | Lighter, with less flour and cream, often reduced juices or herb sauces |
| Cooking | Long cooking, set methods | Short cooking, to keep texture and flavour |
| Portions | Large, served by the dish or from a trolley | Smaller, arranged on the plate |
| Ingredients | Established luxury items, often kept for long | Fresh, seasonal, local where possible |
| Promoted by | Escoffier's tradition, the established chefs and guides | Gault & Millau, and chefs such as Bocuse, the Troisgros and Guérard |

What the quarrel was really about: partly taste and health, but also status and authority. The new movement wanted chefs to be seen as creators and critics to be able to name and celebrate them, instead of preserving a codified canon. It was also about who defines good cooking: the guide that rewarded consistency, or the critics who rewarded novelty. Later the label lost meaning when the style produced small, costly portions and many imitators (check).

Care: this is a general comparison. Real kitchens mixed the two styles, and many "nouvelle" dishes used classical techniques.