The last 200 years have seen Carême, Escoffier, mother sauces, demi glace, Haute Cuisine, Classic Cuisine (Cuisine Classique), and Nouvelle Cuisine ... all French. And now, the Slow Food Movement and Technoemotional Cuisine demonstrate there is far more than French food and French technique out there.
It cannot be denied how influential the French have been in codifying culinary method during this time, and how growing up in this as a French Chef could so embolden one with nationalistic pride. So when El Bulli, Mugaritz, Arzak, Fat Duck, the French Laundry (not in France), and Per Se are so prominently featured on the list of the best restaurants in the world (none of which are French restaurants or reside in France), it might cause some sub-conscious panic in the psyche of French Chefs.
The conspicuous omission of mentioning anything happening now in world cuisine makes this plea to UNESCO seem rather arrogant, but my sense is that these chefs really are in denial, and are simply trying to make their world make sense. What is increasingly tough to deny is that the influence of French cuisine is in decline, so if the context of this request was a recognition of the historical significance of French Cuisine (with implication that it had lost its grip, and should be posthumously honored), I might find this to be a semi-plausible request to UNESCO, which is a group that plays a role in preserving historical sites. But after re-reading the NY Times piece, my sentiment is that UNESCO and escpecially the UN have much more important things to worry about, and those French Chefs had better start to take note of what's happening in Spain (El Bulli, Mugaritz), Britain (Fat Duck), and the U.S. (Alinea).
|