Food Culture’s Long and Storied Past in Our Home

The concept of “quantity cookery” has been present for as long as there have been large groups of people to fulfill their dietary needs, such as armies. On the other hand, historians frequently point to the second half of the eighteenth century as the time when contemporary meal service first emerged. During that historical period, the guilds of France were responsible for regulating the agricultural sector, which included the food business. People who made food for other people, such as those who worked in catering, baking, roasting, or butchering pork, were required to have a permission. If innkeepers intended to provide food and drink for their visitors, they were required to acquire provisions from establishments that possessed the necessary permits. The guests were not given much of a chance to express their opinions and were compelled to consume whatever was in the menu.

The year 1765 marked the beginning of Boulanger’s advertising campaign for his shop sign, which stated that he offered soup. After that, people began to refer to these soups as “restaurants” or “restoratives,” both of which signified that they imparted vigor. In the process of defying the laws of the guilds, Boulanger unknowingly affects the course of culinary history.

As the field of food service was just beginning to emerge in 1789, the French Revolution served as a significant incentive for its development. During the time period prior to this era, the French aristocracy frequently engaged cooks of the highest caliber in their homes.

Following the collapse of the monarchy and the subsequent loss of their jobs, a significant number of Parisian cooks were able to establish themselves in the restaurant sector of the city. At the end of the French Revolution, there were approximately fifty restaurants in Paris; by the end of the next decade, that number had increased to five hundred.

Another significant innovation that brought about a change in the layout of the kitchen was the advent of the stove, sometimes known as a “potager,” which offered the chefs a source of heat that was easier to control than an open fire. This is where the division of work in a commercial kitchen takes place: the “rotisseur,” who is under the command of the meat chef; the “patissier,” who is in charge of the baking department; and the “cuisinier,” who is in charge of the cooking section. The “Chef de cuisine,” sometimes known as the chief chef, is the individual who is accountable for supervising all of the other positions indicated.