RateItAll: The Opinion Network

This is French cuisine, GenghisTheHun style. Please view the public service clip.

Well done, it is as fine as food can be.

Badly done, its not fit for pigs.

When we think of French cuisine the stereotypical meal consisting of rich sauces, escargot, and dishes laden with heavy cream and butter come to mind. These elegantly prepared and elaborately presented dishes known as haute cuisine prepared by trained chefs have given way to more of a nouvelle cuisine of simpler fare with sauces made from reductions and smaller portions found mostly in the more upscale French restaurants. The diverse flavors of France are actually as diverse as those we find in the different regions of the US. In fact, we owe a lot to the French for their influences on our American diet, the basis of our sauces come from the French mother sauces. Bechamel or white sauce is essential in the making of cheese sauce for macaroni and cheese or creamy gravy served over fried chicken and the traditional biscuits and gravy. Mayonnaise an emulsified sauce that is used almost everyday and hollandaise severed over eggs Benedict or steamed asparagus. Simple to complicated blends of vinaigrettes are another staple of our diet. Most of us have had the quintessential omelet on occasion and a hot dog is not complete without mustard. The eastern region of France in Alsace, a German influence, meats and sausages cooked with sauerkraut, smoked pork dishes and meats braised in dark beers. Alsace has the more elaborate breads and pastries such as brioche and strudels. Also next to the German border is Lorraine, known for the humble quiche Lorraine, a combination of bacon, eggs and cheese, as well as their hearty peasant dishes, and the highly prized foie gras. The region of Provence, breaks from the traditionally known cream sauces of France to dishes that are infused with olives and olive oil to the much touted Bouillabaisse that is a seafood stew simmered with herbs, garlic, tomatoes and wine. The basics of French cooking is the very essence of their simple stocks, fresh ingredients and a light touch of the hand that the combination bring together the purist form of culinary artistry to enhance each individual flavor and heightening our senses. Low-key bistro meals are more the norm in France, whether a plate of steamed vegetables served with aioli (garlicky mayonnaise), an assortment of ripe cheeses with sliced apples or pears and a good crusty baguette or a more substantial meal of beef bourguignon, when enjoyed with an excellent wine and good conversations, this is what true French cuisine is all about.

At its best, the finest food in the world, and worth every penny of the price. It is NOT easy to make and I have certainly messed up a good many recipes in my own kitchen.

Quite good, but a bit too finicky for my taste.

their food is so boring and not even that great. the only good thing is the bread and chocolate. we had a french feast at my school and it was disgusting.

Castlebee explains it very well. High in Butter but the French have low cholesterol levels. It's Very Tasty only avoid the Coffee and some places serve snails, frogs and maggots.

Why do they insist on dumping some kind of sauce on everything? maybe to disguise the fact the meat is inferior, maybe spoiled? I went with a friends relative to a French restaurant, after looking at all the bizarre dishes, lamb shanks, eel, guinea hen etc.on the menu, I finally ordered a steak,safe huh? well it comes with this green peppercorn spinach suce dumped on it. Why would you ruin a perfectly good steak this way? I sort of scraped it off and did manage to eat it.Thank God I wasn't paying the tab.

French cuisine is wonderful and diverse. They pour great love and effort into their cooking, not to mention the detail they give to the presentation. Great wines and cheeses too, quite hard to understand why it is rated so low here, I guess people simply base their opinion on the French character they don't like.

I refuse to eat snails, I don't care how pretty they make it look.

A salad is never complete without bleu cheese dressing on the side. I have yet to actually eat an entire meal of French cuisine, but I've had my sshare here and there. You have to love some of those deserts...rice pudding, that's always been a good one, and the French version is the best. French food can at times be a tad too blunt for my taste, but if I am, just to give an example, eating a French dessert after a Thai meal, then that's a good thing. A useful addition to the world of edibility (that is a word, right?). Take care, everyone!

Yummmm! Can't get enough! A favorite French restaurant is San Francisco's La Folie.

French food's too pretty. It's more art than sustenance. Somehow I can't imagine eating a plate of victuals that's set up to look like the Louvre. Haute couture is not my thing, really. Nevertheless, it does make for some great entertainment on the Food Network. C'est la vie!

Rich, flavorful and loaded with wine, butter and cream. Of course, that means I’ve really enjoyed what little I’ve experienced of it! Thinking of French food always makes me think of great tasting breads, sauces beautiful pastries and a very high restaurant tab. Though French food has been available in the U.S. for a long time, unlike Italian and Mexican, it hasn’t really made it into our daily fare and home cooking quite as much. The possible exception is probably the bread – especially my personal favorite, buttery fresh croissants. One reason we don’t see as much of it may be that the recipes tend to be more complicated, mistakes less forgiving and, to do them well, you have to build quite a cooking skill base.