History of French Cuisine, The French Revolution and Famous French Culinary Chefs

French cuisine was prepared by ill tempered French chefs, who were very picky about their food, and these French chefs incorporated overly rich sauces to accompany the food, plus the preparation of food dishes had to be perfect. However, today’s preference is more about the taste and texture of the food. French chefs of today produce cuisine that is artistically arranged on the plate, and contains a wonderful mix of smells, textures, and flavors. France's rich cuisine and their constant love affair with food is one of modern France's greatest treasures.

French cuisine has evolved from many centuries of political change and social events. In the Middle Ages chefs like Guillaume Tirel, alias Taillevent was a cook to the Court of France at the time of the first Valois kings. Guillaume Tirel was head chef or queux to Philip VI and later to the Dauphin de Viennois, who prepared lavish banquets for the upper class with ornate and heavily seasoned food. Le Viandier is a famous cookery book which Guillaume Tirel wrote which was influential on French cuisine and medieval cuisine in northern France.

In the year 1789, "The French Revolution" era, and lasting over 10 years was a period of political and social upheaval in the history of France. French cusine evolved towards fewer spices and increased usage of many types of herbs. These refined techniques in French cooking beginning with François Pierre La Varenne, author of "Le cuisinier françois", the founding text of modern French cuisine, and which established the foundation for what would become one of the basics of French cooking. French cusine developed further with the famous chef and personality of Napoleon Bonaparte, which influenced the culinary future of France, plus other dignitaries, Marie-Antoine Carême.

Antoine Careme well known as the "King of Chefs and the Chef of Kings," and in Paris, in the 19th century, Careme became the father of "haute cuisine" which is the high art of French cooking. French statesman and Diplomat Talleyrand-Perigord, the future King George IV, Czar Alexander I, and James Rothschild a powerful banker, Careme was the Chef to these world leaders and aristocrats. Careme is well known for his famous writings on the art of cooking, included in the writings is the famed "The Art of French Cooking" or L'Art de la Cuisine Francaise. The masterpiece contains volumes of information and knowledge on the history of French cooking.

French cuisine was codified by George Auguste Escoffier, who in the late 19th and early 20th century modernized Careme's elaborate style of cuisine by his ingenious simplification of the food, and Escoffier became the modern version of haute cuisine. Haute cuisine meaning "high cooking" in French or grande cuisine. In North America, haute cuisine refers to the cooking of the grand restaurants and hotels, which is characterised by elaborate preparations and presentations. Until the 1970s, this cuisine was defined by the French phrase cuisine classique, and was supplanted by nouvelle cuisine. Today, haute cuisine is not defined by any particular style.

However, George Auguste Escoffier’s culinary work was missing a lot of the regional character of foods and cooking that was found in the provinces of France. Gastro Tourism and the Guide Michelin or Le Guide Michelin, which is a series of annual guide books published by Michelin for over a dozen countries, helped bring people of France and the world to the countryside of France during the 20th century and beyond, to experience the taste and smells of this rich bourgeois and peasant cuisine of France.

In the southwestern part of France, Basque cuisine, referring to the typical food dishes and cooking ingredients of the cuisine of the Basque people, and has been a large influence over this type of French cuisine. The food dishes and ingredients various from region to region, but many significant regional dishes have become both regional and national. Today, various dishes that once were regional, however, have proliferated in different variations across France. Wine and cheese are also HUGH parts of the French cuisine, regionally and nationally, playing different roles both with their many variations and the “Vins d’Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée”, or AOC wines, officially recognized. (regulated appellation)

Around the world centuries later, among connoisseurs of French cuisine, gourmet innovations which have been brought forth by both the French Revolution and the glorious conquests of "Empereur des Francais Napoléon I", have not lost their appeal and popularity, and Napoléon Pastries as an example, Napoléons are served today.

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American History - The Colonial Period

American History - The Colonial Period

The following article lists some simple, informative tips that will help you have a better experience with The Colonial Period.

The Colonial Period

NEW PEOPLES

Most settlers who came to America in the 17th century were English, but there were also Dutch, Swedes and Germans in the middle region, a few French Huguenots in South Carolina and elsewhere, slaves from Africa, primarily in the South, and a scattering of Spaniards, Italians and Portuguese throughout the colonies.

After 1680 England ceased to be the chief source of immigration. Thousands of refugees fled continental Europe to escape the path of war. Many left their homelands to avoid the poverty induced by government oppression and absentee-landlordism.

By 1690 the American population had risen to a quarter of a million. From then on, it doubled every 25 years until, in 1775, it numbered more than 2.5 million.

Although a family could move from Massachusetts to Virginia or from South Carolina to Pennsylvania, without major readjustment, distinctions between individual colonies were marked. They were even more so between the three regional groupings of colonies

NEW ENGLAND

New England in the northeast has generally thin, stony soil, relatively little level land, and long winters, making it difficult to make a living from farming. Turning to other pursuits, the New Englanders harnessed water power and established grain mills and sawmills. Good stands of timber encouraged shipbuilding. Excellent harbors promoted trade, and the sea became a source of great wealth. In Massachusetts, the cod industry alone quickly furnished a basis for prosperity.

With the bulk of the early settlers living in villages and towns around the harbors, many New Englanders carried on some kind of trade or business. Common pastureland and woodlots served the needs of townspeople, who worked small farms nearby. Compactness made possible the village school, the village church and the village or town hall, where citizens met to discuss matters of common interest.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony continued to expand its commerce. From the middle of the 17th century onward it grew prosperous, and Boston became one of America's greatest ports.

Oak timber for ships' hulls, tall pines for spars and masts, and pitch for the seams of ships came from the Northeastern forests. Building their own vessels and sailing them to ports all over the world, the shipmasters of Massachusetts Bay laid the foundation for a trade that was to grow steadily in importance. By the end of the colonial period, one-third of all vessels under the British flag were built in New England. Fish, ship's stores and wooden ware swelled the exports.

New England shippers soon discovered, too, that rum and slaves were profitable commodities. One of the most enterprising -- if unsavory -- trading practices of the time was the so-called "triangular trade." Merchants and shippers would purchase slaves off the coast of Africa for New England rum, then sell the slaves in the West Indies where they would buy molasses to bring home for sale to the local rum producers.

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Mexican Mafia

Mexican Mafia, or the Texas Syndicate was formed in 1978 and thereafter became one of the largest and most powerful prison gangs. It was formed by a group of inmates who previously served time in the California prison system, the Texas Syndicate, with a confirmed membership of 241, is the oldest and the second largest inmate gang in the Texas Department of Corrections. The Mexican Mafia or MEXIKANEMI less than 2 years in existence, has a confirmed membership of 304 and is the largest inmate gang in Texas. Hierarchically, both gangs are organized along pare-military lines.

The Texas Syndicate is headed by a president and vice president who are elected by the entire membership. On the unit level, the Texas Syndicate is controlled by a chairman who oversees the vice chairman, captain, lieutenant, sergeant of arms, and soldiers. With the exception of the president, vice president, chairman, and vice chairman, all other lower ranking positions are filled by individuals of outstanding criminal activity performance records for the gang. In order to avoid intra-gang conflict, a ranking member, other than the president and vice president, is automatically reverted to the status of a soldier when he is reassigned to a different unit by prison officials.

All ranking positions in the Mexican Mafia organization, excluding the sergeants, are elected based on the individuals' leadership ability to deal harmoniously with people. There is no system designed to avoid intra-gang conflict. Leaders keep their ranks and titles upon reassignment to a different unit by prison officials. Regardless of ranks, both inmate gangs require their members to abide by a strict code of conduct known as the "Constitution." For members of the Texas Syndicate, the constitution consists of eight rules: be a Texan; once a member, always a member; the Texas Syndicate comes before anyone and anything; right or wrong, the Texas Syndicate is right at all times; all members will wear the Texas Syndicate tattoo; never let a member down; all members will respect each other; keep all gang information within the group (Texas Syndicate Constitution).

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Christopher Columbus The Four Voyages

Much time has passed and still, Columbus stays a controversial figure who has been depicted in different ways as one of the greatest mariners in the world history. He was a national hero, a skilful navigator and a leader. Columbus wanted to find the westward way to Asia. He had a great practical experience of voyages over the seas. Besides, he read many theological and geographical books. Having gained the support of the monarchs Isabel and Fernando, Columbus went for a trip in 1492. The published report about this voyage made him famous all over Europe. Columbus, who never lost the belief that he had reached Asia, led three more expeditions to the Caribbean.

On May 30, 1498, Columbus left with just six ships from Seville, Spain for his third trip to the New World. The laments of the first colonists had taken their tax and Columbus was made to include condemned among the assemblage. The vessels were divided into two parts, one went immediately to Hispaniola and the other under Columbus control continued the search for China. Columbus led the fleet to the Portuguese island of Porto Santo, and then he sailed to Madeira.

The exploration party found land first at Trinidad on July 31 off the Venezuela coast. From August 4 till August 12, he explored the Gulf of Paria which separates Trinidad from Venezuela. Then sailed toward the mainland of South America. A sighting of the Orinoco River mouth convinced Columbus that he was on the shores of a major continent, not another island.

In the third part of a book about Christopher Columbus The Four Voyages where the third voyage is depicted there is the following quote: I have come to the following conclusions concerning the world: that it is not round as they describe it, but the shape of a pear, which is round everywhere except at the stalk, where it juts out a long way; or that it is like a round ball, on part of which is something like a woman's nipple. This land stands highest on the world's surface, being nearest to the sky, as I have said... Not that I believe it possible to sail to the extreme summit, or that it is even possible to go there. For I believe that the earthly Paradise lies here, which no one can enter except by god's leave. As I have said, I do not believe that anyone can ascend to the top. I do believe, however, that distant though it is, these waters may flow from there to this place which I have reached, and from this lake. All this provides great evidence of the earthy Paradise... For I have never read or heard of such a quantity of fresh water flowing so close to the salt and flowing into it, and the very temperate climate provides a further confirmation.

He described the new lands as belonging to a new continent, but later he stressed that they belonged to Asia. He sailed for the settlement on Hispaniola, where conditions were not organized well. Complaints to Spanish officials were often heard. Columbus repeatedly had to deal with rebellious settlers and Indians. That is why a royal ruler was sent to the colony in 1500. Columbus was arrested and took back to Spain on a ship in chains. Ferdinand and Isabella, whose sympathy was vanishing, made the last possible thing for him by freeing the traveler from a prison. Although he regained his freedom, he did not regain his prestige and lost his governorship.

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History Of Consumerism In The United States

In spite of being founded under precepts of simple life and frugality, like those held by the Pilgrims, consumerism in the United States has been a strong driving force since the times around its foundation. Regardless of the open criticism by some sectors of society along the years in different period of its history, consumerism has triumphed in the consumer society of the United States as can be seen on the high levels of consumption all along its history as a nation up to the present time. The term “consumerism” is commonly used for expressing different ideas. In this essay the term is used to “describe the effects of equating personal happiness with purchasing material possessions and consumption”. As such it is a term “often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Karl Marx and Thorstein Veblen, but can actually be traced back to the first human civilizations.”

According to Professor Peter Stearns at George Mason University a reasonable shorthand definition of modern consumerism can be given stressing two distinct features: “1) a serious commitment to the acquisition, display, and enjoyment of goods and commercial services clearly not necessary to subsistence however generously defined, and 2) participation in the process by social groups outside the upper classes.” (Stearns 2003, para. 5). These definitions are very important to consider as they shed light upon the use of the term “consumerism” in the present essay about the history of consumerism in the United States.

In order to study the history of consumerism in the United States two different approaches will be taken. First, the rise of consumerism in the United States will be seen from a general point of view emphasizing some philosophical and ideological aspects of consumerism in modern society. Second, a brief history of consumerism in the United States will be undertaken under a chronological point of view making emphasis on some relevant dates and cornerstones of consumer culture in the United States up to the present.

All along the way certain significant features of consumerism in the United States will be taken into account in order to give a broader idea of the implications and causations of consumerism in the United States. As consumerism and globalization are closely interlinked, it is necessary to understand the present interactions of both in the United States.

The rise of consumerism in the United States has been a steady process along the years, especially throughout the twentieth century around World War I. Charles Kettering, from General Motors, put it simply this way: "The key to economic prosperity is the organised creation of dissatisfaction". (FAIR n. d.). In the first quarter of the twentieth century in the United States there were technological advances that helped to enhance production processes. There was overproduction, and consumers couldn’t afford what was being produced at such a high pace.

The rise of consumerism in the United States is also linked to the birth of Public Relations. Around 1915 the so-called father of modern Public Relations, Edward Bernays, created propaganda techniques for the U.S. government in relation to World War I in order to control public opinion about this war. After his success in getting support for the government in wartime, Bernays began to apply that knowledge in peacetime in the areas of business and commerce. One of his famous expressions of that time states the following: "the conscious and intelligent manipulation of the … opinions of the masses is an important element in a democratic society. It is the intelligent minorities which need to make use of propaganda continuously and systematically". (FAIR n. d.). The idea behind those kinds of phrases has been widely used for political and commercial profits through the manipulation of public opinion and the power of mass marketing.

On the other hand, taking a look at the history of consumerism in the United States from a chronological perspective, the article “The History of Affluenza” by PBS (n. d.) is really very valuable in order to have a clear picture of consumerism along the years in the United States since the Discovery of America up to the present day.

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