In my opinion, the prominence of French cuisine in the culinary world has as
much to do with the fact that its major contributors (especially Careme and
Escoffier) codified and organized like few others, techniques, recipes, and
brigade stations, as it does any superiority of food product. Cuisine all
over the world has long had sophisticated cooking techniques and wonderful
flavors, but the French "tradition" had been extensively codified. I think
the idea that "French chefs are more rigorously trained and most exacting"
is based more on what we don't know about other traditions than what we do
know. For instance, I would think those cooking for royalty in China, who
may have found their heads on a chopping block, would tend to be pretty
exacting, as well. But the likelihood of having read about them or
standardization of their techniques is minimal compared to French lore.

"Mike" > wrote in message
om...
> Why French food wins
> One of the universally acknowledged truths is that French cuisine is
> the best and that French chefs are the most rigorously trained and
> most exacting. Even today, when the culinary standards of America and
> many European countries have risen far higher than the modest levels
> of a couple of decades ago, French cooking and French cooks retain
> their cachet.
>
> book review of ACCOUNTING FOR TASTE: THE TRIUMPH OF FRENCH CUISINE By
> Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson (University of Chicago Press)
> at http://www.washtimes.com/books/20041...2532-7493r.htm