Le Cuisinier François

Every one of us has been taught in our history class that the Europeans came to India to trade in spices. Spices used to be a very major source of income for Indian traders and it was one of the major export items. It was their love for spices that Columbus set out to find the western sea route to India; it was spices, which drove Vasco de Gamma, round the Cape of Good Hope to India.

But any of us who has had contemporary European cuisine will know that it does not have any spices at all. It is very lightly flavoured with herbs like parsley, bayleaf etc herbs commonly available in Europe itself. What happened to the European love of for spices? Suddenly it disappeared. Yours truly was very intrigued as why this happened and what caused this.

Like the question, the answer too is a very complex one so bear with me. May 29, fall of Constantinople. The centuries old Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman Turks lead by Mehmed II. Constantinople modern day Istanbul used to serve as a very vital link between Europe and Asia and was a major check post along the spice trade route starting in India and leading up to Florence, Geneva in Italy and Paris in France. The Ottoman Turks stopped the free movement of European traders to India and taxed them heavily for passage across the Ottoman Empire. Thus all major existing routes to India were blocked. The only way was through sea. So Vasco de Gamma in 1497 and Columbus in 1492 set out to find sea routes to India. Both of them were successful though in their own ways. The period also coincides with Renaissance.

In the year 1651 François Pierre de la Varenne a French chef in the court of Louis XIV wrote a book Le cuisinier françois (roughly translated as the French cuisine), the founding text of modern

French cuisine. This book was La Varenne broke with the Italian traditions and revolutionized medieval French cookery in the 16th century. The seventeenth century saw a culinary revolution, which transported French gastronomy into the modern era. The heavily spiced flavours inherited from the cuisine of the Middle Ages were abandoned in favour of the natural flavours of foods. Exotic spices (saffron, cinnamon, cumin, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, nigella, seeds of paradise) were, with the exception of pepper, replaced by local herbs (parsley, thyme, bayleaf, chervil, sage, tarragon). New vegetables like cauliflower, asparagus, peas, cucumber and artichoke were introduced. Special care was given to the cooking of meat in order to conserve maximum flavour. Vegetables had to be fresh and tender. Fish, with the improvement of transportation, had to be impeccably fresh. Preparation had to respect the gustatory and visual integrity of the ingredients instead of masking them, as had been the practice previously.

The Europeans previously used meats like seal, peacock, whales etc that had no flavour of it own and used loads of spices to impart a taste. la Varenne made the emphasis on using meat like pork, geese, duck, frogs and turkey which had a flavour of its own and used herbs to enhance the flavour rather than using spices to impart flavour. He understood that good food has a subtle natural flavour of its own and the chef's duty is to bring out the natural flavour and not to suppress them.

This philosophy of cooking gradually spread throughout Europe and gradually the use of spices became redundant. It took roughly 100 years for the European cuisine to become what we know it today.

Modern food historians speculate that if the book had been written around 100 or 200 years back the entire history would have been different. Fall of the Constantinople was one of the major causes of Renaissance. Had this book been written earlier the fall of Constantinople would not have affected the Europeans so significantly as their requirement for spices would have gone down automatically. de Gamma and Columbus would have never set out. America would not have been discovered (well at least not at the time it was discovered). Some even suggest that Renaissance would have never happened as finding new sea routes and the age of exploration and discovery would have never taken place. Colonisation of India would have never taken place, as the colonisers were initially traders. Thus the world as we know now would have been different.

Keeping aside all the speculations and views aside the book without fail revolutionarised contemporary European cuisine.

Homecoming

IT'S a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries; 
I never hear the west wind but tears are in my eyes. 
For it comes from the west lands, the old brown hills. 
And April's in the west wind, and daffodils. 
It's a fine land, the west land, for hearts as tired as mine, 
Apple orchards blossom there, and the air's like wine. 
There is cool green grass there, where men may lie at rest, 
And the thrushes are in song there, fluting from the nest. 
"Will ye not come home brother? ye have been long away, 
It's April, and blossom time, and white is the may; 
And bright is the sun brother, and warm is the rain,-- 
Will ye not come home, brother, home to us again? 
"The young corn is green, brother, where the rabbits run. 
It's blue sky, and white clouds, and warm rain and sun. 
It's song to a man's soul, brother, fire to a man's brain, 
To hear the wild bees and see the merry spring again. 
"Larks are singing in the west, brother, above the green wheat, 
So will ye not come home, brother, and rest your tired feet? 
I've a balm for bruised hearts, brother, sleep for aching eyes," 
Says the warm wind, the west wind, full of birds' cries. 
It's the white road westwards is the road I must tread 
To the green grass, the cool grass, and rest for heart and head, 
To the violets, and the warm hearts, and the thrushes' song, 
In the fine land, the west land, the land where I belong. 

The West Wind 

John Masefield

John masefield wrote The West Wind while he was away from his home,England and was in America. Nostalgia is an emotion wich perhaps all of us feel at some point in life . Mom's cooking, the couch on the home on which one used to crash for a cricket match, the rooftop on wich we used to enjoy the Sun during winters, the streets, the garden, the sights and sound, the very smell of home

My musings here will not be bout the home which I have left long ago and where I am now just a visitor. It will be bout the second home I am soon to leave and where I will again be just a visitor.

Evening time getting bored had nothing to do so decided to go through college pics. Well it was a mixed feeling reliving those moments again. The fun we had in our first year remembering how stupid, navie and kidish we used to be just out from home. The kind of awesomely stupid ramdom things we used to do. Climbing the greens fountain at night, jumping the wall cause we were too late running errands for senoir, the late night pizza parties and the fun before Enviornmental studies exam( we decided that we will start at night, then at night we felt hungry ordered burgers and played catch catch in the mean time, had the burgers and the decided that it was too late and we had packing to do so didn't study at all). The buring of the second floor corridor( well almost). The insane birthday celebrations we used to have. Whenever a senoir used to ask "which branch ?" The pride in saying EnC.

Then came second year. I remember how excited we were about going into our own branch and thankfull that the dreadfull subjects like BET were over. All we would study now will be our barnch stuff. Very soon reality came crashing down upon us !!!! enC was not all that exciting. Plus the teachers we had "Subhan Allah". But still there was loads of excitment. I remember the no of half days and class cancelations we used to have. there were times when it was a supposed full day but First class was cancelled, after going to second class all the rest classes were also cancelled. So a full converted to one class !!!!!

Third year we grew bit more mature(ahhhhhaaaaaaa). There were placements to study for and CAT and other preparations the subjects were either easier or we had got used to EnC. Real partying started in third year I still remember what wild parties we used to have. Then came placement season sailed through the third year placement quite easily.

Fouth year was the year we were had to be serious and study but to HELL with it. It was one awesome party people got placed and we celebrated more than the gyus who actually got placed !!!! Everything in fourth year was one big party right from placements to CAT. What a hell of an year!!!!

Time flied and now I am at the end of my college life. Four awesome years without doubt and question the best years of my life. Made the best riends ever learnt loads bout life but nothing bout engineering. College has been good to me. The best way I could have spend four years of my life. No regrets no complains only sweet memories. I have lived a dream, the dream I had bout college and its been better than the dream.

But alas now the four wonderful years have come to an end. Manipal has been a home to me. I will always find reasons and excuses to come back here. Whenver I will get wet during the monsoons or smell the sea breeze I will know  Manipal is calling me, calling me back to the land where I belong.