Table Time

With just a week before we leave for the summer, my mind has drifted to the food of France. I stumbled upon these five key dates of French food, and it made me start dreaming about the fois gras, the fresh herbs, and the chicken cordon bleu...

1. 1533: Italian aristo Catherine de Medici marries into French royalty and, under her guidance, the Court gets passionate about its food for the first time.
2. 1691: François Massialot reveals the recipes of Louis XIV’s kitchen in Le Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois, effectively launching haute cuisine.
3. 1765: When Parisian soup maker Monsieur Boulanger offers customers at his tavern a choice of dishes, the world gets its first restaurant.
4. 1902: Auguste Escoffier pens La Grande Culinaire; 500 recipes of the rich, sauce-based cooking that would dominate 20th century French cuisine.
5. 1969: Food critics Millau, Gault and Gayot identify 48 chefs creating lighter food focused on fresh produce, recognizing nouvelle cuisine for the first time.