The Classics

 

Food for thought, or is it thoughts for Food?

 

As readers should know by now, I tend to lean toward traditional dishes and cooking, no matter the cuisine.  Foam and molecular gastronomy are fine, but I prefer dishes that have lasted the test (and taste) of time.  One of (the plethora of) my pet peeves is when I see the word “classic” used on a menu associated with a particular dish.  In my mind a classic dish is one that has been made the same way for enough time to set a standard for that particular preparation, so that's what it should be.  A quick example that leaps to mind would be Sole à La Meunière, or as we commonly see: “Dover Sole”.  Ingredients?  Sole, butter, lemons and salt and pepper.  That’s it.  No purees, flavored oils, drizzles, just fish and butter.  It has been described as: “The perfect (classic?) sole meunière is golden brown, which is a result of a harmonious balance between the brown butter and the lemon.”  I would say that if the dish was listed on the menu as “Classic Dover Sole/ Sole à La Meunière”, you should know exactly what you are going to get served.  So I am always wary of the (over) use of the word.

A case in point:  I was at a local restaurant and there was menu entry for a “Classic Iceberg Wedge” salad.  But the description of the dish included such things as green peas, garlic croutons, baby carrots, crumbled Feta cheese, and (gasp) ranch dressing!.  You can google the recipe and you will find that all of those things do NOT belong on any wedge with Classic in the name.  Fortunately they honored the feeders note and it has been changed eliminating the "c" word..

Another instance of my paranoia resulted in a very interesting and on-going conversation with a restaurateur regarding “classic”.   Their sandwich was offered as a Classic Reuben Sandwich, and included marbled rye bread. As an aside, I am do not like marbled rye (or most anything marbled for that matter) so I am biased. The rest of the sandwich was indeed classic (corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and thousand island dressing), but I allowed as how using marbled rye should erase the “classic” designation.  (The Reuben is such a classic American sandwich that two people claim to have invented it: Reuben Kulakofsky of Omaha, NE, who enjoyed the sandwich at a weekly poker game, and New York deli owner Arthur Reuben, who said he first made the sandwich around 1914).   In order to prove my point I did some research on recipes for “Classic Reuben’s” and did indeed find a minority did use a marbled rye, so I backed off some.  I still think the original (1914?) sandwich would have been with straight rye (and we won’t argue caraway seeds).  Anyway, we did have a good e-discussion on “classic”.   It was pointed out to me when does “classic” become “classic”?  Rock music from when I was not in my first year is now called “classic”.  How long does it take to achieve that status?  My restaurant friend said they had been making the sandwich with marbled rye for 20 years.  Does that qualify?  My retort was then to name the sandwich “Our Classic Reuben….”.

Anyway, it is a good discussion to have over a glass of (Classic?) Bordeaux or Burgundy perhaps.. 

As part of poking around trying to define the word, I found a few quotes that are interesting (a lot come from literature)  such as:

A classic is a work which constantly generates a pulviscular cloud of critical discourse around it, but which always shakes the particles off

More of a food related one surfaced from some writing about Julia:

To Julia, a classic would be a master recipe that utilized time-honored techniques. Once these were understood and mastered, the techniques could be allied to an infinite number of dishes that were essentially variations on the theme. In fact, she went as far as to say that once these essential recipes and techniques were imprinted on our brains, we wouldn’t even need a cookbook. We could do anything.

If I had to generate my own description of a classic dish, it would be along the lines of something that has been prepared the same way, with the same ingredients by a series of highly esteemed chefs ( such as Auguste Escoffier; Fernand Point; Marie Antoine (Antonin) Carême;  or more recently Alain Ducasse; Paul Bocuse) without alteration over a long period of time.  No modifications because it is beautiful and speaks for itself.  Fish, butter, lemon.

And finally just because I liked it a quote from Voltaire (again literature based):

"Let us enjoy, let us write, let us live, my dear Horace! ... I have lived longer than you: my verse will not last so long. But on the brink of the tomb I shall make it my chief care - to follow the lessons of your philosophy - to despise death in enjoying life - to read your writings full of charm and good sense - as we drink an old wine which revives our senses."

 

So if you are going to eat a classic dish you damn well better be

DFD