cooking,” and said that by adopting a
systematic approach to them, even a
bourgeois family with limited resources
would be “able to imagine an infinity of
sauces and different stews.” French
cookbooks soon began to include dozens of
differentsoupsandsauces,andseveralofthe
classic sauces were soon developed and
named.Among these were alternatives to the
meat-juice preparations, including two eggemulsified
sauces,
hollandaise
and
mayonnaise, and the economical béchamel,
thebasic,neutralwhitesauceofmilk,butter,
and flour. But the great majority of sauces
were made from meat, and meat juices were
the underlying, unifying element in French
cooking.
FranỗoisMarinonCookingasa
ChemicalArt
Moderncookingisaspeciesofchemistry.
The science of the cook today is to break


down, digest, and distill meats into their
quintessence, to take their light and
nourishing juices, mix and confound them
together, in such a way that none
dominatesandallcanbetasted;finally,to
give them that unity which painters give

theircolors,andrenderthemhomogeneous
enough that their different flavors result
onlyinafineandpiquanttaste;in,ifImay
say it, a harmony of all tastes joined
together….
—DonsdeComus,1750
TheClassicFrenchSystem:
CarêmeandEscoffier

In1789cametheFrenchRevolution.The
greathousesofFranceweremuchreduced,
andtheircooksnolongerhadunlimitedhelp
andresources.Somelosttheirpositions,and
survivedbyopeningthefirstfinerestaurants.
Theculinaryimpactoftheseupheavalswas