The blog of cooking-ez.com
Too much sweet and savoury
20K 15 4.1
Last modified on: November 3rd 2011
Too much sweet and savoury
There is a food trend which is creeping in everywhere in France right now: mixing sweet with savoury. In some restaurants, it is becoming difficult to order a classic dish, like “roast veal” for instance, without being served fruits in the garnish or honey/conserves/syrup in the sauce or cooked into the dish, or even both.
Alright, I admit I'm at a disadvantage here, as I really don't like this sweet-savoury combination: I detest fruit in a main course dish, and I can't stand anything sweet to accompany meat or fish. When I was little, I found rabbit with prunes or black pudding with apple a real ordeal, which I still shudder to remember!
So, of course, with that mind-set, it's almost impossible for me to appreciate the roast veal I mentioned earlier if I find the sauce has been made with honey or that it is garnished with pineapple, however pretty it looks with the accompanying vegetables.
Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not just stubbornly clinging to childhood memories; I do try things again from time to time, but to no avail: it's just not for me.
But it's not really the sweet+savoury combination itself which bothers me, it is more the fact that it has found its way onto every menu and into every sauce – well, almost. This seems to be a relatively recent trend in France, and it is taking over from our straight savoury+savoury tradition. Just where does this fashion come from: is it a foreign idea, a chef-induced madness, or something else?
Allow me to offer my own explanation, beginning with a quotation from Alain Dutournier (the great chef), who once said. “In cooking, everything has already been invented; all we do is adapt.” This is undoubtedly a bit hard, but it is at least partly true and I feel this lies at the root of the problem: as roast veal (yes, that again) is not a very original dish, the chef feel obliged to add a personal touch in attempt to distinguish himself. The easiest way is to add some unusual ingredient, so here we go with all those fruits and sweet things which are (alas!) too much of a contrast with the meat.
And that is how so many perfectly good dishes, which would be delicious even if not at all innovative, end up being “dressed up” in a sweet-savoury version to look like something fresh.
This fashion also gives rise to heresies such as apple and camembert charlotte, something I have seen prepared on television – yuk!
If this is what is going on, then it's somewhat naïve and misses the point on the flavour front. Above all, it's completely idiotic! The aim of a chef should not be to create the most original dish, but rather the best: people should flock to his restaurant because his roast veal is simply the best for miles around, not because he serves it with slices of kiwi fruit.
So, come on, you chefs! Don't be seduced by this silly rend; don't be afraid to put good old well-known dishes on your menus, but use all your skill, all your heart and soul, to make every mouthful a pure delight.
P.S.: for those who do enjoy sweet and savoury combined, I have always wondered why it is that fruit is supposed to go well with meat, but that apple tart with tomato sauce doesn't work. Can anyone explain?
Alright, I admit I'm at a disadvantage here, as I really don't like this sweet-savoury combination: I detest fruit in a main course dish, and I can't stand anything sweet to accompany meat or fish. When I was little, I found rabbit with prunes or black pudding with apple a real ordeal, which I still shudder to remember!
So, of course, with that mind-set, it's almost impossible for me to appreciate the roast veal I mentioned earlier if I find the sauce has been made with honey or that it is garnished with pineapple, however pretty it looks with the accompanying vegetables.
Please don't misunderstand me, I'm not just stubbornly clinging to childhood memories; I do try things again from time to time, but to no avail: it's just not for me.
But it's not really the sweet+savoury combination itself which bothers me, it is more the fact that it has found its way onto every menu and into every sauce – well, almost. This seems to be a relatively recent trend in France, and it is taking over from our straight savoury+savoury tradition. Just where does this fashion come from: is it a foreign idea, a chef-induced madness, or something else?
Allow me to offer my own explanation, beginning with a quotation from Alain Dutournier (the great chef), who once said. “In cooking, everything has already been invented; all we do is adapt.” This is undoubtedly a bit hard, but it is at least partly true and I feel this lies at the root of the problem: as roast veal (yes, that again) is not a very original dish, the chef feel obliged to add a personal touch in attempt to distinguish himself. The easiest way is to add some unusual ingredient, so here we go with all those fruits and sweet things which are (alas!) too much of a contrast with the meat.
And that is how so many perfectly good dishes, which would be delicious even if not at all innovative, end up being “dressed up” in a sweet-savoury version to look like something fresh.
This fashion also gives rise to heresies such as apple and camembert charlotte, something I have seen prepared on television – yuk!
If this is what is going on, then it's somewhat naïve and misses the point on the flavour front. Above all, it's completely idiotic! The aim of a chef should not be to create the most original dish, but rather the best: people should flock to his restaurant because his roast veal is simply the best for miles around, not because he serves it with slices of kiwi fruit.
So, come on, you chefs! Don't be seduced by this silly rend; don't be afraid to put good old well-known dishes on your menus, but use all your skill, all your heart and soul, to make every mouthful a pure delight.
P.S.: for those who do enjoy sweet and savoury combined, I have always wondered why it is that fruit is supposed to go well with meat, but that apple tart with tomato sauce doesn't work. Can anyone explain?
Lasts posts
Sugar syrups
In cooking, and especially in pastry, we often use sugar syrups, a simple mixture of water and sugar in varying proportions. Here is a presentation of their differences. .2,2604.2 January 17th 2023
The right bread knife
We almost all have a bread knife in our kitchen, that is to say the knife we use almost exclusively to cut bread. Is this knife efficient, is it really the one you need? Here is some information to guide you in your choice. .4,791 September 15th 2022
Parmesan cheese crusts
If you use Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano) in your recipes, you may have already noticed: when you grate it, it becomes (very) difficult near the crust, especially if it is a slightly aged parmesan, as the cheese gets harder and harder. So we stop grating, leaving some crust on top, and a...7,9284.6 September 14th 2022
The gelling agent in a cream
If you start making a Bavarian cream for example, or any other that contains a gelling agent such as gelatin or agar-agar, you will sooner or later be confronted with the problem: How to properly incorporate this gelling agent into my cream? (and we will focus on gelatin).7,0994.9 June 18th 2022
The preservation of bread
Eating fresh bread is always a delight, the crust crumbles deliciously, you take full advantage of the taste of your bread (80% of this taste is in the crust), it is a fleeting moment to enjoy. Who hasn't already eaten the crouton or croutons of his baguette, on the way back from the bakery? ...8,1733 June 11th 2022
Other pages you may also like
85 grams of eggs?
Some time ago, I already spoke to you about the difference between baking and pastry-making, I emphasized, among other things, the precision of pastry-making which requires grams, cm, degrees and minutes. That's why, on the one hand, you have baking and cooking, where a certain tolerance is...40K4.6 November 26th 2018
Making the most of seeds: Dry roasting
In cooking, and particularly in baking, there are a lot of seeds we can use, such as linseed, sesame, poppy, etc. Usually, recipes simply say to add them just as they are to the mixture or dough. To make a seeded loaf, for example, prepare a plain bread dough as usual, then, towards the end of...50K3.2 January 30th 2015
What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?
This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .106K 13.9 February 7th 2017
Salt and yeast
Let's take a look at an old baker's legend: You may have already read that somewhere in a recipe that uses baker's yeast(bread, pastries, leavened doughs in general) it is often specified "Don't put salt in contact with the yeast, you'll kill it (the yeast)"! Well, that's a belief, and there are...61K4.1 March 15th 2019
Fruits which can ruin your jelly
There are many ways of making a fruit mousse, but one of the simplest is to prepare a fruit jelly (basically a fresh fruit coulis with gelatine) and then mix this jelly before it sets completely with whipped cream. The result is perfect for filling a charlotte, for example. But do beware;...58K3.6 March 6th 2013
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.