This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...
To find out more...
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.
25 K 4.5/5 (28 reviews)
Keywords for this post:RestaurantTasteSweet and sourExcessLast modified on: November 3rd 2011
Too much sweet and savoury
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?
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
The grease spray
As soon as you have something in a recipe that sticks to the mold, the question always arises as to how difficult it is to remove from the mold. There's nothing more frustrating than breaking your cake when unmolding it, because part of it has stuck in the mold. The classic way to avoid this is...August 26th 20251,8205
Cake moulds
When we make a cake, or a cake of the same rectangular shape, we usually take out our usual mould and tell ourselves that the recipe is anyway "for a cake", but is it really that simple?August 25th 20253,9945
Thinning out herbs
If you need to add a long-stemmed herb (tarragon, mint, verbena, thyme, etc.) to a recipe, you'll probably only need the leaves and not the stem, so you'll need to remove the leaves. Leaf removal means keeping only the beautiful leaves, and eliminating the ugly stems and leaves, but how do you do...August 8th 20252,1945
Add a bay leaf
Bay leaf: small in size, but big in flavor. You'll find it in hundreds of recipes, and it's often added to cooking meat, in a sauce or broth, usually accompanied by other herbs or products. It's a staple of Provençal, Mediterranean and Oriental cuisine, but not the only one. Usually, in a...July 31th 20252,3035
Parsley stems
Parsley, whether curly or flat, is a delicious ingredient in many recipes, where it is used both raw and cooked. When used raw, in a salad for example, where it always provides, alone or with other herbs, a remarkable freshness, only the leaves are kept. And when used cooked?July 28th 20252,501 13
Other pages you may also like
The grease spray
As soon as you have something in a recipe that sticks to the mold, the question always arises as to how difficult it is to remove from the mold. There's nothing more frustrating than breaking your cake when unmolding it, because part of it has stuck in the mold. The classic way to avoid this is...August 26th 20251,8205
The Holy Grail of French bakers
While browsing through the recipes on this site, you may have noticed that while I adore cooking (everything, in fact, to do with eating and drinking), I am particularly drawn to bakery: bread, viennoiseries and all that goes with them – it’s a real passion of mine; I love making them and I...March 24th 201818 K 34.7
The art of the charlotte
In cooking, a charlotte is a delicious moulded dessert, with biscuits around the outside that have been soaked in a flavoured syrup, filled with a light cream or mousse. The charlotte is left to set in the fridge before being turned out and served in slices. It is very light and a lovely sweet...February 27th 201343 K4.3
The window-pane test in bread-making
The home bread-makers often ask themselves “Have I kneaded my dough long enough?” . A good question, as dough that is insufficiently kneaded will not rise properly or will fall flat when the top is slashed, which is very frustrating. To know when the dough is ready, one can rely on the length...June 16th 202193 K 23.9
The 3 secrets of Parisian flan
A flan Parisien, or boulanger, is a simple yet delicious cake. A cream, a mixture of milk, eggs and sugar, is poured into a raw pastry base and baked in the oven until the pastry and cream are cooked. This is the simplest version of the recipe, probably the original one, but nowadays the cream...July 21th 202312 K4.7
Post a comment or question
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.