California cuisine
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California cuisine is a style of cuisine marked by an interest in fusion cuisine (integrating disparate cooking styles and ingredients) and in the use of freshly prepared local ingredients.[1]
The food is typically prepared with strong attention to presentation. Foods low in saturated fats and high in fresh vegetables and fruits with lean meats and seafood from the California coast often define the style. The term California cuisine arose as a result of culinary movements in the last decades and should not be confused with the traditional foods of California. French cuisine, Italian cuisine, Mexican cuisine, Chinese cuisine, and Japanese cuisine have all influenced Californian fusion cuisine, though this is by no means a complete list of influencing cultures.
History
Alice Waters, who opened Chez Panisse restaurant in 1971 in Berkeley, California, has contributed significantly to the concept of California Cuisine.[2][3] Wolfgang Puck was also an early pioneer of California cuisine; starting with his work at Patrick Terrail’s Ma Maison, and further work with California-style pizza at Spago and Asian fusion at Chinois on Main.[4] Daniel Patterson, a more modern proponent of the style,[5] emphasizes vegetables and foraged foods while maintaining the traditional emphasis on local foods and presentation.[6]
The style was notably parodied in Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho.
Specialty Dishes
- California pizza was popularized by California Pizza Kitchen and Wolfgang Puck and has caught on as a national trend in the United States; pizzas are heavily themed, and generally include a variety of nontraditional pizza ingredients - Thai chicken pizza with peanut sauce in place of tomato sauce and crushed nuts and bean sprouts is one popular variant; so is a gourmet bacon cheeseburger-themed pizza that usually includes fruit-smoked bacon, lettuce, and a small amount of gourmet mayonnaise.
- Californian sushi produced the California roll and helped to start a trend of specialty rolls in larger sushi culture. Californian specialty sushi tends to use more specialty sauces and to mix more kinds of fish in the same roll than traditional Japanese sushi.
- Specialty salads are popular. Chinese Chicken Salad as it is usually listed on modern menus featuring chicken salad with small wonton skins with ginger dressing is actually a Californian creation inspired by older Chinese salads with chicken.
See also
- New American cuisine, derived from California cuisine
- The French Laundry
References
- ↑ "The birth of California cuisine is generally traced back to Alice Waters in the 1970s and her restaurant Chez Panisse. Waters introduced the idea of using natural, locally grown fresh ingredients to produce her dishes. California cuisine is... local, based like most traditional regional cooking on available ingredients including abundant seafood. Fresh vegetables, lightly cooked, and fresh fruits, berries, and herbs characterize the cuisine generally, but California cooking is also in fact a fusion of cooking from around the world." Benjamin F. Shearer Culture and Customs of the United States Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007 ISBN 0-313-33877-9, 440, page 212
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- ↑ "Food Fight, Revolution Never Tasted So Good!" A Documentary by Chris Taylor, 2008.
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External links
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- California Fusion wikibook
- Timeline: The Introduction of Asian foods to California at FoodTimeline.org
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