Kitchen basics

In gastronomy in general, we have a basic set of preparations that are known as “cooking bases”. These bases are broths (they can also be called funds) with a concentrated flavor, whether salty or sweet and which can vary according to the ingredients that are added to it. The industrial version of these flavor bases, for example, are what have become known in Brazil as “caldo knorr”.

These basic preparations have been known since ancient times as essential for preparing good food. Roman cooks used to be sent to Greece to learn their trade, and later a school was opened in Rome to train cooks. There, the preparations that made up this flavor base were garum (a spicy sauce made with fermented fish guts) and mussum (which consisted of garum sauce plus honey). In the 14th century, the Frenchman Taillevent was the author of the cookbook Le Viandier. The book contains several recipes for sauces such as galimafrée (shredded chicken, white wine, butter, cumin, bay leaves and onions) and formidable (pepper, cloves, cinnamon, amber, garlic and onions).

High-quality professional cuisine cannot be conceived without the use of these bases. In some restaurants, the preparation of a good bottom of beef can take up to 72 hours, with cooking over low heat for a good extraction of aromas and flavors. In the bakery

we have English creams, crème patissière, among others, which are used as a base for various preparations. Any professional who aspires to a position in the best kitchens in the country must necessarily master these preparations. It is the basis of what is known as haute cuisine. However, is this the right term to use when talking about cuisine?

High Gastronomy vs. Low Gastronomy, does it exist?

If we think that the basis of haute cuisine is the construction of flavors, how can we classify foods such as rabada, dobradinha, feijoada, maniçoba in the concept of low cuisine? Much has been discussed in recent years, in cooking courses and also in higher education courses in gastronomy, about how good quality food cannot be framed in rigid concepts such as High and Low Gastronomy, but these terms still permeate much of the consumer’s imagination and what is replicated by the media. It doesn’t go unnoticed that the place where such food is served, or by which chef it is made, is one of the defining criteria for framing the preparation in one definition or another. Chef Kátia Barbosa’s bolinho de feijoada was elevated to the rank of delicacy the moment she achieved media exposure, just as shrimp with chayote and the incredible use of okra were rescued from the place of Low Gastronomy by chef Roberta Sudbrack. Even so, thousands of cooks all over the country make incredible food and fail to achieve the same status as haute cuisine.

The popularization of bar food

Although, in recent years, festivals and competitions for “Best Pub Food” have become popular in the country, there is still a division of concepts that is permeated by racism, elitism and, why not say it, permeated by a serious error of technical analysis. If a food has well-constructed flavors, with quality ingredients and correct technical production, it doesn’t matter if it’s being served in a Michelin-starred restaurant or in the neighborhood bar, what defines its value as quality food is tangible and metrified by taste.

A signature dish of botecos in some parts of Brazil is bolovo; bolovo consists of a hard-boiled egg wrapped in a layer of seasoned meat (most commonly beef, but it can be pork, chicken or even fish) that is breaded and fried. The secret to the perfect bolovo is that the yolk inside the egg is still soft, which means that as well as cooking the egg for the correct time, you have to take into account that the preparation will go through a second cooking process, which is frying, and these factors need to be controlled for the result to be considered perfect. The concept of low gastronomy doesn’t fit. Either the bolovo is technically correct or not, or the flavors are well balanced, with fresh ingredients or not.

Techniques are techniques even if the names are different

When we talk about classism in gastronomy, we can’t help but consider that

the place of origin of a particular preparation has a great effect on the public’s view of it.

It’s common knowledge that France has a prominent place in world gastronomy, with merit and history underpinning this position. However, techniques are techniques even if the names are different, and as much as you might think that pork confit is something more elegant, it’s the same thing as our well-known tinned meat: a food cooked and stored in its own fat.

Without wishing to suggest that there is no difference between eating in a good restaurant or in a place of dubious origin – with even more dubious food, what we are trying to emphasize is that good food can be made anywhere if the right techniques are used and the ingredients are of good quality, combined with the skill of the professionals who handle them.

It’s still easier to get access to imported vanilla than a decent salary

The concepts of High and Low Gastronomy depend more on the labor and ingredients than on the prestige of the place where the food is served. There is a long-standing discussion about the difficulty of accessing good quality ingredients, as well as the difficulty of getting a motivated and well-prepared workforce, but other factors play a part in these aspects, in short: food production issues and also the structure, working hours and pay of kitchen professionals. These factors cannot be dealt with superficially, as they include legal issues, government incentives, distribution of production and others.

Promoting and guaranteeing access to good raw materials and making it possible for workers to work a fair day and receive honest pay is the quest of many kitchen professionals today. But we mustn’t forget that in many capitals it’s easier to access imported vanilla, truffled olive oils and Canadian raspberries than pequi nuts, good tapioca flour, among many other products that aren’t associated with the concept of haute cuisine. If we are to have a cuisine that is valued and strong, if we are to develop a Brazilian gastronomy, we need to rethink these concepts.