Half of all the meals eaten in Australia are consumed outside
the diner's home. At school, at work, in a park, in cafes and
restaurants, on a train….the list goes on. More surprisingly, of
all these mobile bites, one in three is eaten in a car. Now that
really is meals on wheels!
This observation represents a profound demographic shift away
from the slower and involved processes of actually cooking, towards
more convenient and ever faster cuisine. We have outsourced the
process of dinner.
The original 'fast food' was developed in France.
19th century Paris was dotted with small eateries in
which the simplest fare would be served from basic menus. The rise
of this type of restaurant began in the 1770's when rural workers
began moving to the cities in great numbers, firstly in response to
famine, and then to seek employment in the newly emerging
factories. A great number of these workers lived in tiny garret
lodgings with no kitchen, such that eating out was a necessity not
a choice.
At the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1814, the Russians invaded
Paris. They would remain there for two years, and took full
advantage of the local culture. Cossack officers, disdainful of the
defeated French, were said to frequent these small eateries and
showed no patience for any delay.
From their tables they screamed "Bystro", a coarse Russian term
meaning 'Hurry up!'.
The name stuck, and has become synonymous with simple and
delicious French cuisine. Today the term describes both the type of
restaurant, and also the style of food traditionally offered
there.
The basic principles of bistro food are seasonality, simplicity
and singularity.
Seasonal foods not only taste better, but are cheaper to buy and
help a bistro maintain its lower price point. Simplicity is what
drives the formulation of recipes, and also the manner of
presentation. A bistro chef take a handful of basic ingredients and
combines them in an efficient, but tasty, way. As for the
presentation, this chef is happy to allow natural food to look like
natural food.
But it is singularity that is at the heart of the bistro.
Individual ingredients are allowed to shine of their own right - a
tomato soup that tastes like tomato, and veal roast with the
perfect taste of veal. Unlike the layered offerings of fine dining
restaurants, the bistro meal is perfectly simple, and simply
perfect.
And the famously quick service? Well that's just a bonus!
Go to Fast Ed's Braised Veal Breast with
Pistachios recipe.
See all of
Fast Ed's recipes.
This article kindly provided
by Fast Ed. It first appeared in The Manly
Daily.