First off, I would like to chip in that Caterina de Medici of Florence, Italy and her army of cooks had an immense influence on what is now known as French cuisine upon her marriage to King Henri II of France. It was in Florence where the first uses of butter and flour used as thickening agents (roux) were first known. Upon moving to France to be wed and become queen of france, she brought with her these techniques which later on became adopted as French. She is credited as one of the most influential people in culinary history. (For more on this, read Giuliano Bugialli's "The Fine Art of Italian Cooking")
Moving on to other things... we now have a "snapshot" of what "french cuisine" is or was, not incorporating foreign elements as one user pointed out, etc. and we now see a "fusion" trend where french technique and new ingredients merge... but what is "authentic french"? Or authentic anything?? Where do we draw the line? Well, I will answer that for you
Most of us in the "western" world use as a premise for our cuisine the immense contribution of the Columbus voyages. Would the French have their "Pommes Dauphinois" without the humble potato indigineous of Peru - they wouldnt, and neither would the Irish have their "Colcannon"; just the same the Italians would be without their "Insalata Caprese" or their "Salsa Marinara" without tomatoes, as they were also indigenous to the Andes mountains in South America... just the same, we in America (the whole continent, North Central and South) would be without our "Carolina Barbeque ribs", our Latin American "Arroz con Pollo" (chicken with rice) or "Sancochos" (Chicken Stew), our "Cuban Lechon Asado", our "Mexican Fajitas" and be able to claim it as our own "authentic" cuisine, since the domesticated chickens, cattle and pigs were brought to this continent from Europe on these voyages. In order to put things into a different perspective, I bring these observations to the table since most of us, including myself, are sometimes guilty of seeing things from a narrow viewpoint. I encourage those who like to read to pick up Raymond Sokolov's
Why We Eat What We Eat for more on this subject. Today we see a shrinking world and we must adapt, and be more accepting, and that is why we see the great chefs using the freshest and most accesible products, i believe TexanFrench was the one who pointed this out - the main difference is that back then the "freshest, most accessible products" were limited and now they arent, therefore, continuously we will find the best cooks/chefs taking advantage of this premise, the simplest of all, which is the selection of your
materia prima, your raw materials. That is why these chefs do not use fresh tomatoes in winter.
Another point I would like to bring up is that, we credit the French tremendously for their influence in culinary technique but lets keep in mind that this is their influence over "our" reality here in the western world today. Cheesemaking and sauce reductions arent quite the norm in countries of asia - their influence is from the chinese who made immense contributions to the culinary world in areas such as pickling, dehydration, curing and stir-frying among others.
The "snapshots" we see are interesting. In a time where sauces and spices are used to "complement" a prime cut of meats, we forget how sauces and spices were previously used to "mask" the rancidity or inferior aspects of food. Before refrigeration, cooks/chemists/travelers/discoverers had to come up with ways to have food last for days on their voyages giving rise to acid-pickling techniques and curing techniques which now have a culinary life of their own in Ceviches, Bacalao (salt cod) and Prosciutto since they are marvelous in their own right. Where we saw Escoffier's elaborate use of thickening roux-based sauces in French proper cuisine, we later saw Fernand Point accepting lighter alternatives within the same cuisine while giving rise the next generation of french chefs that apprenticed under him such as Alain Chapel and Paul Bocuse. Today we see a public that further lightens their palates with simple au jus (pan juices).
Another "snapshot" which tickles me is the preparation of certain ingredients such as tuna. The italians and the french cook it to death, yet we now find it
chic to sear the exterior leaving it raw and warm in the middle. "Cooking it to death" was true French technique. Today we are raising our pigs lean!! These snapshots are eye-opening indeed... i wonder how the future generations of cooks/chefs will continue to adopt and re-adjust today's techniques, and whose cuisines will be considered elite and most influential!