Good Grape Wine Company

July 27 2009

Say Hello to Au Revoir

The new book Au Revoir to All That: Food, Wine, and the End of France by Michael Steinberger delivers on what fans of his writing have come to expect; it’s an immersive, well-reported, well-written book that zips and crackles with a smartness that doesn’t talk down to the reader, but rather assumes they are an equally educated and empathetic soul to the lesson that follows.

The book is a “State of French Cuisine” continuing education course for life-long learners. 

Oddly enough, while an inveterate learner (with a very French last name – Lefevere), I don’t consider myself much of an “Old World” guy.  Save for the occasional Chateauneuf-du-Pape or other Rhone-style red from the South of France, I rarely drink French wine, have never visited the country and don’t consider myself overly sympathetic to the premise of the book and the decline of the French as worldwide standard bearers for epicureans. I bought the book mostly to read Steinberger in long form. Despite this, the book still delivered for me. 

This cultural treatise, acting as something of a melancholy paean, will not disappoint Francophiles, either; the foie gras eating, Bordeaux loving cultural arbiters who number in the millions around the globe, upholders of all that is glorious about the French food and wine tradition, have artfully been served notice that standards, benchmarked against traditions, are declining quickly.  And, as Steinberger points out, it’s that very rigidity in tradition that acts noose-like for the future of French food.

Only glancingly referencing wine (one chapter), a fact that belies readers of most of Steinberger’s other professional work, this book acts like a survey of various elements that, taken together, present a multi-faceted case on the peril the French face as the first name in gastronomy.

Steinberger looks at a short history of French cuisine, with fascinating trivia on Georges Auguste Escoffier, the socio-political environment in France over the last 25 years, rife with bureaucracy, the rise in culinary prowess of the Spaniards, the development of Chefs as global brands, the Michelin Guides and their end-all, be all star system, large and small scale production of Camembert cheese, the rise of McDonald’s, and the uncanny ability for the Japanese to co-opt culture and make it better, amongst other topics. 

Each of the chapters makes up a satisfying and self-contained slice of diversion.  And, that encapsulates one of the two small quibbles I have with the book.  Each chapter reads like a long-form article and there is no unifying device to tie it all together and provide a satisfactory finish to the proverbial meal.

While Steinberger does a nice job of not veering too far off in any one direction, the book could have used a central pivot point; an expediter that makes sure the back of the house is in communion with the front of the house.  Yes, in lesser hands, the book could have easily developed one of the factoids presented—the fact that “by 2007, (McDonald’s) had more than a thousand restaurants in France and was the country’s largest private-sector employer” while also becoming its second-most-profitable market.  He artfully doesn’t make this another “Fast Food Nation” even if the chapter title is regrettably borrowed.  Nor does Steinberger cast the Michelin Guides and their star system as the total bad guy.

However, unfortunately, a book of this type should steer the viewer in a direction of opinion more forcefully, as opposed to the slight nudge he gave with each chapter.

One aspect left unexplored is the impact that culinary schools (those worth their salt) have on teaching THE French cooking foundation to legions of students every year who then go all over the world upon graduation.  Viewed through that lens with other chapters to support and complement, the book would have been a satisfying whole, particularly because of the treatment he gives to Spain and Japan as rising culinary super powers.

Ultimately, however, perhaps Steinberger’s point is more subtle with purpose – an avowed Francophile taking a laissez-faire attitude.  With the French government ultimately getting in their own way through excessive bureaucracy, the future of France’s gastronomical reputation is ultimately in their own hands and Steinberger is merely there to point out the individual tide pools of change.

This is a good read and highly recommended.

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