- California cuisine
California Cuisine is a style of cuisine marked by an interest in "fusion"— integrating disparate cooking styles and ingredients— and in freshly prepared using local ingredients. The food is typically prepared with particularly strong attention to presentation. The term "California Cuisine" arose as a result of culinary movements in the last several decades and should not be confused with the traditional foods of California.
Background
Alice Waters , of the restaurantChez Panisse inBerkeley, California , is usually credited with originating California cuisine and retains the reputation of offering the ultimate California cuisine experience. Her cuisine emphasizes the freshest ingredients which are in season and are procured solely from local farms.Wolfgang Puck , from theSpago restaurants, popularized California cuisine by catering high profile celebrity parties such as the Oscars after party. Puck became a celebrity in his own right, one of the firstcelebrity chef s. Puck's restaurant "Chinois" was named after the term attributed to Richard Wing, who in the 1960s combined French and Chinese cooking at the formerImperial Dynasty restaurant inHanford, California .cite news | first=Sasha | last= Khokha | url= http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5298206 | title= In Rural California, an Imperial Dynasty Ends | publisher=National Public Radio | date= 2005-07-15) ]Jeremiah Tower was a chef who worked for Alice Waters at Chez Panisse and then opened his own restaurant, Stars, in San Francisco. Tower, who was awarded a degree in architecture fromHarvard , was the first to start the "stacked presentation". The success of Stars restaurant helped the hype of California Cuisine as "what the stars eat." In his heyday he was on the cover of time life magazine and owned restaurants around the world.Ingredients and dishes
The emphasis of California Cuisine is on the use of fresh, local ingredients which are often acquired daily at farmers markets. Menus are changed to accommodate the availability of ingredients in season. Some restaurants create a new menu, daily.
ee also
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New American cuisine , which derives from California cuisine
*Cuisine of California References
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