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Preface Anton Mosimann

Classical French cuisine is the firm foundation for most chefs’ training the world over. Auguste Escoffier’s summary in his “Guide Culinaire”, on stocks and sauces, is as true today as it was then: “You can never take too much care or pay too much attention to their preparation.”

Historically, in Britain, more importance was attached to the gravy, the meat juices that were served to accompany roast meat, poultry and game. This is still the case, but sauces to accompany fish dishes are very much in the French tradition. That said, both the Mediterranean diet and Asian influences have encouraged a diversity of styles – a wedge of lemon, a drizzle of olive oil or a stir fry involving herbs and spices – simple, fresh cooking that ensure the natural flavours are retained. In such instances, sauces are now less prominent than they once were.

Art presupposes solid craftsmanship. Salvador Dali learnt to paint in the true classical manner before he embraced surrealism and abstract art. The pianist Lang Lang interprets the most difficult pieces as lightly as a feather because he learnt classical piano playing from a sound base. You can only become a virtuoso by continually practicing the fundamentals.

Craftsmanship means working on the foundation repeatedly and understanding the reasons why the basics work so well; you cannot adapt them until they are second nature. According to Escoffier it is essential to truly understand the sauces and their structural composition as one of the most important bases of French cuisine.

Always start at the beginning to really learn the basics of the chef’s profession. You only become a star chef or chef to the royal household by constant practice, learning, extending your knowledge, and developing further. You can only become a virtuoso when you have really understood the basics and appreciate the science of cooking – why heat will produce one reaction and cold another. To be able to feel a passion for cooking, with heart and soul, is the intrinsic condition of being a great chef.

“I really welcome this book and know that, within a short space of time, the copy I will be putting in the kitchen at Mosimann’s will certainly become not only well-thumbed, but also sauce-splattered; surely the essence of a great and important book!”

Anton Mosimann, OBE