from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Michelin
began manufacturing tires in the 1880’s.
Michelin patented the
first usable pneumatic tire and has since patented many of the other tire related products we use
today, The company remains one the top three tire manufacturers in the world. Michelin
was established in Clermont-Ferrand in the region of the Auvergne.
Clermont- Ferrand is now a city of nearly 150,000 and it remains the home of Michelin’s
head office.
Photograph
by courtesy of carlfbagge.
The
first Michelin guide.
In 1900, Michelin
published its first guide. The guide gave French car owners a guide to find
mechanics, petrol stations, tire repair shops as well as hotels and places to
eat. The Michelin man, the company’s logo, appears to be made out of inner tubes and he does
have a name, Bibendum. When Michelin needed a name for their rubber-tire man they turned, in the 1900's, to France’s undisputed arbiter of the best in
French cuisine, Curnonsky. Curnonsky was
then the man upon whose word the fate of every new restaurant rested. Curnonsky was and remains the only person
ever to have been awarded, by the French Press, the title: Prince des
Gourmandes, the Prince of Gourmands.
At that time any name that the famous Curnonsky chose would, automatically in France, be accepted; Curnonsky gave the Michelin rubber-tire man the name Bibendum.
The name Curnonsky chose for the Michelin man, Bibendum, comes from a line in a standard schoolboy's Latin language class poem written by Horace. Horace was a freed slave who became a famous Roman/Greek poet. The line from which Curnonsky chose the name reads “nunc est bibendum”, meaning it’s time for a drink and so Bibendum became the Michelin man’s name.
The
stained-glass window of the Bibendum
restaurant
How does the Michelin Red Guide work
The Red Michelin Guide
grades the restaurants that meet their minimum comfort level with crossed
spoons and forks. The lowest rating is one crossed fork and spoon. Every time a
crossed spoon and fork is added the reader knows the comfort level increases. At the top of the list, are the most luxurious restaurants with a maximum of five crossed forks and spoons in red. N.B.:
The comfort level does not tell the traveler anything about the quality of the
food. Hotel comfort levels are marked in a similar manner by little buildings
instead of spoons and forks, the most comfortable will be marked in red.
The Red Guide is very important for the traveler in France. When you arrive in a strange town or village, the Red Michelin guide will find you somewhere to eat and sleep. On more than one occasion, I have arrived in a small town, and the Red Guide has saved me from a possible sleepless night. For that alone, I give the French Red Michelin top marks. If they had told me a little more, even without grading, about the type of food served in the restaurants in town, I might have been saved a poorly prepared diner.
The Red Guide’s competition.
The Red Guide Michelin leads, in sales, by a long way, in France, from its nearest competitor, the Guide Gault Millau. The Guide Gault Millau rates the restaurants they consider good to excellent not with stars, but with one to five Toques Blanche. A toques blanche is the white, tall, chef’s hat. If you are searching for restaurants in an area where you have no prior information use the Michelin Red Guide and the Gault Millau together along with a local guide book, and of course the internet. Together you will find good restaurants that meet your budget. The founders of the Gault Millau were the two food writers who gave the name to Nouvelle Cuisine. Nouvelle cuisine in the 1950's and 1960's changed France's kitchens and gave birth to today's modern and lighter cuisine.
Curnonsky was an author and the accepted leader of the food critics of his day. His real name was Maurice Edmund Sailland, (1872 -1956), but all knew him as Curnonsky.
Curnonsky, like most of his late 19th-century early 20th century colleagues, at least those who could afford to own cars, was classically educated. Classically educated meant that they studied, the history, politics and philosophy of ancient Rome and Greece.
Today, maybe, Michelin
should provide a new name for their rubber tire man that is more politically
correct, Bibendum means " It’s time for a drink" and drinking and driving no longer
mix. Michelin could organize an international competition that would produce
more fame and fortune for their tires and their red and green guides. However,
I doubt that there any Latin or Greek quotes, meaning “It’s time for a rest
stop” or “Check your tire pressure.”
Connected Posts:
Behind the French Menu
in the Michelin Building, Brompton, London, UK
The
Michelin Red Guide.
For nearly 100 years,
the Michelin Red Guides have marked, in France, the leading restaurants with one,
two or three stars. The star rating system began in the 1920’s. Restaurants outside France were added in the late 1950's. Michelin created their own format for
checking, and rating the food that restaurants offered. The Michelin system
remains unique through its size as no other guide can spend enough to follow
such a large number of restaurants anonymously. However, other guides, in France judging local restaurants, using
different systems often achieve similar results. When the results are very different there is
usually a good reason that links to the particular point system used.
How does the Michelin Red Guide work
The
importance of the Red Guide
The Red Guide is very important for the traveler in France. When you arrive in a strange town or village, the Red Michelin guide will find you somewhere to eat and sleep. On more than one occasion, I have arrived in a small town, and the Red Guide has saved me from a possible sleepless night. For that alone, I give the French Red Michelin top marks. If they had told me a little more, even without grading, about the type of food served in the restaurants in town, I might have been saved a poorly prepared diner.
The
stars.
One star: A very good restaurant..
Two stars: A restaurant that merits a detour to visit.
Three
stars: The ultimate accolade, Exceptional cuisine and
worth going out of your way to visit. The
restaurants graded with three stars appear in the guide with some information on the dishes
available; however, you will need to know about something about the cuisine as no
explanations are given. In France there are 28 three star restaurants, a number
that has not changed significantly over the years. In 2014 the UK had four
three star restaurants and the USA had ten.
The Michelin Stars.
The
Bib Gourmand:
Apart from the stars
the Red Guide offers a Bib Gourmand rating. The name is arrived at by abbreviating the
Michelin man’s name from Bibendum to Bib. To rate a Bib Gourmand a restaurant
must offer a high standard “Menu à Prix-Fixe,” a fixed-price menu, at a reasonable price. The fixed-price
menu will include an entrée, the French starter, a main course, the plat principal, and a dessert. The prices that Michelin considers reasonable change
with location and prices are updated annually. For France Michelin also prints
a special Red Guide for France called: Les Bonnes Petites Tables; this guide includes only
those restaurants that have been awarded a Bib Gourmand. The 2015 edition included
650 restaurants, all around France, with high quality fixed-price menus for less
that 32 Euros. (38 USD, 25 Pound Sterling). For more about fixed-price menus in France see
the article: When
a French Menu is Not an English Menu!
The
Bib Gourmand
Michelin also publishes
Green Guides. However, the Green Guides are travel guides and have nothing to do with food
or lodging. Together the Red Guide and the
area’s Green Guide are considered essential companions when travelling in
France.
The
Michelin Building in London, UK.
This
unique building was built in the early 1900’s.
Photograph
courtesy of Chris Sampson.
The Red Guide’s competition.
The Red Guide Michelin leads, in sales, by a long way, in France, from its nearest competitor, the Guide Gault Millau. The Guide Gault Millau rates the restaurants they consider good to excellent not with stars, but with one to five Toques Blanche. A toques blanche is the white, tall, chef’s hat. If you are searching for restaurants in an area where you have no prior information use the Michelin Red Guide and the Gault Millau together along with a local guide book, and of course the internet. Together you will find good restaurants that meet your budget. The founders of the Gault Millau were the two food writers who gave the name to Nouvelle Cuisine. Nouvelle cuisine in the 1950's and 1960's changed France's kitchens and gave birth to today's modern and lighter cuisine.
Chef
holding his menu and wearing a Toque Blanche.
The
toque blanche us the traditional chef’s white hat.
Photograph
courtesy of Grant Cochrane through freedigitalphotos.net.
About
Curnonsky,
The
man who named Michelin’s rubber tire man Bibendum.
Curnonsky was an author and the accepted leader of the food critics of his day. His real name was Maurice Edmund Sailland, (1872 -1956), but all knew him as Curnonsky.
Curnonsky, like most of his late 19th-century early 20th century colleagues, at least those who could afford to own cars, was classically educated. Classically educated meant that they studied, the history, politics and philosophy of ancient Rome and Greece.
In the 1950’s Curnonsky, together with three
like-minded individuals established the La Confrérie de la Chaîne des
Rôtisseurs. Confréries are brother and sisterhoods that support and promote specific foods and/or wines. The Chaîne des
Rôtisseurs, mostly just called La Chaîne is an international gastronomic
society, and its fame lives on, long, after Curnonsky passed on. La Chaîne
is based in Paris, where else? La Chaîne is devoted to promoting fine dining
and the camaraderie and pleasures of the table.
It is not, as some seem to believe an award to an excellent restaurant.
Today La Chaîne still brings together professionals and others from the world
of fine foods.
Connected Posts:
Nouvelle
Cuisine? What ever happened to Nouvelle Cuisine? Where is Nouvelle Cuisine?
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Copyright 2010, 2012, 2015.
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