French Food Puzzle

French cuisine (French: Cuisine française, IPA: [kɥi.zin fʁɑ̃.sɛz]) refers to cooking traditions and practices originating from France.

Guillaume Tirel Taillevent, a court chef, wrote Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of Medieval France. During that time, French cuisine was heavily influenced by Italian cuisine. In the 17th century, chefs François Pierre La Varenne and Marie-Antoine Carême spearheaded movements that shifted French cooking away from its foreign influences and developed France's own indigenous style. Cheese and wine are a major part of the cuisine, playing different roles regionally and nationally, with many variations and appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) (regulated appellation) laws.

French cuisine was codified in the 20th century by Escoffier to become the modern haute cuisine; Escoffier, however, left out much of the regional culinary character to be found in the regions of France. Gastro-tourism and the Guide Michelin helped to acquaint people with the rich bourgeois and peasant cuisine of the French countryside starting in the 20th century. Gascon cuisine has also had great influence over the cuisine in the southwest of France. Many dishes that were once regional have proliferated in variations across the country.

Knowledge of French cooking has contributed significantly to Western cuisines and its criteria are used widely in Western cookery school boards and culinary education. In November 2010, French gastronomy was added by UNESCO to its lists of the world's "intangible cultural heritage"[1][2] along with Mexican cuisine.