French Cuisine, question mark!!

I sometimes wonder where some chefs get there ideas and knowledge when it comes to "French Cuisine" which brings me to this question, "What is French Cuisine"? Where did it come from? How do you cook it?

According to Wikipedia the definition of french cuisine is as follows:

French cuisine (French: cuisine française; IPA: [kɥi.zin fʁɑ̃.sɛz]) refers to cooking traditions and practices originating fromFrance.

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 Auguste 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. Gasconcuisine 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 the UNESCO to its lists of the world's "intangible cultural heritage"^[1][2] along with Mexican cuisine.

I am of the belief there is no such cuisine as "French Cuisine" but rather "Regional French Cuisine" I say this because the foods of Paris or Parisian Cuisine drastically differ from the foods of Provance, then we have the Basque who do not really even qualify themselves as French. If you ask one who is from Paris they will say they are Parisian, a Basque, from the Basque Country, from Champagne, Champagne and so on. Ok back to food, I just felt like bringing this up because there really is not a Cuisine of France in my view there are however many cuisines just as in America. I believe we often generalize, which as a chef can get me into Kitchen Troubles and Menu Nightmares. When I see an advertisement for "Traditional French Cooking" I scratch my head and will often find it is that of "Regional French" cuisine if I visit the establishment for a meal or very "Parisian" or that of the cuisine from Paris. I am probably over thinking this but it is important to know the Cuisines with in a country, it could save you embarrassment if you should happen to be talking to someone from France or the country in which you are discussing. I will end this with an example, I recently asked someone what there favorite food(s) where, the reply was "French" when I asked why French the reply,"Because of the Cream and Butter"................MON DIEU!!!

I previously posted a bit on Sous Vide Technique and stated I would be back with some recipies that utalize this great technique and here I am going off with all this and all for a good reason which you will understand if you check in for my next posting.

Until then "Think Good Thoughts & Smile".