Rare for a long time because the cows were few…
Even though we know that the Celts, the Vikings and the peoples of Asia consumed it centuries ago, even though we know that the French nobles appreciated having to taste dishes with cream in their feasts of the Middle Ages, the cream became a frequent ingredient quite late simply because the cows were not so numerous. It was very expensive to have a cow.
We make it light near Chantilly
We taste a little in the castles, especially in the castle of Chantilly, where it is said that Vatel, the chef of the Prince of Condé had the idea of whipping fresh cream with sugar and a little vanilla. We are not sure these days that Vatel could have invented whipped cream, but after all we only lend to the rich, and that’s normal: Vatel had a lot of talent.
– Credits: James Hardy Creative – No.: 56094302
It was the 18th century, one of the greatest eras of French gastronomy, which saw the arrival of cream in dishes, to bind sauces of course, to enhance taste too, and in quite a few desserts that we had not imagined before. Cream is then added to omelettes, stuffings, and sauces too, of which, in the 19th century, Antonin Carême, king of cooks and cooks of kings, made a fine inventory, he who knew how to make them so well. It is to him that we owe the idea of associating potatoes and cream, a banal idea now.
All kinds of creams today…
There are nowadays all kinds of fresh creams, more or less fat, fluffy, even liquid. We would never finish listing the dishes in which we can put cream, but I admit that I have a weakness for Norman cutlets with a turkey or veal cutlet, a little mushrooms , onions and above all a lot of cream. On the virtue side, the cream is a source of calcium. Cooking is done with a lot of ingredients, but it is mostly done with the heart.