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France
Appears in
Published 2000
Because of the importance of cooking in the upper classes, the French have simultaneously developed two cuisines. Regional cooking—the everyday food eaten by all—evolved spontaneously, while on a more rarefied level the so-called cuisine classique painstakingly developed over centuries, first at the royal court and later in restaurants.
Soup is so important to French dining that few French people can imagine dinner without it. Except in restaurants, where a meal is likely to start with a salad or something more elaborate, a family dinner in France always starts with soup. Soup is a staple at the French dinner table, but is never served at lunch.