Garde Manger in Nouvelle Cuisine

Just as La Varenne is credited with the transition to classical cuisine, Fernand Point [fair-nahn PWA(N)] is for nouvelle cuisine. This new and radically different style of French cooking emerged in the late 1960s and became world famous in the early 1970s. Point’s culinary philosophy included seeking simplicity and perfection in all of his dishes, openly sharing knowledge and techniques, and exploring new ideas.

Nouvelle cuisine literally translates as “new cooking.” Chefs developed a fresher, lighter, and more imaginative style of French cooking, inspired by the guidelines later called “The Ten Commandments of Nouvelle Cuisine”. One influence on the garde manger chef was the new practice of plating food in the kitchen. Previously, most fine-dining French restaurants sent food to the table in platter presentation, to be portioned onto plates by the servers. Now, garde manger chefs began to create intricate plate presentations that included individual food portions formed in molds.