Louis Outhier

For all the talk of nouvelle cuisine, of progress and modernization, there is in the profession of chef so much that is founded on tradition and a romantic view of the past. In the days of fast food, convenience food, portion control, cost effectiveness, labour relations and all the rest of present-day catering, there is something almost antique about the concepts which are the basis of haute cuisine. There is no other surviving business which, by its nature, is obliged to defy the accepted rules of economy, to take always the hard route rather than the easy one. haute cuisine preserves the nineteenth-century values of hard work coupled with dreams of excellence.