FREN 186 Final Exam Study Guide Flashcards

Flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, films, and sociological concepts from the FREN 186 final exam study guide.

Terroir

The notion discussed by Amy Trubek that food and drink from a certain place have a particular taste, emphasizing the physical environment as necessary and natural rather than the producer.

1855 Bordeaux wine classifications

A system that promoted quality via place of origin, marking a key moment in the representation of terroir.

Vidal de la Blache

A French geographer who wrote "The Overview of the Geography of France," focusing on regionality and the relationship between soil, environment, and people's way of life.

Curnosky

A figure who linked the physiology of taste to the particularity of place, promoted rural preservation, and contributed to Michelin guides to educate diners about regional riches.

Vignerons

The French term for winemakers who emphasized wine as a product of the soil.

Négociants

Wine merchants who typically emphasized placeless labels and brands.

INAO (Institut National des Appelations d'Origine)

An official body established in 1935 that classifies places of origin and uses science to defend claims that certain lands draw out specific flavors.

AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée)

A status granted to products where terroir is the most important factor; it began locally, was codified nationally, and extended to products like cheese in the 1990's.

La Semaine du goût ($1990$)

An initiative translating to "Week of Taste" aimed at helping French children discover flavors and educating them toward a French sensibility of taste.

Myth (Barthes)

A concept that transforms history into nature, abolishing the complexity of human acts and making things appear to mean something by themselves.

Ornamental Cookery

A concept by Barthes regarding food photography in magazines like Elle, where glazed and coated surfaces make food an "idea" meant for the eye alone.

Smooth coating

Gloss coatings or glazing used in food presentation that separates class through appearance and signifies "unbridled beautification."

Wine (Barthes)

A converting substance in French mythology that acts as a coercive collective act and a national technique qualifying the Frenchman through performance and sociability.

Milk (Barthes)

Described as the "true anti-wine" that is exotic and restores what wine cuts, functioning as the opposite of the national drink.

Steak and Chips

A dish part of a sanguine mythology where steak represents meat in its pure state and bull-like strength, while chips are nostalgic and patriotic.

Saignant

A level of steak cooking meaning rare, characterized by arterial blood and a very red color.

Bleu

A very rare level of steak cooking characterized by a purple-ish color and many visible veins.

A point

A level of steak cooking meaning medium, representing a limit rather than perfection.

Neoliberalism (Lavin)

A political theory holding that the free market is key to maximizing well-being, emphasizing individual responsibility and market competition as the basis for public policy.

Globalization (Lavin)

The force where geopolitical boundaries are challenged by flows of bodies, information, and capital; in food, it evokes anxieties about the collapse of borders.

Digestive subjectivity

A concept by Lavin regarding navigating political crises through the choice of what one eats, reflecting a crisis of objectivity in meaning and responsibility.

Rice (in colonial Indochina)

Viewed as "Asian bread" belonging to the colonized; regulations prohibited bread from including more than $10\%$ rice flour to be called French bread.

French bread (in colonial Indochina)

A dietary staple for colonists used as a means to distance themselves from subjects and as a symbol of Frenchness and colonialism.

Culinary "othering" (Tošaj)

The creation of a rice vs. wheat binary by French colonists to establish difference and distance themselves from Indochina.

Couscous

A North African dish from Algeria made from rolled durum wheat semolina, which was later adopted and "turned French" by France in the $1950s$.

Pieds-noirs

European settler colonists born in Algeria who repatriated to France in $1962$, bringing a taste for couscous with them.

Commensality (Yount-André)

The social act of eating together which reproduces group membership and social distinction through shared expectations and moral imperatives.

Eating au bol

Eating around a communal platter on the ground, seen as a sign of solidarity, generosity, and hospitality in Senegalese culture.

Integration (Yount-André)

The official goal of French immigration policy involving the acceptance of French values, which can lead to the loss of heritage.

Secularism (laïcité)

A fundamental French national value that involves ridding oneself of religious symbols or culture to integrate with the state.

Civilizing mission

A moral justification used for French occupation of colonial holdings, affirming the need to colonize even without economic impetus.

Republican universalism

An ideology that rejects group identities like race or religion in favor of abstract citizenship, often denying the salience of racial identity.

The "Whiteness" of French food

A color-blind position described by Cohen that favors white taste and identity as the standard for French cuisine.

Geographical Indications (GIs)

Legal terms identifying goods as originating in a specific region where qualities are attributable to that location and cannot be replicated elsewhere.

Cantines

Charitable endeavors aimed at improving nutrition and attendance for poor children, which became racialized discourse in the early $1900s$.

Gastronomic Meal of the French (UNESCO)

A four-course repast beginning with an aperitif and ending with a digestif, recognized for its specific seating arrangements and hierarchy.

Maison Mumbai

The Kadam family restaurant in the film "The Hundred-Foot Journey," originally started by Papa.

Le Saule Pleureur

The upscale French restaurant in "The Hundred-Foot Journey" where Hassan eventually works.

La Baleine Grise

The French restaurant located across from Maison Mumbai in "The Hundred-Foot Journey."

Hassan Kadam

The protagonist of "The Hundred-Foot Journey" who earns Madame Mallory her second Michelin star.

Madame Mallory

The owner of the Gray Whale who is set on obtaining Michelin stars and eventually trains Hassan.

French tacos

A food item consisting of a tortilla, cheese sauce, fries, and usually halal meat, separate from traditional Mexican tacos.

The kebab debates

Discussions where the kebab stands in as a symbol for immigration from North Africa in French housing projects.

Burgerization

A term for the industrialization of the food supply that many French people associate with Americanization.

French Women Don’t Get Fat

A bestseller promoting the idea that French people maintain weight effortlessly through moderation, though the text notes French dieting has existed since the $1990s$.

William Howard Taft

The US President whose obesity and subsequent diet served as an emblem for American fatness and the diet press.

Auguste Escoffier

A culinary modernizer who standardized French dishes and techniques for industrial restaurants and wrote the "bible of cuisine classique" in $1903$.

Jacques Borel

The entrepreneur who built a food service empire, credit with

Wimpy

An American-British hamburger chain opened in France by Jacques Borel in $1961$, serving as the country's first fast-food chain.

Quick

A fast-food competitor to McDonald's that used American stereotypes in its advertising to offer "exotic" American pleasures.

Foie gras

The enlarged liver of a goose or duck, considered an official gastronomic heritage and part of southwest terroir, but controversial due to animal rights.

Gavage

The process of fattening a bird's liver by feeding it grain through a specialized tube during its final weeks.

Gastropolitics

The intersection of politics, food, and taste where certain foods are moralized and used to assert or patrol culinary identity borders.

Labeyrie

One of France's largest foie gras producers, which faced controversy for positioning its products with both "pure terroir" and halal labels.

Anton Ego

The feared food critic in "Ratatouille" who represents haute cuisine elitism but is moved by the authenticity of a simple dish.

Remy

The protagonist of "Ratatouille," a rat who represents natural talent and challenges the idea of who is allowed to be a chef.

Gusteau

The renowned chef whose motto "Anyone Can Cook" reflects inclusion and the idea that talent can come from anywhere.

Colette

The only female line cook at Gusteau’s, representing the rigor and discipline of classical French kitchen technique.

La Ratatouille (restaurant)

The restaurant Remy opens at the end of the film, symbolizing heart-driven and honest dining over prestige.