Alice Waters Research Paper

Alice Waters focused on fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients bought from the local farmers because of the food culture that Waters grew up in. Waters was heavily influenced by the French cuisine because of her study abroad experience in France where she learned the different fresh ingredients could make. She developed an obsession for French food and the freshness of their ingredients, specifically la cuisine du marché ¬– market cooking. While the Michelin-starred restaurants had to stick to consistent menus, “The chefs of more modest restaurants, however, the ones Alice had loved best, were in the markets every day, touching the food, smelling it, talking to the farmers and fishermen” (McName 2007, 31). It was through this French experience where Waters learned the importance of fresh ingredients when cooking. Without the French markets and the chefs of the modest restaurants, Waters would not be exposed the idea of constantly “touching the food, smelling it” (McName 2007, 31) to determine the quality. Waters continuously incorporated French cuisine aspects into her own dishes after she started Chez Panisse.

When Waters tried to replicate dishes she had in France, she found that the American supermarkets all sold the same kind of Long Island Duck. She then found that the ducks sold in the Chinatowns of San Francisco were, “Raised on nearby farms being sold either still alive or freshly killed…[and] they had chickens that tasted like chicken” (McName 2007, 32). Waters’ access to Chinatown, a structure that provided Waters with fresh poultry and ingredients, allowed her to continue to refine her cooking skills using the techniques learned in France. From the start, Waters was exposed to the culture and structures that helped facilitate her development of her passion towards