The people of France consider cooking a f
ine art. Just as an artist carves out a statue hidden within a block of stone, a French cook brings out the flavor locked inside each simple vegetable and piece of meat. The French cook then arranges the food so that its shapes and colors are combined in the most attractive way possible.
A French saying describes the attitude of French cooks toward their art: L’excès en tout est défaut—“excess is always a fault.” In other words, you can have too much of a good thing. French cooks use strong flavors, such as garlic, in small amounts so that they will not overpower other flavors. In fact, the most important rule in French cooking is not to use too much of any one ingredient.