NOUVELLE

adjective (Lifestyle and Leisure) Of a restaurant, food, etc.: using or characterized by nouvelle cuisine, a style of cooking, originally from France, in which simplicity, freshness, and aesthetically pleasing presentation are emphasized. Etymology: Formed by abbreviating nouvelle cuisine, literally 'new cooking' to its first word, 'new'. History and Usage: Nouvelle cuisine became fashionable outside France in the late seventies and early eighties, offering as it did a completely different approach from the elaborate sauces and richness of traditional French cooking. Nouvelle also became a fashionable adjective in the second half of the seventies to describe cooking that incorporated any of the principles of nouvelle cuisine, such as lightness, short cooking times, artistic presentation (some of the nouvelle dishes were likened to works of art, designed only for photographing and not for eating), or small helpings (since the bare surface of the plate had a part to play in framing the artistic arrangement of the food). All of these characteristics were the object of criticism as well as praise, so the adjective nouvelle could be either approving or derogatory, depending on the view of its user. Plates arrive from the kitchen under silver covers that are removed with a flourish to reveal distinctly nouvelle still-life-like arrangements on those handsome basket plates popularized by Michel Gu÷rard. Gourmet July 1981, p. 90 One establishment we visited served every dish flanked by the same ludicrously inappropriate clutter: a frilly lettuce leaf pinned down by a couple of hefty spring onions, a pallid slice of kiwi fruit and a strawberry. Oh nouvelle cuisine, what have you spawned! Country Living Aug. 1990, p. 68