Accounting for Taste: The Triumph of French Cuisine Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson French cuisine is such a staple in our understanding of fine food that we forget the accidents of history that led to its creation. Accounting for Taste brings these "accidents" to the surface, illuminating the magic of French cuisine and the mystery behind its historical development. This momentous culinary journey begins with ancien regime cookbooks and ends with twenty-first-century cooking programs. It takes us from Careme, the "inventor" of modern French cuisine in the early nineteenth century, to current top chefs today, such as Alain Passard, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Daniel Boulud. Accounting for Taste focuses on the people, places, and institutions that have made this food what it is today: a privileged vehicle for national identity, a model of cultural ascendancy, and a pivotal site where practice and performance intersect. Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson is professor of sociology at Columbia University. Her previous books include Paris as Revolution and Literary France.