Since the 1960s, “gourmet” (sometimes “continental”) food has been associated with vague derivatives of classical French cuisine, using cream or wine sauces, expensive ingredients outside the northern European palate (olives, snails, pâté, wines) and elaborate presentations. As Jane and Michael Stern discuss this evolution in American Gourmet (1991), this cuisine, as American as chop suey established itself in hotels and kitchens across the country and often constitutes a separate section in supermarkets and cookbooks. Yet it is also a style many view with suspicion because of its “upper-class” associations.