The Nouvelle Cuisine was based on the style of Fernand Point and was developed in France and the USA in the 1970s. Food presentation and visual appeal were paramount. The food had to excite all five senses, especially the visual. The reliance on the waiting staff to present the food (paramount in haute cuisine) was abandoned. The courses were served already plated. Herbs and spices were used extensively, and sauces and stocks were much lighter. Nouvelle cusine has now largely been abandoned, though its influences on haute cuisine can still be seen.