Top chefs grill each other in name of peace
Presidents and monarchs across the globe may detect a microwaved quality to their food this week as exclusive chefs abandon their kitchens for a summit in Paris.
Laying aside the international tensions that have fractured relations between many of their employers, the men and women who cook for royal families and heads of state are meeting to swap recipes and discuss the secrets of culinary diplomacy.
Gilles Bragard, founder of the Club des Chefs des Chefs, argues that there is no conflict which cannot be eased through the stomach. "We believe that if politics divides men, then good food brings them together," he said. "This club brings together a selection of extraordinary ambassadors who do their best to ensure world peace.
"These cooks are responsible for creating a good atmosphere at the table. If the meal goes well, then negotiations will go well."
France's most notorious diplomat, Talleyrand (whose own chef worked for heads of state around Europe to bring back military secrets for Napoleon), believed that food was vital to successful international relations and liked to remark: "Give me a good chef and I will bring you back a good treaty."
The White House's head chef, Walter Scheib, one of the 25 delegates, agrees: "I like to think that political adversaries are only adversaries until they sit down to eat."
The constraints of supreme discretion mean that the role of presidential chef is usually a lonely one. The club's annual gathering gives cooks from China to Saudi Arabia an opportunity to discuss common problems - how to provide a menu that will keep a president in good health, how to pander to the frayed tempers of the overworked, and how to avoid poisoning world leaders at a state banquet.
Marc Flanagan, the Queen's new chef, said there were now few official food tasters checking for alien substances: "I think that went out with Henry VIII." But security in most establishments had increased since September 11.
Though the chefs get the chance to compare culinary disasters they refuse to reveal details, citing their strict code of silence. "We are nothing more than domestic servants, employed for our ability to be discreet," Mr Scheib said. "We have to respect our employers' privacy."
In any case, disasters rarely happen at the White House, as each meal "is rehearsed as often as a Broadway show, and tasted repeatedly by everyone from the first lady down".
The conference takes place in a different country every year, to help inspire the chefs to keep the sophisticated palates of world leaders stimulated. This year Michelin three-star chefs served langoustine with caviar and pigeon and olive stew at the opening banquet.
Mr Scheib said that despite popular boycotts of French products which swept the US at the start of the Iraq war, George Bush's kitchens had never resorted to serving "freedom fries". "French cuisine is hugely important, and has never been off the menu at the White House," he said.
Laying aside the international tensions that have fractured relations between many of their employers, the men and women who cook for royal families and heads of state are meeting to swap recipes and discuss the secrets of culinary diplomacy.
Gilles Bragard, founder of the Club des Chefs des Chefs, argues that there is no conflict which cannot be eased through the stomach. "We believe that if politics divides men, then good food brings them together," he said. "This club brings together a selection of extraordinary ambassadors who do their best to ensure world peace.
"These cooks are responsible for creating a good atmosphere at the table. If the meal goes well, then negotiations will go well."
France's most notorious diplomat, Talleyrand (whose own chef worked for heads of state around Europe to bring back military secrets for Napoleon), believed that food was vital to successful international relations and liked to remark: "Give me a good chef and I will bring you back a good treaty."
The White House's head chef, Walter Scheib, one of the 25 delegates, agrees: "I like to think that political adversaries are only adversaries until they sit down to eat."
The constraints of supreme discretion mean that the role of presidential chef is usually a lonely one. The club's annual gathering gives cooks from China to Saudi Arabia an opportunity to discuss common problems - how to provide a menu that will keep a president in good health, how to pander to the frayed tempers of the overworked, and how to avoid poisoning world leaders at a state banquet.
Marc Flanagan, the Queen's new chef, said there were now few official food tasters checking for alien substances: "I think that went out with Henry VIII." But security in most establishments had increased since September 11.
Though the chefs get the chance to compare culinary disasters they refuse to reveal details, citing their strict code of silence. "We are nothing more than domestic servants, employed for our ability to be discreet," Mr Scheib said. "We have to respect our employers' privacy."
In any case, disasters rarely happen at the White House, as each meal "is rehearsed as often as a Broadway show, and tasted repeatedly by everyone from the first lady down".
The conference takes place in a different country every year, to help inspire the chefs to keep the sophisticated palates of world leaders stimulated. This year Michelin three-star chefs served langoustine with caviar and pigeon and olive stew at the opening banquet.
Mr Scheib said that despite popular boycotts of French products which swept the US at the start of the Iraq war, George Bush's kitchens had never resorted to serving "freedom fries". "French cuisine is hugely important, and has never been off the menu at the White House," he said.
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