Executive chefs of participating hotels with French envoy to Qatar HE Franck Gellet. (Photo Jalal Pathiyoor)
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The fifth edition of Goût de France (Good France) launched recently at the Hotel Four Seasons Doha this year showcased the grandeur of French cuisine. French envoy to Qatar HE Franck Gellet welcomed the guests and prominent figures including former Cabinet Minister HE Mohammad al Rumaihi.
Speaking on the occasion, the French envoy said that Goût de France, an annual event, was launched back in 2015 to commemorate the inclusion of the French gastronomic tradition in the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. He said, “This commemorative event allows us to discover and showcase the rich ness of our culinary traditions in all its grandeur.”
This year, the Provence region is in the spotlight, particularly its innovative cuisines making the most of its wealth of products– fishes, olive oil, tomatoes, almonds, saffron, garlic, onions, among others, Gellet added.
He said that the list was inspired by ‘Epicurean Dinners’ introduced in 1912 by legendry chef Auguste Escoffier, using the same menu on the same day in several cities across the world with a large number of invited guests.
He said that the daily meal is a pleasure and a source of merriment and contentment; it’s a privileged moment of communion at the workplace. For my part, I have the same conviction as Charles-Maurice Talleyrand, prince of the diplomats and a pioneer of gastronomic diplomacy, who used to say, “We can’t do good diplomacy without good lunches.”
Ambassador Gellet said that French cuisine is more than just refinement and gourmet delicacies. It is also about family tradition, whether tasting a dish in a small restaurant or a bistro. If we are not all five star chefs, each one of us has childhood memories of the dining table, of an inimitable recipe and gastronomic pleasures shared with family. The secret of gastronomy, as you know, is the science of encounters, of sharing, he added.
Good France was held from March 21 –24 with participation by 10 restaurants in Qatar and 5,000 worldwide this year.
French envoy specially thanked M/s Jean-Claude Decaux/ Elan and Monoprix for their support to the event. Extending his thanks to the Four Seasons Hotel, he said ‘the hotel team, in addition to welcoming us, has worked hand in hand with the French chef Thomas Vatar to prepare this gourmet meal set to tickle “our taste buds”.
In his closing remarks, the French ambassador quoted the great cook Jean-Anthelme Brillat Savarin: “The table is the only place where you never get bored in the first place. I’m sure tonight we won’t get bored for a minute.
Dining and Cooking