Paris, France — The second French Food Forum, an encounter of the international gastronomy kind, drew to a close in Paris last September 14th after a week of round tables, events and a charity dinner to benefit the United Nation’s food program, and the much awaited International Village of Gastronomy played out on the banks of the Seine on the Quai Jacques Chirac with a view directly onto the Eiffel Tower. The event manages to touch on just about everything related to food ranging from how to eat while protecting the environment particularly the ocean, food safety, how to feed the military and the role of gastronomy in foreign relations.

Lavish dinners are de rigueur in diplomacy, witness the recent State Dinner held at Windsor Castle for President Donald Trump. But you can turn back time to the Congress of Vienna where Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, usually known just as Talleyrand, managed to transform France from being a defeated power towards being one of Europe’s historic major powers. He also brought with him the great French chef Antonin Carême, who is regarded as the father of great French cuisine. Talleyrand also had Carême create sumptuous meals for his guests to the Hôtel de Talleyrand in Paris where in the 20th century after World War II the Marshall Plan was signed. While the American diplomat Paul Child worked on the Marshall Plan, his wife cultivated her passion for French cooking and Julia Child would later go on to introduce American readers and television viewers to the art of French cooking.

And back on the diplomatic front, one of the most memorable dinners in Paris was that of the Three Emperors. Around the table at the Café Anglais in 1867 were William I, King of Prussia, Tsarevitch Alexander III and the Tsar of all the Russias, Alexander II. They were all in town to attend the Universal Exhibition during which 16 courses with eight wines were served. But foie gras wasn’t among them, which is not surprising since it was June and foie gras at the time was strictly a seasonal winter dish. And speaking of foie gras, Queen Elizabeth II made no secret of being very fond of it, bolstering the production in France and it was often served during her state visits France. The menus for state banquets at Buckingham Palace are written in French in another nod to culinary diplomacy, French being the language of diplomacy. 

The French Food Forum or Le Forum de France de l’Alimentation (FFA) is an initiative that was launched in 2019 at the request of Emmanuel Macron, the president of France and is led by France’s Ambassador for Gastronomy, Guillaume Gomez who served as the chef to the president of the French Republic for 25 years under four presidents. The forum brings together major actors in the French food world including cooking schools, restaurant and culinary associations, chefs, producers of cheese and dairy products, foie gras and more and Rungis, the famous French food market, regarded as the largest in the world. Culinary specialist, food consultant and journalist Marie Sauce-Bourreau was designated by Guillaume Gomez to organize and coordinate the forum, a titanic task brought off with brio. ©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette