Wednesday, April 6, 2016

GOUT DE FRANCE('GOOD FRANCE') SUPERLATIVE DINNER IN THE NEW RESIDENCE OF THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR HIS EXCELLENCY CHRISTOPHE PENOT

KEE@FSWMAG.COM


“GOÛT DE FRANCE” - GOOD FRANCE
A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO ENJOY THE TRUE TASTE OF FRENCH CUISINE

On Monday, 21 March 2016, in 150 countries around the world, restaurants and embassies offered 1,500 dinners the chance to celebrate France’s gastronomy by inviting the public to share a “French dinner”.

“Goût de France” - Good France is inspired by Auguste Escoffier, who launched the “Dîners d’Épicure” (Epicurean Dinners) initiative in 1912 and guests enjoyed the same menu on the same day, in several world cities simultaneously.

In French embassies across the world and all participating restaurants, the event showcased a vibrant, open and innovative cuisine, while remaining true to the values of sharing, pleasure and respect for the principles of high-quality, environmentally responsible cuisine.


Launched in 2015, the “Goût de France” (meaning 'Good France' initiative was organized for the second consecutive year by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development and Chef Alain Ducasse.
 THE ELEGANT RESIDENCE OF FRENCH AMBASSADOR HIS EXCELLENCY CHRISTOPHE PENOT. OF COURSE I PREFER THE OLD RESIDENCE WITH VAST GARDEN AND OWN POND BUT THAT HAS BEEN SOLD FOR MANY MILLIONS. THIS HOUSE BELONGED TO TUN SIR HENRY H.S LEE, THE FIRST FINANCE MINISTER OF MALAYSIA THEN MALAYA AND PASSED AWAY IN THIS HOUSE.
 HIS EXCELLENCY CHRISTOPHE PENOT AND  WIFE MADAME YUKIMI WITH VIP GUESTS HEADED BY TENGKU ZATASHAH SULTAN SHARAFUDDIN IDRIS SHAH THE DAUGHTER OF THE SULTAN OF SELANGOR AND HIGHEST RANKING PRINCESS IN SELANGOR
 OUR EXQUISITE MENU
 HIS EXCELLENCY CHRISTOPHE PENOT WELCOMING AND THANKING HIS VIP GUESTS
 THE PAINTINGS WERE ADMIRED BY ALL


 ELEGANT SOIREE
 LEGEND
 STYLISH
 TRES CHIC
 ERIC OLMEDO EXPOUNDING ON THE INTRICACIES OF FRENCH GASTRONOMY
 WORTHY OF CARTIER PANTHER BUT THIS IS MALAYAN TIGER
DATO KEE HUA CHEE FLAUNTS HIS SMALL, DISCREET BLING
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The Gastronomic meal of the French has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2010, but it is a heritage that should be built upon and showcased. In the words of Alain Ducasse: “French cuisine is the interpreter of a cuisine that has evolved towards lightness in harmony with its environment... The common point of this event is generosity, sharing and the love of what is beautiful and tastes good. It will be a delightful interlude and an opportunity to celebrate French cuisine worldwide.”

In Malaysia, five restaurants and one culinary arts school participated in “Goût de France” - Good France from 19th to 23rd March*. 

Each one of the 5 participating chefs in Kuala Lumpur offered a “French-style” menu in their restaurants based on a multi-course meal and fresh, seasonal and local products with French wines and spirits, while remaining free to highlight their own culinary traditions and cultures. 

The climax of this worldwide event was on 21st  March (Spring day) when 30 fortunate guests enjoyed a spectacular dinner hosted at the French Ambassador’s residence that evening.

The 5 leading French restaurants which participated were Maison Francaise, Nathalie Gourmet, Restaurant DC, Soleil, 20X and Le Cordon Bleu Malaysia Culinary Arts School.

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ABOUT FRENCH GASTRONOMY

WE ENJOYED THESE DELICIOUS DISHES

OYSTERS
 MUMM CHAMPAGNE
 FOIE GRAS
 LAMB
 CHOCOLATE DESSERT
 C'EST MAGNIFIQUE!


Origins of the term “Gastronomy”

The term ‘Gastronomy’ takes its roots from Ancient Greek language. It comprises of two words “Gastèr” (stomach) and “nomos” (law). So literally, it could mean “laws to rule the stomach”, but it is often phrased as ‘The art of governing the stomach’.  

The Greek term ‘gastronomia’ seems to have been used at first by a Greek poet and traveller named Archestratus (4th century before EC); in some ways the first “gastronome”. The term “gastronomie” then appears sporadically in French language throughout the 17th century; but it is Joseph de Berchoux who popularizes the term in his long poem entitled ‘La Gastronomie” published in 1801.

According to the “Academie Française” (the Institutional Body that looks after French language), a suitable definition would be: “Sum of rules that constitute the art of enjoying good food”. This is our first clue: we can clearly see that this definition takes us beyond the mere definition of cuisine, which is usually restrained to the art of preparing good food.

Gastronomy: art or science?

Often equated to “Fine Dining”, the concept of gastronomy echoes the notion of dining etiquette, therefore ‘rules’ (‘nomos’) and does not sound at first very ‘guest-friendly’. The question is: do these rules apply to the other aspects of gastronomy, such as food preparation? In short, is French gastronomy that deterministic? In order respond accurately to this fundamental question, it is necessary to dwell back into French history. 

During the Middle Age, French cooks were at the service of Military aristocrats (the knights): their science of cooking was based on the precepts of alchemy. The quest of the alchemist was always to capture the essence of matter. Applied to cookery, this quest engendered the creation of the ‘sauces’, re-termed ‘liquid gold’, which were meant to capture the essence of the food.

The actual “Cuisine de Cour” (Royal or “Court” cuisine) really took off during the Renaissance era, incorporating these famous rules, rituals and aesthetics, for the glory of the King and God.

During the aftermath the French Revolution, many aristocrats fled the country. The former Valets and Maîtres d’hôtel went unemployed. Among the valets who stayed, some of them opened their own ‘restaurants’. 

These restaurants blossomed and recreated Royal Cuisine for the Bourgeoisie. Dishes were even named after France’s royal past, as the Bourgeois wanted to emulate the aristocracy: Chantilly cream, Sauce Bechamel, Riz Condé, etc. 

This particular process of ‘gastronomisation’ gave birth to a type of Cuisine that sociologists would call a ‘high cuisine’, as opposed to ‘low cuisine’ (popular cuisine).  

High cuisine or ‘Haute Cuisine’ is only a parcel of the broader concept of ‘gastronomy’, which doesn’t limit itself to the cooking (cuisine) but also includes in its system a particular type of eater: the figure of the ‘Gourmet’.

2 main features of French Gastronomy: The Chef and the Gourmet

The figure of the gourmet is probably unique to French gastronomy.
Mostly today used as an adjective in English language (the ubiquitous ‘gourmet meal’, ‘gourmet experience’, ‘gourmet coffee’, etc.), the noun ‘gourmet’ is at times wrongly translated as ‘gourmand’ (literally “greedy”). 

Etymologically, the French term ‘gourmet’ referred in the 15th century to an occupation: it was the man in charge to segregate good from bad wines through tasting. The shift of meaning towards somebody who knows how to appreciate good food occurred mid-seventeenth century.

Still today, the sophisticated education of the Gourmet lies at the core of French Gastronomy as an epicurean system.


The Chef
 OUR CHEF!

The Chef (literally ‘Chief’) or “Chef de cuisine” can be viewed as a worker, artisan or artist. Some chefs would say they are all this at the same time. 

We wish to envision Chefs who cook gastronomic cuisine as artists, more than scientists: alchemy was never a true science, and the proponents of molecular gastronomy would have a hard time to label their recipes as ‘scientific protocols’, even though it was their original leitmotiv. 

There is debate and fierce competition to acknowledge Gastronomy as the 10th form of art in the very academic “Classification of Art’ rooted in the Ancient Greece’s inventory linked to the nine Muses. If we need one reference to credit French Gastronomy as an art, rather than a science, we would have to go back to the Benedictine Rule (Christian monastic rule written in the 6th century) in the Middle Age, which captured cookery, cheese and wine-making as part of the ‘mechanical arts’ (manual activities).

Today, Chefs (notwithstanding celebrity chefs) are much more mediatized than their counterparts in the dining room, the maîtres d’hôtel (or maître d’), who had their glory days before the rise of the Nouvelle Cuisine in the 1970s.

Is French Gastronomy elitist?

If we consider the Michelin star ranking system, criticized by some as being anti-democratic and non transparent, as well as the average menu prizing in Michelin-starred gastronomic restaurants, the first obvious answer seems to be a yes.

Having said so, Gastronomy is part of French lifestyle, therefore it is a tangible manifestation of one aspect of our culture. Culture is not an artifact: it changes and evolves through time. So is Gastronomy.

The book entitled “The Guide Culinaire” (translated as ‘A Guide to Modern Cookery’) authored by the ‘King of Chefs’ and ‘Chef of Kings’ Georges Auguste Escoffier, and originally published in 1903 aimed at codifying and streamlining French Gastronomy. It was most needed at the time by the industry.

Today, in a global market, one cannot disregard a recipe as being unauthentic and view variations of the ‘original recipe’ as deviances, but should rather look at it as a different interpretation.  

In the 70s, the ‘Nouvelle Cuisine’ movement stopped hiding ingredients in mousses, stuffing, pies, aspics and pastries… but instead put back food products up front in their whole integrity, emphasizing on the freshness of the said ingredients. More recently in the 1990s, the movement of the ‘cuisines du terroir’ made an attempt at revisiting humble recipes from French provinces. 

This ‘regionalism’ developed concurrently with a form of cosmopolitanism whereas French Gastronomy became progressively less ethnocentric, thus incorporating elements from a World cuisine, as per the work of Alain Ducasse or Thierry Marx for instance. 

Finally, at the occasion of the French Gastronomy Week, Great Chefs step into primary schools and educate small children, prompting them to acquire a solid sense of taste, throwing the seeds for a new generation of gourmets.

This form of education develops a form of very French ‘Elitism for All’: this educate to taste is about consciousness, about the environment, and about self.

It also enables for a sense of happiness to progressively rise.

As the gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin used to say: “The discovery of a new dish confers more happiness on humanity than the discovery of a new star’.



ERIC OLMEDO, THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR HIS EXCELLENCY CHRISTOPHE PENOT AND JEAN-PIERRE GALLAND THE COUNSELLOR FOR CO-OPERATION AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS
DATO STEVE DAY THE FAMOUS GOURMET AND FOUNDER/ORGANISER OF MIGF (MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL GOURMET FESTIVAL), PHILIPPE AROYO AND MRS AROYO
ERIC OLMEDO, DATO YEOH SOO MING, JEAN-PIERRE GALLAND, PRINCESS ZATASHAH SULTAN SHARAFUDDIN IDRIS SHAH, HIS EXCELLENCY CHRISTOPHE PENOT THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR AND MADAME YUKIMI PENOT
S.JAYASANKARAN AND FRENCH AMBASSADOR HIS EXCELLENCY CHRISTOPHE PENOT
S.JAYASANKARAN IS NOT AS FAMOUS OR POWERFUL AS HIS  WIFE TAN SRI DATO REBECCA FATIMA STA MARIA AND FRENCH AMBASSADOR HIS EXCELLENCY CHRISTOPHE PENOT
MADAME YUKIMI THE WIFE OF FRENCH AMBASSADOR, DATIN SU DAY, FRANCE'S AMBASSADOR TO MALAYSIA CHRISTOPHE PENOT 
TAN SRI SALIM BIN FATEH DIN ARRIVES
ASHA VADIVELU, TAN SRI REBECCA FATIMA STA MARIA AND DATO YEOH SOO MING
DELPHINE DOKHELAR AND FRIEND
DAVID HASHIM, GWEE SZE KIAT AND DOKHELAR
CHRYSEIS TAN AND PRINCESS ZATASHAH SULTAN IDRIS SHAH WHO USED TO LIVE IN PARIS AND SPEAKS FRENCH LIKE A NATIVE AND SHE SHOULD AS SHE IS MARRIED TO HANDSOME FRENCHMAN
CHRYSEIS TAN OF BERJAYA GROUP AND Y.A.M TENGKU ZATASHAH SULTAN SHARAFUDDIN IDRIS SHAH
DATO KEE HUA CHEE JOINS IN
CHRYSEIS TAN, TG ZATASHAH SULTAN SHARAFUDDIN IDRIS SHAH AND DATO KEE HUA CHEE
MINGLING---JEREMIE FORRAT-JAIME, DATO SETIA AUBRY MENNESSON, DAVID MIZAN HASHIM AND ASHA HASHIM
JEREMIE FORRAT-JAIME, SATO SETIA AUBRY MENNESSON AND DAVID MIZAN HASHIM THE FAMOUS ARCHITECT
DATO YEOH SOO MING, SIA POH ENG, GUEST AND TAN SRI REBECCA STA MARIA
TAN SRI REBECCA FATIMA STA MARIA AND DATO KEE HUA CHEE
BOTH CO-ORDINATED THEIR WARDROBE TO MATCH EACH OTHER
THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR WELCOMING AND THANKING GUESTS




HIS EXCELLENCY CHRISTOPHE PENOT THE AMBASSADOR FROM FRANCE




STARTERS---OYSTERS FROM LA BELLE FRANCE


PIANO MUSIC BY SIA POH ENG TO DINE BY


MUMM'S THE WORD
 
FOIE GRAS


ERIC OLMEDO EXPOUNDING ON THE CONCEPT OF FRENCH GASTRONOMY WHICH IS THE FINEST AND BEST CUISINE IN THE WORLD


ERIC OLMEDO




LAMB
THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR LOOKING AFTER GUESTS
ERIC OLMEDO AND DELPHINE DOKHELAR


COUNSELLOR FOR CO-OPERATION AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS JEAN-PIERRE GALLAND FROM FRENCH EMBASSY AND PIANIST SIA POH ENG
ELEGANT PAIR
CHOCOLATE DESSERT
GWEE SZE KIAT FROM MAGNUM WINES AND SPIRITS SDN BHD AND MUIHUA SDN BHD WITH ASHA DAVID HASHIM
THE AFFABLE GWEE SZE KIAT ASKED "WHAT DO YOU CALL THE OWNER OF A TERRIOR (SPECIFIC VINEYARD LAND) WHO KEEPS INCREASING HIS PRICES BY 50% EVERY YEAR?"  ALL FAILED THE TEST. ANSWER---'TERRIORIST'!!!
CHEF
CHEF
DATO STEVE DAY THANKING THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR, CHEF AND FRENCH EMBASSY FOR ORGANISING OUR SUPERB DINNER
DATO STEVE DAY IS FOUNDER/ORGANISER OF MIGF MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL GOURMET FESTIVAL. WATCH OUT FOR THE COMING MIGF THIS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER!
BRAVO!
MADAME YUKIMI PENOT, WIFE OF FRENCH AMBASSADOR, PRESENTING BOUQUET TO PIANIST SIA POH ENG


DELPHINE DOKHELAR, JEREMIE FORRAT-JAIME AND DATO KEE HUA CHEE
STILL GLAM
DATO KEE HUA CHEE AND JEREMIE FORRAT-JAIME THE FIRST SECRETARY OF FRENCH EMBASSY
MINGLING BY THE POOL AFTER DINNER
THE HOST WITH MOST!
EMMANUEL DOKHELAR, ASHA DAVID HASHIM, DAVID MIZAN HASHIM AND GWEE SZE KIAT

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