It’s over. Done. Fini. Actually it has been for a while, but maybe I have been in denial. That and looking for a foie gras detox centre.
Two weeks in France studying food and wine. Seriously. What could be better?
Academics from France’s most prestigious universities, with specialities as varied as children’s eating patterns, to bubbles in champagne came and shared their knowledge with us. We heard about terroir – how sense of place – the air, the soil and the hard work of man work together to make food and wine that are very special and cannot be replicated elsewhere. We debated molecular gastronomy – and its place as science vs. nourishment. We studied how evolution has impacted the diets we eat today, and the role specifically of bread throughout the ages (and how it can be compared to procreation at every step of being made – but that’s a whole other blog and you’ll have to ask me about that in person). We learned about French food laws, and I decided I should have chosen a career in gastronomic law (I did after all love the hit TV show LA Law, and I do love my food…). There are actually laws in France defining all classic recipes. As example, there is a law stipulating what percentage of milk can go into an omelette and still be called an omelette (2% max). Shame on the chef who dare add 3% cream….into the slammer!! Brillat Savarin, Proust, Escoffier, we covered them all. From marketing to physiology of taste, from the medieval table to the globalization of our food supply, we soaked up tonnes of new knowledge, and took pages and pages of notes.
We were visited by professionals with specific expertise covering topics ranging from food packaging to food contaminants, from the importance of tableware to the role of aroma in taste. One day we were fortunate enough to have the head wine buyer from Fauchon come to visit, and he regaled us with stories of how wine critics can rarely duplicate their scores – how the price of a wine and the label are often more of a determining factor in wine ratings than the actual sensory experience. “Have any of you actually tasted flint??? What do they mean when they say the wine is flinty???”
We were treated to meals that I will remember forever. At two star Michelin L’Assiette Champenoise in Riems, we were treated to a course called “enfance” (childhood) where waiters paraded out an array of delicacies my kids would have been fighting over – handmade lollipops and chocolates, nougat, fudge, marshmallows complete with their own silver shears for cutting and….COTTON CANDY! It was magical. In the caves of Charles Heidsieck we drank 1989 vintage Champagne that was neither ice cold nor served in flutes– and concurred it was the best we’ve ever had – and for me, probably ever will have. We participated in the third ever Herve This “note by note” dinner at the famed Cordon Bleu in Paris. We “chowed” (literally) on fresh from the oven croissants, baguettes, cheeses, hams, at seven in the morning after walking the Rungis market for five blissful hours.
I ate croissants every day, and baguette, and scrumptious cheeses. There was one brief second of insanity when we were served a course of foie gras where I thought “Foie gras again???”….and then I quickly came to my senses. Truffles. REAL Camembert. Os a moelle. Steak tartar made at our table. Egg yellows. We had wine at every lunch. We consumed large quantities of champagne. And we basked in the glory of Yquem. Scrumptious.
Is the food in France so spectacular because the entire culture cares so much about its preservation and its tradition? Or does the high quality of what they produce command the respect that is so pervasive in their culture? And selfishly….how on earth do we get Canadians to care one tenth of what the French do about the quality and the culture and the history of their food?
The exam was brutal. “It is supposed to be difficult!” one organizer exclaimed when she overheard complaints….well it was. It had been a very long time since I had written an exam…and now I remember why. All that’s left is the writing of the thesis…oh…and..well…picking a topic. Fifty pages, that’s all it has to be – by June – I am sure it will be a snap. Then if I am successful, I may find myself back in Reims next October for the graduation ceremony (party). Reims….where the Champagne flows through the streets in rivers, where the food is magnifique, and where I will have the chance to once again meet up with my classmates, my new found friends, my fellow “gastronomes”. Either way, I would not trade this experience for the world – diploma or not – I will always be grateful for the wonderful experience of Les Hautes Etudes de Gout. The food, the wine, the learning, the friends…merci bien.
