Post date: Jul 21, 2012 10:6:14 AM
About 35 years ago the French couturier Gilles Bragard founded the 'Club des Chefs des Chefs d'Etat' (CCC) in the restaurant of star chef Paul Bocuse and has attended every meeting since. Every year this elite gastronomic brotherhood has met to swap anecdotes, trade recipes and reflect together on life at the top table.
This year the elite kitchen staff came to Berlin on the invitation of German chancellor Merkel's head chef Ulrich Kerz, where they wined and dined, with no curry wurst or sauerkraut in sight.
The head chefs of the world's most important politicians meet in Berlin and trade more than recipes with each other
BERLIN, GERMANY (JULY 19, 2012) (REUTERS) - They might have inadvertently influenced history more than once - after all, they are responsible for the physical well-being of some of the world's most powerful men - the chefs of the heads of states.
The 'Club des Chefs des Chefs d'Etat' can be classified as one of the 'most exclusive gastronomic associations in the world'. About 40 international masterchefs belong to the club, 18 of which came to Berlin. Among them the head chefs of the president of France, Russia and the USA, as well as the British Queen, the Prince of Monaco and the King of Sweden.
The chefs, usually in charge of the delicacies, spent four days in Berlin enjoying the food on offer, before they head off to Paris.
The head chefs know their value to their masters, having established the virtues of a good diet.
"When they (heads of states) meet with politicians and have a good meal, it very often is easier to get an agreement after the meal than before the meal," Gilles Bragard told the Berlin press. "And we always say what Talleyrand (Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French statesman during the French revolution) said to Napoleon: 'Give me good cooks and I will make good treaties.'
The Swiss chef Anton Moismann who had the honour of cooking the wedding meal for Prince William and Catherine Middelton remembers that facing such responsibility is not always an easy task, as the final good-bye dinner of former US president George Bush Jr proved. "I had two securities all morning in the kitchen, checking what we were doing, everything, every hand move was checked, and every ingredients was tasted beforehand. So after 5 Prime Ministers at 10 Downing Street it was the first time I had somebody there all the time checking," he said.
The head chefs of the high and mighty not only have the duty of creating a delicious meal every night but also the responsibility of educating their diners. An easy task for Cristeta Comerford, head chef for U.S. President Barack Obama.
"One cool thing with him is that he is very open to a lot of different things so as a chef I have a great creativity or leeway to kind of try all different things and make him try things," she told Reuters. "Because he is very open. As long as it is locally sourced, seasonal, healthy, than it counts a lot for him. As long as you make it right, you make it taste well, he is gonne enjoy it."
Merkel's head chef has invited his guest to his the chancellory. One can expect for the food to be outstanding.