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French show how to view food as art

Daniele Mazet-Delpeuch, chef to the late French president Francois Mitterand, demonstrates the art of cooking yesterday at the ``2002 Lier en Fete'' -- a French cultural festival held in Taipei over the weekend. PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

Anyone who took part in the French cultural feast "Lire en Fete" (法國讀書節) this past weekend was treated with more than just the literature of France, but also its cuisine.

The theme of this year's Lire en Fete was "Literature et Gastronomie." The array of events for participants included French cooking demonstrations, cook book exhibits and literature readings.

For Taiwanese, who traditionally regard cooking as merely a process for the preparation of food, the event was a refreshing opportunity to experience the idea that gastronomy is more than just cooking.

Chilee Lee (李佩華), executive chief of the Association of French Teachers in Taiwan, commented that gastronomy is more than just cooking in the eyes of the French and backed up her assertion by pointing to several depictions of gastronomy in the literature of famous French writers such as Marcel Proust, Georges Perec and Pierre Dac.

"While we Taiwanese traditionally don't regard gastronomy as a kind of art, the French definitely consider it as one of the fine arts," Lee told the Taipei Times.

Lionel Poilane, one of the most celebrated French bakers said that the serious preparation and delicate manner with which French chef's approach their work shows not only on in final products that make it to the table but also in the detailed attention given to the whole process.

"How thin or thick a loaf of bread is sliced makes a big difference to the chef who is preparing it as well as to the person to whom the bread will be served," Poilane told the Taipei Times.

The culinary arts in France involve creativity and an attitude of seriousness and pleasure, she said.

Daniele Delpeuch, president of the International Association of Female Chefs said, "When it comes to food, we all share one thing in common: We love to eat."

Both Poilane and Delpeuch were special guests invited by the event sponsors to give a show of their talents to the general public during these past three-day events.

"However, that's not [all]," Delpeuch said, who spent two years at the Elysee Palace as the leading chef for the late president Francois Mitterand.

According to Delpeuch, cooking schools in France are viewed as art schools as much as they are a place to learn a craft because cooking is deemed as a crucial aspect of French culture.

Noting the importance of cuisine that French cuisine plays in the culture, Lee was not at all pessimistic on the status of gastronomy in Taiwan.

Pointing out movies such as Eat, Drink, Man, Woman (飲食男女) directed by Oscar-winning director Ang Lee (李安) a few years back which portrays the delicate manner and sensational ingredients used in the process of preparing Chinese cuisine, Chilee Lee commented that gastronomy as art in Taiwan has not been totally neglected.

She said that perhaps the Taiwanese public is coming to appreciate it as an art.
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