PARIS, March 21,
2016 (AFP) - French chefs were making mouths water Monday in a global
celebration of the country s cuisine. More than 1,700 chefs in 150 countries
were conjuring up French feasts in bars restaurants, embassies and even a
prison as a part of the "Good France" festival, a massive diplomatic
push to promote its famed gastronomic culture. Inspired by the "Epicurian
dinners" held by the legendary cook Auguste Escoffier across the world in
1912, the idea was revived last year by superchef Alain Ducasse. Actress and
director Sophie Marceau, best known for her roles in the films "Pacific
Palisades" and "Braveheart" was special guest at a dinner in the
Indonesian capital Jakarta. But the most unusual meal of all will be held in
London s Brixton prison, where Gilles Quillot, head chef at the French embassy,
has been schooling inmates in how to prepare white asparagus among other
delicacies. "I was a bit nervous at the idea of coming into a prison, as
you would imagine," Quillot told AFP. "But I have to say that the
guys have been absolutely fantastic... I ve already offered a job to one or
two" when they are released. The prisoners run a bistro called The Clink
inside the jail where they feed up to 120 members of the paying public every
night. But the most colourful banquet promises to be in a Mughal palace in
Udaipur in Rajasthan, where Sebastien Sanjou from the Michelin-starred Le
Relais des Moines in the south of France is cooking up a feast for Holi, the
Indian festival of colours. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will
officially launch the dinners in Paris later Monday by sitting down himself to
enjoy an aperitif and starters before tackling a main course, cheese and
desert, all washed down of course with French wines and champagne.
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