海角大神

With its famous food in peril, France goes all out on 'gastrono-diplomacy'

With the French eating more fast food and less traditional fare than ever before, the government pulled out all the stops for a multicourse, multicontinent culinary event.

Marching under the opulent crystal chandeliers in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, through the Queen鈥檚 chamber, and past grand salons decorated with oil paintings of French royals, the politicians and ambassadors finally take their seats in the聽Battles Gallery.

As the invitees gather under聽33 paintings depicting the victories of France over 1,300 years,聽their mission this evening might not be of the military sort but it鈥檚 just as monumental. Tonight they are helping the nation defend the supremacy of French cuisine.

Its pre-eminence has been flouted from the reign of King Louis XIV to the chefs of the Michelin circuit today.聽France's multi-course meal was even added to UNESCO鈥檚聽鈥渨orld intangible heritage鈥� list聽in 2010. But聽French chefs are feeling competition from counterparts every bit as inventive as they are, from the Spanish Basques to the British to Brazilians.聽

At the same time, fast and frozen food has forced its way into French diets, even into the restaurants that are the last line of defense of good French food. And in those restaurants where standards are still world-class, many French are simply priced out.

Now, France hopes its first 鈥溾�� event 鈥� which saw 1,300 chefs across five continents prepare a classic 鈥済astronomic鈥� meal Thursday聽night for some 100,000 clients 鈥� reasserts the country's culinary pride and reconnects its citizens with a tradition it is losing touch with.

鈥淚n this very moment, the entire world has the pleasure to enjoy French gastronomy,鈥� said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, welcoming his guests before greeting them affably at their tables. 鈥淕astronomy is part of the French identity, just like the Chateau of Versailles.鈥�

'The gap is tremendous'

Mr. Fabius, along with France鈥檚 most famed chef Alain Ducasse, organized a fete of French dining at its finest, for no less than 650 guests for the event's centerpiece. Each of the seven courses was designed by acclaimed chefs. A glass of Dom Perignon from 2004 with a puff pastry of foie gras kicked off the evening. Next up was salmon tartar topped with caviar and toasted quinoa stew with shaved truffles, Mr. Ducasse's creation and one intended to communicate that French food is not stuck in the past. There was fish, sucker lamb, a cheese plate, and a decadent chocolate pudding too.

But if this was a one-of-a-time culinary experience for the majority of the guests, it鈥檚 even further out of reach for most French 鈥� what some observers call the biggest threat to French gastronomy today.

The French still care fervently about food, something not only seen in Michelin-star restaurants or the halls of Versailles, but in everyday actions. At an interview at a typical caf茅 next to a train station in Paris, Alain Drouard makes sure his orange juice is 鈥渧ery fresh鈥� while a waiter recommends the Vichy-St.-Yorre mineral water over everyday Perrier.

But 鈥渢he gap is tremendous between the creed and the reality of what the French eat,鈥� says聽Mr. Drouard, a food historian and author of 鈥淭he Myth of French Gastronomy,鈥� published in 2010.

He cites the fact that the French are the No. 2 consumers of pizza behind Americans. McDonald's thrives here. And in a highly circulated survey in 2014, 70 percent of restaurants admitted to using industrialized products prepared off-site in their kitchens.

Shocking as that was, the culinary establishment was utterly rocked when the 2014 survey of Britain鈥檚 World鈥檚 50 Best Restaurants came out: not a single French restaurant figured on the top ten list, leading to political cries of a British ploy to 鈥渄ethrone鈥� the French in the kitchen.

Crisis of communication

David Sinapian, the president of 鈥淟es Grandes Tables du Monde,鈥� an association that groups 167 of the best restaurants across the globe 鈥� about half of which are French 鈥� denies there is a crisis to speak of. 鈥淲e have very talented, young chefs, more than before,鈥� says Mr. Sinapian, over the cheese course of Camembert, Roquefort, and Comte cheeses at Versailles.

But there is a crisis of communication, he says, which is perhaps why all the stops were pulled out for Gout de France.

There is a lot at stake in the world鈥檚 most visited country. Organizers say that, along with the Eiffel Tower and the banks of the Seine, it is the food that motivates 60 percent of tourists to take trips here. 鈥滺aute cuisine鈥� is also part of the very notion of what it means to be French.

And so the setting for France鈥檚 new efforts in gastro-diplomacy in the Battles Gallery was not just a logistical choice of space but a fitting one to express a message: the French will continue to fight to fortify their position.聽As the French epicure Jean Anthelme Brillat-颅Savarin, who was born in 1755, once put it: 鈥淭he destiny of nations depends on the manner in which they are fed.鈥�