Every day a personality invites itself into the world of Élodie Suigo. Today, the journalist, author and food critic is François-Régis Gaudry. Until July 16, 2023, he is one of the curators of the exhibition “Paris, capital of gastronomy from the Middle Ages to today”, which can be visited at the Conciergerie de Paris.
François-Régis Gaudry is a journalist, author and food critic. He referees in France Inter every Sunday with the show We have to taste which grills the news about gastronomy. He started at Food guide before integrating L’Express for pages Tastethen the sides Restaurants before he creates his encyclopedia : We will taste Paris (2015), followed by We will taste France in 2017, who received the Jean Carmet Award. Until July 16, 2023, François-Régis Gaudry is one of the curators of the exhibition, together with Loïc Bienassis and Stéphane Solier Paris, the capital of gastronomy from the Middle Ages to todaywhich can be visited at the Conciergerie de Paris, on the Ile de la Cité.
franceinfo: For many, the Conciergerie is a place associated with Marie-Antoinette, as it is where she was imprisoned before being guillotined. But in this gatehouse a lot happened, including a huge feast in 1378.
Francois-Regis Gaudry: Yes it is. It may well be one of the foundational acts in our history, of what has been called gastro-diplomacy, because it is a way of bringing political power to the table. A way of using culinary splendor to show some kind of grandeur or prestige in France. And it is true that this feast in the Middle Ages was a very high feat of arms, at the same time political, diplomatic and gastronomic, when it was about receiving Charles IV, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and 800 guests. at this prestigious location. And then, a great name in French cuisine, perhaps the most famous chef of the Middle Ages, Taillevent, who was notably the author of a great culinary bestseller of the time, The meat manof which a very beautiful manuscript from the time is exhibited, which is very precious.
When we talk about the plate, we naturally think of the restaurant, which is an innovation in Paris.
And yes. Originally, the restaurant was nothing more than a health-restoring broth served in a new generation of establishments from the 1760s that really cracked the codes of what we knew until then as tables d’hôte, the inns which were generally unsanitary, where you were generally promised a menu at a fixed price, at fixed times. Sometimes it was paid in advance of the customer. There was usually food poisoning, in short, it wasn’t always very appetizing.
The restaurant brought a lot of modernity and was, in a way, what marked the modernization of Parisian and French gastronomy.
Francois-Regis Gaudryat france info
Many creations have appeared in Paris. Tasty creations, but also pastries and baked goods. It is also important to specify it!
We can even say that Paris had a virtual monopoly on pastry and bakery for a very long time. And even today it is Paris that sets the tone for the whole world. You list everything Paris has invented in terms of sweets, it’s incredible! From the Parisian macaron to Paris-Brest via Saint-Honoré, the croissant, all the pastries, the Opera and so on! A lot of know-how and recipes are Parisian, and Paris is still today a country of innovation and excellence, as Paris attracts a lot of French talent, but also talent from all over the world.
You seem to have fallen into the pot very early. When did your taste buds activate to the point that you wanted to put them at the service of your life, therefore to make it your job?
I have always grown up in a family where we were very careful about what we had on our plate. My mother cooked a lot, but there was an approach, it wasn’t to fill my stomach, I never had that appetite. The plate and the table can simply be a good way to read the world. I have always grown up in this atmosphere with a father who is interested in good restaurants. I like the theatricality of the restaurant. And then I studied Sciences-Po to be a general journalist. I imagined more in politics or culture. And then afterwards, you know what, the natural comes galloping back. We end up proposing at editorial meetings, in the written press, etc. topics that inspire and interest you. And that’s how I really fell into the pool from 2005, 2006.
Of course you are critical, but are you a good cook and a good pastry chef?
I love to cook. So, quite simply, I don’t consider myself a chef because I don’t have the corresponding diplomas, and I have too much respect for the chefs whose kitchens I also judge to dare to compare myself to them. However, I am a foster father with two children. I love to cook every day and I make quite simple things. I rummaged through my grandmother’s and my mother’s folders. And so, by the way, when I go to a restaurant and I love a dish, in general, I harass the chef until death threatens to get the right recipe or the right hand.
It is true that you have this strength to make us want to cook, to respect the dishes, to understand them better.
From now on, we can no longer just wonder if it’s good on the plate. We also have to ask ourselves if upstream is good for the planet, good for the producer, good for the health of the earth, etc.
Francois-Regis Gaudryat france info
Everything actually interests me. At the same time the nutritional, historical, cultural and ecological dimension! And that is very important.
Are you that optimistic?
Yes, rather. Because I spend my time observing initiatives that are great signs of hope. There are really good people rolling up their sleeves and doing wonderful things in all the agriculture and food sectors.
