Kept under glass for several months, the place chosen by the people in charge of the Michelin Guide to hold the ceremony of unveiling their 2023 prize list was officially announced in Paris this Tuesday morning: it will be Alsace, more precisely Strasbourg, at the convention center. , March 6.
A focus on Alsace
A highly publicized event attended by nearly a thousand chefs and professionals from France and Europe (see elsewhere), the star ceremony promises to be an unprecedented focus on Alsace. For Frédéric Bierry, President of the Collectivité Européenne d’Alsace (CEA), the bearer of this project, “it is an honor and a strong recognition of the role of Alsace in French gastronomy. And it is the first time that chefs from all over Europe will be invited to the ceremony, which establishes us as the capital of European gastronomy”.
This “beautiful moment of celebration and gathering” is an opportunity to imagine an operation on a larger scale. “We didn’t want an elitist event, assures Frédéric Bierry, but a shared meeting that puts the spotlight on cuisine for all. We are going to deploy a whole series of events and actions around gastronomy, cooking and the art of hospitality in general, because it is in the DNA of Alsace”.
A health and future issue
The CEA will strive to defend “terroirs” (seven territories identified from Northern Alsace to Sundgau) and “gastronomy” because, of course, Alsatian culinary heritage is not limited to Michelin macaroons.
Transmission, education, ecology, economy, short circuits will be the axes of development of this “year of gastronomy”, at a time when food, more than ever, is becoming a health and future issue.
Several highlights will be spread over the school year. They will start this fall: Thursday 1er September, Frédéric Bierry and his team will meet students in a “gourmet caravan” – a term preferred to the English food truck – in the colleges of Heiligenstein, Kaysersberg and Saint-Amarin. “We wanted to educate young people in life-saving gestures. In the same way, they must be taught how to make a healthy meal”. Workshops, prevention on taste, taste discoveries will be on the menu.
Pierre Hermé on September 6 in Strasbourg
The European Fair will follow in Strasbourg, where each of the terroirs will be highlighted for a day on the CEA stand – Pierre Hermé, the famous pastry chef from Alsace and known throughout the world is expected there on 6 september. Rendez-vous is also given at Folie’Flore, in Mulhouse, next October.
Various operations will be carried out with the nursing homes – such as the competition for heads of establishments “Living well, eating well” – as well as with the Food Bank, social grocery stores, etc. “The year of gastronomy must benefit everyone”, insists chef Nicolas Stamm-Corby (see box). The Michelin star ceremony in March will be a bit like “icing on the cake”.
Many partners and supporters
A cake and a cherry whose overall cost budgeted by the ECA amounts to €390,000. Some €100,000 will be injected into this sum by the Michelin Guide for the ceremony itself and €200,000 have been found with various partners, including the Alsace Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) and the Massenez distillery. the most notable. In the end, the cost remains relatively reasonable for the community, given the expected benefits in terms of tourism, communication, promotion of the territory, all of which are “difficult to quantify”. The Federation of Chefs of Alsace, the UMIH, the association of Stars of Alsace, the City of Strasbourg, the State, the CIVA, CHR Alsace – which equipped the famous “gourmet caravan” – and many others are displayed supports. Do not look for the Grand Est Region, which did not wish to be part of it.
“The entire ecosystem” of Alsatian gastronomy
Other vital forces could be added to the event because, insists Nicolas Stamm-Corby, it is “open to all those who would like to get involved in contributing to the influence of gastronomic Alsace”. This is the “entire ecosystem” of Alsatian gastronomy that is concerned: starred or non-starred chefs, food and tableware trades, the agricultural world, winegrowers, brewers and distillers, the food industry, ceramists and potters, the training, etc.
The ECA is also appealing to individuals to share their family and grandmother’s recipes. A selection will be made with a view to producing an interactive book containing 300 recipes inspired by the Alsatian region. Because a good meal is above all about sharing. “The important moments in life often happen at the table,” smiles the president.
