France’s “Harvard of gastronomy” to-be
March 2004 - AFP English Service
PARIS, March 26 (AFP) - It’s a curious mix of marketing, culture, economics and going with what you know. In November, the French government plans the launch of a new crème de la crème gastronomic institute that goes by the unsavory-sounding acronym, IHEGGAT.
French minister for small and medium-sized businesses, Renaud Dutreil, is what he calls the “idea launcher” for the “Institut des Hautes Etudes du Gout, de la Gastronomie et des Arts de la Table” or, (roughly translated), the Institute for High Studies on Taste, Gastronomy and the Arts of the Table. To promote the institute, he made a mid-March trip to New York City and will visit China in May, leaving one to think that the initiative is more than just a typical French cooking school.
What is new here is the idea of using an educational institution not only to teach, but also as a way for France to market itself to the world.
IHEGGAT will be situated in the capital of the Champagne region, Reims. Its goal will be to highlight the best of France to the world by teaching French food and the scientific and economic issues surrounding it.
“What’s missing in the French gastronomic schools is the cherry on the cake,” says Dutreil. “This is it. The school will be a sort of Harvard of gastronomy.”
One curious difference between this program and a ‘classic’ French educational institution is the existence of corporate partners. Groups such as Hermes, Moët Hennessy, Michelin and French hypermarket, Carrefour, will pay up to 15,000 euros per year for the right to associate themselves with the project.
It is hard to tell what effect sponsors will have on the school, but a ministry spokesperson says the sponsors are not receiving anything in exchange for their donations. Their presence has not diluted the quality of its teachers who will include top-flight chefs Alain Ducasse (whose Groupe Alain Ducasse is a sponsor) and Pierre Gagnaire, along with renowned food chemists, taste sociologists and even an American neurophysiologist.
Courses will run the gamut from food history, to science, to economics. Dutreil imagines the student body will be a 50-50 mix of about 70 French and international students each year.
Despite his role in the economy ministry, working as the spokesman to the world for IHEGGAT is a shoe that fits Dutreil well. He’s young (43), low-key enough to use words like “kif-kif” (the French slang equivalent of “six of one, half a dozen of the other”) in a press conference, and cooks classic French meals for his family on Sundays. “I cook the stuff I had when I was a kid,” he says.
Dutreil is also well versed in the Parisian restaurant scene. His local bistro is the first place he mentions on the list of his favorite restaurants and his eyes light up when he reveals that he was a guest at the lunch given by Parisian restaurant, Taillevent, to celebrate its 30th anniversary as a Michelin three-star establishment.
“My role [with IHEGGAT] is to get people together,” Dutreil says, but eventually, he will hand the program’s reigns over to champagne czar, Remi Krug.
Dutreil envisions IHEGGAT branching out with satellites in other French cities, and eventually the creation of other, similar, projects in French hallmark domains such as cinema and fashion.
“We’re not a country who can do everything for everybody [like the United States] so we have to choose where we will export ourselves,” Dutreil says. Food is the first on the list of those places where there is what he calls a distinct “French touch.”
“We’re not trying to say that we’re the best,” he says, “but this is our way to say we can hold our strong positions.”
“If we’re good in ten sectors, we can support [the French population of] 60 million people,” says Dutreil, stressing the notion of quality over quantity. “This is the French challenge.”
IHEGGAT was officially announced on February 2 and classes begin in November 2004. Courses will cost 4,000 euros (5,000 US dollars) per year and room and board is an additional 3000 euros (3,700 US dollars). To cater to professionals coming in from around the world that will make up the student body, courses will be compacted into two two-week sessions per year. To qualify, students must possess a graduate degree or have seven years of food-related experience. Classes will be taught in French and simultaneously translated into English and part of the entrance exam will test potential students’ competence in one of the two languages.
