All the Presidents' Chefs

Chefs of world leaders are all set to get together in India this year. Not on the menu: a recipe for world peace!.

- Rukma Saluja

Realpolitik, diplomacy and the future of countries, all in the hands of those who lead by divine right or through victory at the ballot. When they sit down to eat, the success of the meal rests with the chefs of the host country. The planning, the seating, the rush, the frenzy and all the madness in the kitchen translates to letting the hair down for these movers and shakers on the world stage. Culinary diplomacy comes into play. The stars of the show, the chefs who agonise over the produce, the ingredients, the cut, the heat, the timing, the presentation—are often not recognised faces. It is to pay tribute to them that Club des Chefs des Chefs (CCC)—the exclusive gastronomic society was formed. This month, India plays host to this exclusive club for the first time in its four-decade history.

“CCC is an exclusive club where each nation is represented by just one member— the principal chef of the head of state. It has two women,” says Gilles Bragard, the executive secretary of the Paris-based non-profit organisation he founded in 1977. “The annual general assembly is thus a sort of G20 on gastronomy.”

The charity dinner on 25th of this month will have 200 seats reserved at the Imperial Hotel in Delhi. “The money thus raised will be donated for social uplift; the beneficiary for this year will be decided in the days to come. Last time, it was for the children of Haiti,” added Bragard.