Alain Ducasse on the plane crash that changed the course of his life, vegan desserts and Chinese caviar
The French-born Monégasque chef, who was the sole survivor of a 1984 crash, recalls the out-of-body experience as he lay bleeding in the snow, waiting to be rescued
Kitchen nightmare I was born in 1956 and grew up on our family farm in Castel-Sarrazin, in southwestern France. My memories of the farm are of the smells that nurtured my passion for cooking: the smell of home-cooked food like mushrooms, vegetables, veal blanquette. And then I started to taste.
When I was 12, I decided to become a chef, before I had stepped into a professional kitchen or restaurant, much to my mother’s despair. She sent me to work at a roadside restaurant for truckers, which she considered a nightmare at the time. I washed dishes and plucked hens and turkeys outside in freezing winter temperatures. She tried to scare me but it didn’t work.
Seeing stars I apprenticed with several top chefs, very different from each other. From Michel Guérard I learned creativity, Gaston Lenôtre pastry, Roger Vergé professionalism and Alain Chapel the meaning of natural cooking – using the original taste of ingredients. I have taken Chapel’s philosophy or culinary spirit, not his recipes.
At 25, I became head chef of La Terrasse, in Juan-les-Pins. Three years later (in 1984), the restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars and I was the youngest chef to achieve this. I was happy for five minutes and then thought, “What will it take for me to have three stars?” I am not happy with three, four or five stars. I am never satisfied.
Dying without dying Three months later, I was on a Piper Aztec aircraft with some of my chefs, flying to Courchevel, in the Alps. It was foggy and the pilot couldn’t see well, when all of a sudden we saw the mountain face and crashed. Everyone died except me. I lay there for almost seven hours in the snow, bleeding, hoping for someone to rescue me. I learned that nothing is serious except being paralysed intellectually or physically.
A few days ago, I read an article in Le Monde newspaper talking about survivors. There were four categories and I related to the biggest one, when you are in a state of happiness, or “the wonders of the beyond”. That’s what happened to me before I was rescued. I left the real world and I was briefly in a state of comfort and warmth. I felt I was in another world. It felt like dying without dying; it’s an in-between state. And then I was back to a real world of suffering.
I realised I had to learn from every experience and to give purpose to anything that happened in my life. When I was in hospital, I dreamed of recipes, dishes and restaurants. I didn’t know if I would stand again, let alone stand behind a stove. But I realised I could make dishes and restaurants without doing it myself, by sharing my knowledge and surrounding myself with people who understand what I want in terms of taste for each restaurant.
We have almost nailed vegan desserts. We are not doing this to be trendy, but because we are convinced we can have excellence and perfection with more vegan produce
An amazing playground In 1987, I took on the challenge to get three Michelin stars for Le Louis XV, in Monaco, and gave myself a time limit of four years. I did it in 33 months. I was the youngest chef to have three stars but, again, I was only happy for five minutes. I decided to cut meat from the menu at Plaza Athénée, in Paris, in 2014.
I have many restaurants in Paris: I took over Le Meurice (from Yannick Alléno) the year before to serve French contemporary cuisine, so I had to tell another story at Plaza Athénée that was in line with the times we are living in. The idea is that when I grew up on the farm, we didn’t eat so much animal protein; vegetables and grains are just as important. It’s better for our health and our planet.
I started with the vegetable menu for Louis XV in May 1987, way before Plaza Athénée; I went from having one menu in the restaurant with only vegetables to a whole restaurant with vegetables and fish. I didn’t say no meat, but less meat, less often and better quality. We have almost nailed vegan desserts. We are not doing this to be trendy, but because we are convinced we can have excellence and perfection with more vegan produce. We have a variety of desserts with different tastes, not just sweet. It’s an amazing playground.
Chinese caviar I have two culinary training centres in France, one in Manila (in the Philippines) and I am in talks to open one in Shanghai. I want to be in China, to share our knowledge. China produces the best caviar in the world. I visited a farm to witness it, and I was convinced by the quality. It’s so good because the natural environment is remarkable, the water is cold enough, the fish feed is good enough, it’s a quiet surrounding for the fish. The factory where the caviar is made is impressive.
I am never surprised with what nature provides for us. It just takes a small group of people to make it perfect. What is impressive about this caviar farm is the trackability of the origin. It is transparent. My customers are surprised the caviar is from China but it was my decision to put it in my restaurants.
When I’m travelling, I’m looking for what I don’t know, or what I know but can be better. Now I’m looking for coffees – who harvests coffee beans at the perfect maturity, then roasts them at the perfect temperature. I’m obsessed with the right produce.
Floating my boat Ducasse sur Seine (in Paris) is where I wanted a unique restaurant on the Seine river and the solution was an electric boat that is noise-free, serving contemporary French cuisine. It took five years to develop the largest electric boat for a river with a kitchen.
Launched in 2018, it has the capacity for 100 covers, with a private dining room on the upper deck. The lower part is the kitchen and wine cellar. It is the best way to see Paris. For me, what I do every day is not work. I travel less than you would think; I travel efficiently. The rest of my time is with my family. When I’m in the countryside and I have nothing else to do, I do nothing.
Alain Ducasse will be in Hong Kong on March 7 and 8 to introduce his new executive chef, Guillaume Katola, at Rech by Alain Ducasse, at the InterContinental Hong Kong, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.
