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Agence France-Presse

The chefs who cook for the world’s leaders usually keep a low profile, leaving the limelight to their bosses. But once a year it is their turn to be wined and dined and treated as honoured guests in a foreign country.
Billed as the world’s most exclusive gastronomic society, the Club des Chefs des Chefs brings together the men and women who cook for heads of state to exchange ideas and - presumably - insider information on their bosses’ tastes.
They have met annually since the club was first established in Paris in 1977 and this year for the first time they are doing so in India, hosted by the president’s personal chef, Montu Saini.

“The presidents all met each other. I thought it was a good idea to make a sort of G20 of the chefs,” the club’s founder Gilles Bragard said.
“If politics divides men, a good table will unite them.”
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Naturally, the tradition involves trying out local delicacies. But Saini has left little to chance when it comes to the Indian capital’s most notorious complaint.
Rather than subjecting the chefs to Delhi street food, he has had the kitchen of their five-star hotel recreate golgappas and aloo tikkis - popular fried snacks made of wheat flour and potato and served with sweet and spicy chutneys.

“I can’t take them to the street because they are foreigners. Their tummies are too sensitive,” said Saini.
“So I am creating a replica in the hotels.”
India excels in the extravagant welcome, and the visiting chefs are treated like the royalty many of them work for.
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Arriving in their immaculate chef’s whites at Old Delhi’s chaotic spice market, even more crowded than usual ahead of the Diwali festival, they were showered with pink rose petals and garlanded with jasmine.
“This is fantastic,” said Bernard Vaussion, who cooked for six French presidents before he retired, as he pushed his way through the market’s packed alleyways.
“I mean it’s dirty and noisy, but who cares. It’s such an experience.”

India takes its toll though. By day three one of the visiting chefs has fallen ill, while another is feeling the effects of Indian cuisine.
“After four days of eating spicy (food), you feel it,” said Fabrizio Boca, chef to the Italian president. “I think it’s only because you have to get used to it.”
Like most of the visiting chefs - 16 men and one woman, America’s Cristeta Comerford - Boca is eager to learn more about India’s vast range of spices.
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Comerford, a Filipino-American, said she saw parallels with the cuisine of the Philippines.
“It’s not a recipe driven food, it’s more of a philosophy,” she said.
“I would use the analogy of the Philippines, because each household has their own way of doing a certain dish.”
But persuading chefs to feature foreign dishes once they’re home may be tricky, with many saying the world leaders they cook for have particular palates.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family, for example, “lead a very busy life” and enjoy “comfort food, home-style food,” said Indo-Canadian chef Neil Dhawan.
For the chefs, the annual gatherings are a chance to exchange ideas and get to know each other.
They also have a hotline known as the “blue telephone” that allows them to consult each other on their bosses’ preferences before a state visit.
None of the chefs gave away much about their bosses’ tastes, although all agreed on the growing importance of seasonality in food, and of making state dinners a lighter, healthier affair.
“Looking for more sustainable more local produce has become more prominent,” said Mark Flanagan, chef to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth.

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Given the move towards lighter dishes, it was perhaps doubtful whether the first recipe they tried on arriving in Delhi - the heart-stoppingly calorific Indian sweets known as jalebis, made of deep-fried batter soaked in syrup - would be recreated at home.
But Christian Garcia, the club’s current president and personal chef to Prince Albert of Monaco, said he might be tempted to ask for the recipe. Princess Charlene, he said, was a big fan of Indian cuisine.
“I thought I knew how to cook Indian food a bit, but now I realise I was completely wrong,” he said.
“Apart from curry and a few spices, I didn’t know how to cook any of the dishes that I’ve been able to discover during our stay.”


The world’s most elite gastronomic club meets in Delhi for the ‘G20 of chefs’

The chefs to various heads of state pose for a photograph as they visit the spice market in the old quarters of New Delhi. Photo: AFP

Chef to the President of Italy, Fabrizio Boca (2nd R), walks with his Sous Chef as he takes photograph during a visit by the chefs to various heads of state to the spice market in the old quarters of New Delhi on October 25, 2016. The chefs who cook for the world's leaders usually keep a low profile, leaving the limelight to their bosses. But once a year it is their turn to be wined and dined and treated as honoured guests in a foreign country. Billed as the world's most exclusive gastronomic society, the Club des Chefs des Chefs brings together the men and women who cook for heads of state to exchange ideas and -- presumably -- insider information on their bosses' tastes. / AFP PHOTO / CHANDAN KHANNA / TO GO WITH 'INDIA-FOOD-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY', FOCUS, BY CLAIRE COZENS

Chef of Prince Albert II of Monaco, Christian Gracia, looks out of a rickshaw as he and other chefs to various heads of state visit the spice market in the old quarters of New Delhi on October 25, 2016. The chefs who cook for the world's leaders usually keep a low profile, leaving the limelight to their bosses. But once a year it is their turn to be wined and dined and treated as honoured guests in a foreign country. Billed as the world's most exclusive gastronomic society, the Club des Chefs des Chefs brings together the men and women who cook for heads of state to exchange ideas and -- presumably -- insider information on their bosses' tastes. / AFP PHOTO / CHANDAN KHANNA / TO GO WITH 'INDIA-FOOD-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY', FOCUS, BY CLAIRE COZENS

Bernard Vaussion, chef to the president of France, speaks to an AFP reporter at a function in New Delhi on October 24, 2016. Members of Le Club des Chefs des Chefs, the most exclusive gastronomic association in the world, attended an annual meeting in India. / AFP PHOTO / SAJJAD HUSSAIN

Chef to the President of the Republic of India, Montu Saini (C), looks on as he walks with other chefs to various heads of state as they visit the spice market in the old quarters of New Delhi on October 25, 2016. The chefs who cook for the world's leaders usually keep a low profile, leaving the limelight to their bosses. But once a year it is their turn to be wined and dined and treated as honoured guests in a foreign country. Billed as the world's most exclusive gastronomic society, the Club des Chefs des Chefs brings together the men and women who cook for heads of state to exchange ideas and -- presumably -- insider information on their bosses' tastes. / AFP PHOTO / CHANDAN KHANNA / TO GO WITH 'INDIA-FOOD-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY', FOCUS, BY CLAIRE COZENS

Cristeta Comerford, Chef to the President of the United States of America, third left, and other Chefs of several heads of states, visit Khari Baoli, Asia's largest spice market, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Several chefs of Heads of States are visiting India for the Annual General Assembly of 'Le Club des Chefs des Chefs' (CCC), touted to be world's most exclusive gastronomic society, which aims to use food as a bridge between cultures and societies. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

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Asia

Diplomacy

The annual assembly of chefs for the world’s most powerful leaders gives them the chance to exchange recipes and discuss ways in which food can help in diplomacy
