07-11-2018
Michel Troisgros, born 1958, in a photo taken a few days ago in Parma, where he was the guest of honour at the opening of the 15th academic year at ALMA Scuola Internazionale di Cucina
When we sit in front of Michel Troisgros – since 1982 the chef at Maison Troisgros, one of the temples of French gastronomy – the chef has just finished his speech in front of the guests invited to the opening ceremony of the 15th academic year at ALMA Scuola Internazionale di Cucina (we wrote about it here –article available in Italian). Troisgros was the guest of honour.
For his speech he decided to speak first of all of his father’s and then his own friendship with the Master of Italian cuisine, Gualtiero Marchesi. It is a known fact that Marchesi spent three months in Roanne with Jean and Pierre Troisgros (Michel’s uncle and father) trying to perfect this style, which then resulted in the revolution that started from Via Bonvesin della Riva.
During his speech
As many readers probably know – it’s a story that Troisgros also recounted in his book “Michel Troisgros et l’Italie”, published in 2009 – his grandmother Anna came from Friuli and was an extraordinary cook. The chef from Roanne drew from her ideas and lessons, so much so he feels «half Italian». Our conversation first began with these inspirations, with the desire to understand where one can find Italy in his current cuisine.
«In my dishes, sometimes you can notice this Italian identity that I feel is a part of me, sometimes you can’t. But I believe it’s always there. Because it’s a part of a whole, of a spirit. Sometimes a dish is born – take my Potato Mezzaluna with Artichoke forinstance– starting from a technique I learnt from my grandmother, as in this case, or which I have recently learnt in Italy. Often enough you can find it in an elegant simplicity, which has always inspired me, and which recently led me to fully reacquire my Italian identity. Perhaps I can explain myself better with an example…»
I’d like to return on the concept you mentioned earlier: is simplicity the essential key to interpret your cuisine? Yes: just like Gualtiero Marchesi, but just like my father too, and my grandmother, I try to make sure that my cuisine is both great and sober, without extravagances. It must show sobriety, but it must shine too.
Michel Troisgros with his wife Marie-Pierre and his two sons Lèo and César. In 2018 Maison Troisgros celebrated 50 years since it received the third Michelin star, which arrived in 1968
With some students from ALMA
Of course… Before, during the ceremony, I was sitting on the stage. I was looking through the large window at the end of the hall: at one point a flock of birds took flight, above the trees, towards the sky. It was a very symbolic moment, given the room was full of young people to whom I would have liked to say “look at what’s happening!”. And the light that passes through the windows of this building made it possible for the shadows of this flock to paint a drawing on the walls of the Auditorium. I was touched and I believe it is important that one preserves their capacity to be touched.
A photo of the audience and of the Auditorium Paganini in Parma, taken from the stage, during the ceremony
Aren’t indeed the expectations of your clients, who want to eat only the best in your restaurants, the greatest obstacle that famous, prestigious chefs like you, with stars on your jackets, face in reaching this goal? Indeed. You’re right. The audience, our clients, must accept this. It is not easy to have your clients understand this, to make them tell us “Chapeaux” for our efforts. Applying these concepts is a social, intellectual, economic, political commitment. But we also need clients to understand this, because it’s normal for someone who spends 250€ for a meal to expect to find only the heart of the cabbage on their plate. This is why it is important that as chefs we set models, examples. I believe we should all keep in mind an old quote by Gandhi: “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do, are in harmony”.
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
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Journalist, based in Milan. At 8 years old, he received a Springsteen record as a gift, and nothing was the same since. Music and food are his passions. Author and broadcaster at Radio Popolare since 1997, since 2014 he became part of the staff of Identità Golose Instagram: @NiccoloVecchia