Great chefs swap recipes

WASHINGTON – The chef for Canada’s prime minister prepared caribou, which he described as a “big hairy deer.” The chef for the grand duke of Luxembourg tended to vegetable ravioli. The aroma of pigeon from the Frenchman, yogurt from the Indian and a meaty knuckle of pork from the German filled the room.

It was a united nations of cookery, drawing together the chief cooks of two dozen world leaders, come to Washington to swap recipes and understand the culinary habits of allies.

Scanning the multicultural feast, White House chef Walter Scheib commented on the relative simplicity of the dishes being served up.

“These recipes are not necessarily haute cuisine, rather, they provide a view of homestyle cooking from the first families of the world,” said Scheib.

Indeed, Saudi Arabia’s Emmanuel Kiriakidis made a pitch for one of the simplest dishes of all.

“If you have no rice, you have no meal,” he said.

There was much to savor Monday afternoon in the kitchen of the Willard InterContinental Washington hotel, where 10 members of Le Club des Chefs de Chefs, the organization of chefs to the world’s heads-of-state, exchanged culinary tidbits. The event is held in a different country each year.

Mincing, chopping, slicing, roasting, sauteing made way to bounty fit for kings.

Crunchy winter squash with mesculun and baby vegetables prepared by Monaco’s chef. A pigeon, lobster and scallop salad with hazelnut dressing offered by Switzerland’s chef. And Finland’s chef offered something for the sweet tooth: midnight sun berry ice cream.

It was a feast for the eyes and eventual gastronomic nirvana for guests at a cooking presentation and tasting reception that followed the cookfest.

These and other dishes will be highlighted in the Willard’s World Leaders’ Favorites Food Festival in August.

Even Gummi Bears and M&Ms made their way into the kitchen full of the creme-de-la-creme in the culinary world.

The culprits: 10- and 14 year-old sons of Gilles Bragard, executive secretary of gastronomy’s most exclusive club.

Bragard said that the power of food should never be underestimated, no matter what the preference.

“If the politics divide men, a good table reunites them,” he said.