French 'Gourmet University' Offers Tasty Courses
April 3, 2004 - ET

PARIS (Reuters) - Want to get a degree qualifying you as a gourmet? Ever felt like cooking a medieval meal?
Now's your chance.
France has created a gourmet university giving lessons in subjects ranging from wine tasting to medieval cuisine.
About 70 places are available this fall for French and foreign students eager to study in Reims, in the heartland of the Champagne region.

The conservative government has pointedly, and with a touch of irony, called it a "Harvard for the art of French cooking."

It has produced the idea at a time when French wine exports are falling in the face of stiff competition from "New World" wines and the United States has banned foie gras imports.

One of the aims is to lure students from the United States and reverse opinions being shaped by U.S. food writers who have taken to criticizing French cuisine as lacking creativity.

The government wants to refresh the image of French cuisine, which suffered when France and the United States fell out over the U.S.-led war in Iraq (news - web sites) last year and pro-war groups urged Americans to boycott French wines and "stinking" cheeses.

"Many French go to U.S. universities to study subjects these universities have a good reputation in, such as business," Renaud Dutreil, the minister for small business and consumption who launched the initiative, told Reuters. "We're doing the same thing vice versa."

MEDIEVAL WEIGHT LOSS

Not just anyone can sign up. Students must already have some professional experience in the food sector.

Executives in the food industry, restaurant managers, publicity agents, academics or journalists are all seen as potential students at the Institut des Hautes Etudes du Gout de la Gastronomie et des Arts de la Table.

The course costs 4,000 euros ($4,915). In four one-week sessions over the year, students will learn about neurophysiology, psychology, economics, law, food packaging and attend workshops to train their senses.

Historian Bruno Laurioux, one of the teachers, says he wants his students to be inspired by the middle ages.

"When you think about medieval cuisine, heavy, greasy food comes to mind. But that's not true at all. Medieval sauces were particularly light, based on herbs and vinaigrette," he said.

He said old recipes, which will line the shelves of a library intended to have all French cookbooks dating back to the 16th century, could help students invent new dishes.

"I don't see why we shouldn't have a campaign like 'How to lose weight with medieval cooking,"' he said.

In other classes, students will travel to vineyards and be taught by leading chefs such as Alain Ducasse and Gerard Boyer.

Pierre Combris, an economist who will teach at the gourmet university, said learning about a wide range of subjects would help professionals sell their product.

"If you buy food, different aspects of the product interplay, such as nutrition and health aspects, but also packaging. You have to take a global approach today," he said.

Economists say the institute could help polish the image of French food abroad and stimulate the economy, suggesting delicacies such as foie gras were a major incentive for many tourists to come to France and spend money there.

RESTING ON ITS LAURELS?

Dutreil hopes a trip to the United States will attract foreign students.

"We have to make an effort -- go abroad and open doors to people who want to come to France to attend classes," he said.

U.S. wine lovers, and others abroad, have started to shun French wines for wines from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and South America.

A battle about the quality of French food also gained steam last summer when New York food writer Arthur Lubow said French chefs had failed to move on from "nouvelle cuisine" and had fallen behind a new generation of more daring Spanish chefs.

French chefs were ready to protest but Dutreil says France might have to become more modest and open to change.

"Maybe France has rested a bit on its laurels, given that it was the birthplace of taste and 'savoir vivre,"' he said.

"I often tell people in France: 'You think you're the best in the world, but there are new wines appearing in Chile and Australia. There are new cuisines elsewhere which are very imaginative. You must never take anything for granted."'


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