The Club des Chefs des Chefs is the world’s most exclusive gastronomy club comprising chefs to heads of state across the world, and they held their annual General Assembly in India this year, coming together for a 6 course gala dinner at The Imperial. Top Chefs including the Executive chef to the President of India, chef to US President Obama, and chef to UK’s royal family, all whipped up gourmet delights to raise funds for charity
The Club des Chefs des Chefs (CCC), the most exclusive gastronomy club comprising chefs to heads of state across the world, held a charity dinner at The Imperial, New Delhi, on 25th Oct to raise funds to support the Kailash Satyarthi Foundation-India, a charity headed by Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, and Princess Diya Kumari Foundation, Jaipur.
The club, whose members comprise chefs to Presidents, Prime Ministers and royals across the world, including US President Barack Obama, the British Queen and the German Chancellor, were in India as part of their General Assembly, which takes place once every year in a different country. The Paris-based CCC also announced a three-month long scholarship for the top student of the Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa in New Delhi to train in the palaces of Europe, including in Monaco.
These chefs are all ambassadors of their respective countries. Previously, we have raised money for Syrian refugees in Geneva and in Milano we held a fundraising dinner to benefit a hospital
Five chefs, including Chef Montu Saini, the Executive Chef to the President of India; Chef Cristeta Comerford, chef to the US President Barack Obama; Chef Mark Flanagan, Royal chef of the UK; Chef Fabrizio Boca from Italy and Chef Christian Garcia from Monaco who is President of the CCC, cooked special dishes for the 6 course gala charity dinner at the Imperial.
“These chefs are all ambassadors of their respective countries. We use their services for good causes and help for various charities. Previously, we have raised money for Syrian refugees in Geneva and in Milano we held a fundraising dinner to benefit a hospital. Two weeks ago, Britain’s Royal Chef Mark Flanagan helped to raise one million dollars for ‘Artists for Peace and Justice’, a US-based charity, which builds and manages schools and colleges in Haiti,”said Gilles Bragard, founder of the CCC.
The gala charity dinner featured a menu where Chef Comerford cooked a special vegetable soup; Chef Boca rustled up a veg Risotto; Chef Garcia presented a Mediterranean dish while Chef Flanagan prepared a special lamb dish. Chef Saini created the dessert. Saini, who represents India in the CCC, said he had been working to put together the event in India for the past 8 to 9 months. The chefs were also given a tour of the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
“Yesterday, the chefs cooked in my kitchen; tomorrow I will probably cook in their kitchens,” said Chef Saini. “It is a dream come true for me; it is an exchange of culinary team,” he added. “We gave them golgappas cooked especially for them. They also had freshly made aloo tikkis. The idea is to give them a taste of the local cuisine,” he explained.
The chefs also participated in the ‘world’s best cake mixing ceremony’ with chef Prem K Pogakula – Executive Sous Chef at The Imperial, mixing 200 Kgs of mixture to make the dough for 1000 kg of Imperial Christmas Cakes
Chef Prem K Pogakula shared his experience of working with the coveted culinary masters: “Le Club Des Chefs Des Chefs at The Imperial required immense planning from the beginning, so taking the culinary foot forward I started working closely with the Director- Mr. Gilles Bragard along with all the member chefs over emails and con-calls, for almost eleven months. This was crucial to understand their preferences, to source specific ingredients and to undertake even the minutest requirements of one and all. There was rigorous coordination especially to put together the menu for the grand Gala Charity Dinner, to culminate the general assembly in Delhi at The Imperial.” He further said “The chefs have been working with me in the kitchen too and were highly impressed with our hygiene standards, infrastructure, team and the local produce and flavours. I believe they have taken home with themselves not only Indian culture and food but also our traditional Indian hospitality, post their stay at The Imperial.”
Gilles Bragard, who founded the CCC club in Paris in the year 1977 as a place for the chefs to meet once a year and exchange notes and recipes and learn each other’s traditions and cultures, said the idea was to make the club a ‘G 20 of the chefs’.
As part of the club’s mission to promote local food and healthy eating habits, the chefs took a culinary tour of the famous spice market in Chandni Chowk. They were also honoured by a Hi Tea hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee and later, a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The chefs were also taken for a trip to Agra and Jaipur via Fatehpur Sikri, and hosted for a lunch by Princess Diya Kumari at the City Palace in Jaipur. En route, they also stopped at the Maharajas’ Express, one of the world’s most luxurious trains.
