My favourite programme last week was France on a Plate (BBC4, Sunday) in which Dr Andrew Hussey investigated the link between gastronomy and la gloire; French glory and destiny. He began with a recreation of François Mitterrand’s last meal, which climaxed with the illegal consumption of ortolans, an endangered songbird which is blinded then boiled in Armagnac. Yum! As you crunch the creature whole, its tiny head dangling from your lips, you wear a napkin over your head which keeps the flavour in, and emphasises the sacerdotal significance of the act. Just as pre-revolutionary kings ate vast banquets while the peasants starved largely to prove they could, so Mitterrand feasted on a protected species because he too was the chef de l’état, and did as he pleased, especially when days from death.
Years ago I ate at a famous restaurant owned by a chef de cuisine, Paul Bocuse. Everywhere you turned there were pictures of Bocuse: a different portrait in every room, his face on books, plates and napkin rings.
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