Of exclusive chefs and connoisseurs

How does one gets to taste the dishes made by the Head of State’s chef? The only way is to be invited by the President of that particular country or be related to the Chef. But since the rise of Club des Chefs des Chefs in 1977, this has become easy as the club, comprising of Head of State’s Chefs from over 25 countries, come together every year for philanthropic causes.

This year, the group of top chefs will head to the national Capital for six days beginning from October 23 and will promote culinary diplomacy. The delegates will also travel to Agra and Jaipur as a part of their trip.

The October 25 charity dinner will be prepared by a team of five CCC chefs for around 200 guests.  The charity dinner this year on October 25 will have 200 seats reserved at the Imperial hotel. 

“The money thus raised will be donated for social uplift; the beneficiary for this year will be decided in the days to come. Last time, it was for the children of Haiti,” said Gilles Bragard, the executive secretary of Paris-based non-profit organisation he founded in 1977. A demonstration of Indian cooking and sari-draping, a high tea with the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan will be held and a charity dinner which will channel the money thus raised for a philanthropic cause will be the highlights of the October 23-28 event. The Imperial will be the family hotel of the assembly.

“CCC is an exclusive club where each nation is represented by just one member—the principal chef of the head of state. It has two women,” said Bragard. “The annual general assembly is thus a sort of G20 on gastronomy,” he added. The Club des Chefs des Chefs (CCC)—the exclusive gastronomic society with a four-decade history and the elite confederation comprises of two dozen members from countries where they work as the principal chef for their constitutional head. 

Venu Rajamony, press secretary to the President of India, said that the country has a rich variety of cuisines that could please and surprise the people of the world.

Montu Saini, Executive Chef to the President of India, said he found it a matter of pride for the country to host the “culinary ambassadors across the globe”.