Brigitte Macron is a grandmother of seven who looks better in miniskirts and skinny jeans than most women in her early 30s. You'd think the First Lady keeps her stunning fit through a tough diet of green smoothies and turmeric, and she alien to the joys of normal food. But, as it turned out, Brigitte is surprisingly old-fashioned.
Elysée chef Guillaume Gomez revealed some of the secrets of presidential cuisine in a recent interview with Le Figaro. And it turned out that the Macron couple are very traditional in their eating habits.
By the way, Guillaume Gomez himself is a bright personality in France. He is 42 years old, and for 20 of them he has been working in the kitchen of the Elysee Palace (since 1997), and became a chef in 2013. So, Emmanuel Macron is already the third president for whose diet Monsieur Gomez is personally responsible (all in all, over these 20 years, he cooked food for four French heads of state). And during state visits, the chef is also responsible for the stomachs of distinguished guests of the Elysee Palace.
The Presidential Palace is served by a staff of 25 chefs, and, of course, the Macrons are free to ask them for any dish. But in fact, says Monsieur Gomez, for the most part, his team prepares classic French cuisine from products that are produced no more than 100 km from Paris, and from seasonings grown in the palace gardens. And no exotic. The emphasis is on seasonal produce. Half of the ingredients used for the preparation of the presidential couple's meals (as well as their guests) are organic.
“Whenever possible, we use only French products at the President's table. Naturally, our coffee is not French, but all fish, meat, fruits and vegetables come to us from the mainland of France, or from our maritime territories,”says Monsieur Gomes. According to the chief, in the spring it is planned to put up greenhouses in the huge gardens of the Elysee Palace in order to grow there organic vegetables and fruits for Madame.
Fruits and vegetables are actually Brigitte Macron's only "fad". She asks Guillaume to be served 10 fruits and vegetables daily. Not surprisingly, according to nutritionists, increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables is the best way to stay healthy in adulthood. It is believed that in order to maintain health, you should eat 7 servings of fruit and vegetables a day - usually in the proportion of 4 vegetables and 3 fruits. Moreover, we are not talking about smoothies and cocktails in which all these ingredients can be stuffed, but about whole fruits that should be chewed, getting not only juice and pulp, but also plant fibers and fiber important for digestion.
Adhering to classic French food traditions, Brigitte eats a lot of salads, lean fish, which is an excellent source of dietary protein, and refined foods are rarely found in her diet. But most importantly, as a true Frenchwoman, she eats slowly and in small portions. And this is one of the secrets of her slimness.
As a caring wife, Madame Macron also tries to control her husband's diet. According to Guillaume Gomez, Brigitte asks not to serve the President of the so-called "junk food" - junk food (this is not only fast food, but also all kinds of sausages and other processed food). However, Emmanuel Macron has one weakness - he loves the cordon blue. For those who are not in the know, Cordon Bleu is a veal schnitzel (rarely chicken or turkey) stuffed with cheese and ham in breadcrumbs. Doesn't sound very useful, but what can you do (see also: How to “Lose Weight” Your Man: Nutritionist Tips).
“We are adapting to presidential tastes,” said Monsieur Gomez, adding that, for example, cheese and wine were deleted from the Elysee Palace menu during the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy (obviously, not without the participation of his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy), and now these foods returned to the diet of the incumbent president and his wife.
“However, we are not victims of the president’s whims,” the cook specified. “It's a myth that we serve the president and his wife 24 hours a day, working as a room service.”
Most of the dishes for the president and his wife and guests are prepared in the right dishes. An interesting fact: in the kitchen of the Elysee Palace, copper ladles are still in use, which appeared during the time of Napoleon, in the early 1800s. In such, for example, it is convenient to serve the same schnitzel - cordon blue.
During the year, Guillaume Gomez manages to cook about 95 thousand dishes - this includes both chamber dinners for the presidential couple and grandiose gala dinners, to which distinguished guests are invited. For example, he served Queen Elizabeth II twice, and was extremely surprised when Her Majesty asked for foie gras (after all, the attitude to this dish of duck liver in Great Britain is extremely controversial). “She showed that she is a queen and can do as she pleases,” commented Monsieur Gomez (read also: Royal Menu: Elizabeth II's Diet Habits).
The voluptuousness of the chef of the Elysee Palace is due to the fact that in 2017 he published the book "Cuisine, Step by Step Lessons", in which, in his own words, he does not so much describe the recipes of traditional French cuisine as teaches how to cook certain Ingredients.
Photo: Legion-media, Getty Images
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