The thought of the day of Le Mesturet restaurant

We have to accept the idea that French cuisine is under attack from the food processing sector. This sector has entered our kitchens in a variety of ways which no one considered during the debate on traceability, product origin transparency and the notion of fresh and unprocessed products.

• French agriculture, which continues to suffer and recede from view, by reducing the selection of good, authentic products;
• Deruralisation, by the closing of schools, post offices, etc.;
• The weakening of knowledge imparted in hotel schools and other apprenticeship training centres, faced with the upsurge in ready-to-cook food;
• Materials which cost too much when bought individually, and which, as a result, cost much less for food-processing multinationals;
• Staff costs which are much too high, leading some of us to turn to finished products to reduce them;
• The impossibility of increasing prices to pass on the cost of fresh products, in an economic system which is inclined more towards slowdown than growth;
• The upbringing of new generations, who are accustomed to industrial flavours and who are, sometimes, unsettled by dishes made with fresh products;
• Strict regulations on the usage of fresh products for cooking, which, obviously, favours the rise of finished products;
• A lack of know-how on the usage of fresh products with regard to hygiene and taste, which leads some people to say that a top-quality frozen product is better than a fresh product which has been lying in a cold storage room for several days and which bears only a vague resemblance to its original freshness...

• Surround yourself with well-trained people with decent salaries;
• Do not make any concessions on the quality of the products you bring in;
• Work between 70 and 80 hours a week;
• Love your job, as if it was the love of your life;
• Forget that you will earn money, but still enough to support your family;
• Love the earth, love smells, love the heat of the kitchen (especially in summer), love people;
• Welcome customers as if you were welcoming them into your own home, and remind yourself that for them only the best is good enough;
• And above all, be passionate about what you do.