Michel Guérard: "Reconciling health issues and culinary heritage is possible"
While today we are increasingly concerned about our food, Michel Guérard was one of the first to look into the question of Cooked of Health® and Cooked thinness. On the occasion of the opening of his school which aims to introduce cooks to his precepts, this great chef answered a few questions for GirlsFromMainStreet.com (To read also Michel Guérard opens his school of healthy cooking!)
Why have you spent a large part of your career on the Santé de Santé®?
For the French, eating is one of the most accessible, the most immediate ways to indulge, this pleasure, considered by them, almost as a social good, acquired and irreversible. They do not want to have to choose between Health and Pleasure, they want both at once. Especially because of our diet, our society today suffers the pandemic of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, etc. Thus, I have always been convinced that if we were able to offer an attractive food offer to our fellow citizens, because respecting the notion of pleasure, we could greatly contribute to the efforts of Health Public.
What are your goals with this Health Cooking School®?
Our school of cooked will allow to transmit a know-how, on which we have been working for several decades, to professionals who have never had the opportunity to acquire this baggage. It is an interdisciplinary teaching that must put into perspective the cooking techniques that we will teach with the health reasons that underpin them. The training will be composed of cooked, and dietary and medical workshops, to make cooks understand how their cooked can influence the health of all. These lessons were built on the basis of our daily work in cooked, and the experience of our dieticians, as well as the white paper that had been commissioned by the Ministry of Health, to give a scientific basis to the project.
Are there really bad ingredients in our diet that can be easily replaced or that can be done without?
Few ingredients are harmful in itself. And I do not think that the idea of going without certain foods is reasonable, because the body draws essential elements to its operation in any food. It is a question of not falling into excess: fat, sugar, salt, etc., but to cook them or consume them with the idea of balance in mind.
Are gastronomy and healthy cuisine easily associated?
Our research and experiments have led us to develop recipes that reconcile health and our culinary heritage. It's possible ! This is the case with a cassoulet, a chocolate cake, a soufflé, etc. Thanks to the techniques we have developed, we do not need to get rid of our heritage to feed ourselves in a way that is acceptable health. This is what we will teach the professionals of cooked and of health who will follow our trainings.
In the same idea, can we cook thinness® when you have busy schedules and therefore little time to prepare meals?
The strength of our Cooked of Health®, or Cooked thinness®, lies in particular in its seasonings. This is particularly the case with our aromatic vinaigrettes, which can be transformed into accompanying sauces, after having been reheated. Once these seasonings are prepared, having enjoyed a rainy Sunday (and they keep very well), it is very easy to metamorphose a salad without spirit, a pan fried vegetables unattractive. But it is true that the cooked requires some effort and will always take longer than opening a ready-made dish and putting it in the microwave. That's why we work with the agri-food industry, or especially with communities, which feed more than 12 million French every day. A cooked respectful of the health of all, must and can come from there.
Discover soon the tips of Michel Guérard to lighten and make more healthy his dishes, inspired by his bookthinness Essential, The Great Cooked Health. (Editions Albain Michel)
