The Fes Festival of Culinary Diplomacy

The Fes Festival of Culinary Diplomacy under the theme "Culinary arts, health and wisdom of the world: gastronomy and local cultures of Morocco and elsewhere", will be held from April 19 to 22

"The event will revisit the collective memory of the gastronomic heritage, of a common cultural history. Our ambition is to see how each country tries to expose its gastronomic art, to develop it to the extent that this promotion is the best ambassador there is, "says Oussama Skali, director of the festival.

This 3rd edition will highlight the kitchens of Tunisia and Mexico. During the numerous conferences, artistic performances and evenings (dinners / debates) organised during the festival there will also be music and the arts.

"We have among the speakers Mrs. Gloria Lopez Morales, the president of the World Forum of Gastronomy of Mexico, who has worked to introduce Mexican gastronomy into the UNESCO World Heritage," says the event's leader.

Another renowned speaker is Professor Henri Joyeux. Author of the best seller "Change of Food" Henri Joyeux should interest the festival-goers with his "health passport" approach.

"It is through the aphorism of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin: "Tell me what you eat: I'll tell you what you are ", that we will trace the path of this knowledge," announces Skali. Mirroring with the book: "Cuisine and Dietetics in the Western Medieval Arab", according to an anonymous treatise of the 13th century, this year's festival will reflect on how to integrate into the contemporary political and diplomatic approach , essential cultural dimensions in a perspective of well-being.

Festival-goers will discover the paths by which we are led to both the art of living and that of food. "We can discover a wealth of information full of creativity and common sense in works of medieval Andalusia such as that of Tujibi, in the gastronomic heritage of Morocco in its different cultures, in the Amerindian traditions of Mexico or Peru, in the Ayurvedic Indian tradition, that of Japan related to Shintoism and Buddhism and the dietary and psycho-spiritual advice of Hildegard of Bingen, "says Skali.

Among them are chiefs Christian Tetedoie, Moha, and Najat Kanaache. These cooks will share their knowledge and their art with the public. They will also reinterpret our respective gastronomies in the light of these centuries-old experiences and what we say and propose in science today.

Local products

From April 19th to 22nd, every evening of the festival will be held with a gastronomic dinner accompanied by debates, prepared by one of the chefs in collaboration with small local producers and the Fez-Meknes region. Also, the festival will apply the concept of diplomacy from the kitchen. Chefs from different countries will work together to present their own gastronomy, but also to create joint creations.

The View From Fez is an official Media Partner of the Festival

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Gérard Depardieu Films Foodie Footage in Fez

French actor Gerard Depardieu has just completed filming the last episode of the culinary series A Pleines Dents (Full Teeth), which will broadcast on the international Arte channel

Mounia, from Riad El Amine  Gérard Depardieu and Yassir Jawhar, Deputy Chairman of CRT 

"Morocco is a beautiful country, stable, secure and hospitable," Depardieu said. "We traveled in a spontaneous way through the streets of the medina, to discover the Fassi culinary arts and local products of this city of universal heritage of humanity. "

The episode filmed in Fez is the 19th in a series dedicated to the culinary arts of several countries, including Scotland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Denmark, France and Portugal. The fifty minute long Fez program will be broadcast in September.

At the end of there stay in Fez  the the Deputy Chairman of the Regional Council of Tourism (CRT), Yassir Jawhar, presented Depardieu with a copy of the 14th century book Table Delicacies and the Best Kinds of Food. (Les Délices De La Table Et Les Meilleurs Genres De Mets)

After a little research by The View From Fez we discovered that the book is a translation of the Arabic text "Fudalat al-Fi Khiwan Tayibat at-Taam" by the Andalusian writer (Murcia ) Ibn Razin did Tujibi, who lived in the thirteenth century. It is a book that was written between 1238 and 1266, probably for a Royal Andalusian courtyard; the text was discovered in manuscript form in Morocco (in Tetouan in the nineteenth century).

Thanks to Professor Mohamed Mezzine, Chairman of the Cultural Committee of the Fez-Sais Association, and Leila Benkirane, professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology Sais, this book was translated and published in modern form in 1984.

Gerard Depardieu, who knows more about wine than most  was accompanied on his visit by the well-known French chef, Laurent Audiot.

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New Team at Fez's Resto 7

Oliver Truesdale-Jutras and Phoebe Oviedo

Restaurant Numero 7 in the Fez Medina has made a name for itself with a program of international chefs-in-residence. What the chefs have in common is the creation of delicious, beautifully presented food using fresh, local ingredients. The latest team to take over, Canadians Oliver Truesdale-Jutras and Phoebe Oviedo, are no exception and have brought their own flair to the kitchen

When Oliver Truesdale-Jutras and Phoebe Oviedo first arrived in Fez they found it "surreally chaotic". They had just come from cooking at a resort in Japan, and the number of people, donkeys and the seemingly haphazard nature of the ancient city was the antithesis of the place they had been living in. "It was a real culture clash," says Phoebe. "Japan is hyper-organised."

"Initially, it was hard to get anything done," says Oliver. "We were taken aback, but mesmerised." The couple came to help out a friend, Analiese Gregory, who was a chef-in-residence at Resto 7 in 2014. They had met her while working at Sydney's famous Quay restaurant, and were quick to agree when she asked them to come to Fez.

Lavosh, dry fruit chutney and labneh

Their experience last year has made their return easier, as they know their way around and "we'd developed good relationships with suppliers", says Oliver.  "The food here is obviously a very essential part of life, and the vegetables are unbelievable - the quality and how fast they get from the farm to the souk."

Phoebe says their approach towards melding the flavours is very compatible, such as finding the right balance, "between sweetness, spice, acidity and texture." Oliver adds, "we are enjoying playing with spices and mixes."

Some of the dishes Oliver and Phoebe have created recently include heirloom eggplant with tomato and prawn foam, and sea bream with cauliflower, pistachios and burnt bread. "We spend ages sorting through the eggplants to find the small ones," says Oliver.

Confit egg-yolk, spring vegetables and brown butter emulsion

Growing up in Toronto, Canada, Oliver was determined not to be a chef like his father. "I worked hard against it. I was a picky eater, and a vegetarian for a while," he says. At fourteen, he became a "dish-pit jockey" as a part-time job. "But it was when I bought Thomas Keller's French Laundry Cookbook as a Christmas gift for my Dad that I saw cooking as a craft was a cerebral process. It was a thoughtful and artistic endeavour." On leaving school, he attended culinary college for a year before becoming a kitchen apprentice in Vancouver at C restaurant. Then he began working at the renowned Domus, where he met Phoebe, who was cooking there under John Taylor, "who invented the farm to table restaurant scene in Canada".

Heirloom eggplant, tomato and prawn foam

Phoebe Oviedo was born and spent her childhood in the Philippines. "My grandmother ran a cafe and I hung out there after school," she says. "And my Uncle had a catering business." So she began to cook from an early age. After moving to Canada with her family in 2003, she studied cooking in college while still at high school and then took a job at Navarra restaurant, whose chef Rene Rodriguez recently won Top Chef Canada. Her particular love is baking bread and pastry.

When the couple met at Domus, "it took us the better part of a year to get together," says Oliver. "Phoebe is fairly quiet, whereas I am loud and gregarious, so it took me a while to realise there is another side to her."

Oliver spent time working at Benu, a Korean-modern American restaurant in San Francisco, before heading to South-East Asia. Phoebe joined him on her way to Australia, and they ended up there together for three years, firstly working with Analiese Gregory at Quay, and then later at Neil Perry's Rockpool restaurant.

"But we had to leave eventually," says Oliver, "Or we would have stayed forever." A stint working in Japan was next, before their first experience of Morocco.

Sea bream, cauliflower, pistachio and burnt bread

This time around, they are exploring adding more of a Moroccan twist to their culinary creations. "We are trying to move to using more artisanal produce, such as handmade cous-cous and smen. We want people to know they are in Morocco."

Phoebe says, "We are very interested in fusing modern and old school techniques, using both to achieve a cuisine that is innovative while still feeling warm and at ease.

“The residency changes you for the better: exposes you to new, exciting flavours, techniques and inspirations, and shows you what you are capable of.”

Poached peach, hazelnut, oat, meringue and plum ice

Where: Resto 7, 7 Zkak Rouah, Fez Medina
Reservations: 0694 277 849 or reservationsat7@gmail.com
Info: www.restaurantnumero7.com

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