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Culinary secrets at the Gastronomy Seasons festival in Monaco
By Celina Lafuente de Lavotha - Monaco Reporter
Cooking as expression of cultural identity
The 9th edition of The Gastronomy Seasons International Festival created by Natalia Marzoeva, run from October 18-20, 2018, in a Pop-Up restaurant specially created for this occasion on the Hercule harbor in the Principality, gathering chefs from Monaco, Russia, Spain, Thailand and France, under this year’s fitting theme The Cruise of Flavors.
Once again this gastronomy festival reunited under one-roof chefs from different parts of the world to talk about their countries culture through gastronomy, unveiling to the public the secrets of their culinary techniques and savoir-faire. During 3 days a variety of delicious dishes were carefully prepared by 13 chefs, with different menus for each lunch and dinner respectively, and proposed to residents and visitors alike.
The international flavors and tendencies were notably represented by Henri Geracy, of La Montgolfiere in Monaco, Igor Grishechkin of CoCoCo in Saint-Pétersbourg Vladimir Burkovsky of PuppenHaus in Novossibirsk, Sergei Nosov of Syrovarnaya in Moscow, Marina Nosova of Valenok also in Moscow, Andrey Savenkov of Doctor Whisky in Yalta, Soslan Kokov of Mangal in Vladikavkaz, Aurelio Morales of CEBO in Madrid, Marcel Ravin of Blue Bay in Monaco, and others.
Exquisite gala dinner concocted by seven chefs
The festival opened on October 18, 2018, with an exquisite Gala Dinner with the participation of all the Chefs. The date coincided with the inauguration of the salon of manufacturers from Russia in Monaco and Italy, with the support of the Agriculture Ministry of the Russian Federation and the Russian Export Center, offering assistance to Russian producers to develop in the international markets. The Russian producers under the Made-in-Russia program presented their wines Fanagoria and Burnier, the Siberian tea Baikalia, the Krasnodar tea Matsesta, chocolate Bonheur from Saint Petersburg, as well as Astrakhan caviar from wild sturgeon.
The menu for this exceptional gourmet dinner included a variety of dishes such as: Sugudai, based on white fish with herbs from Altai presented by Vladimir Burkovsky, wild boar slowly cooked accompanied by roasted potatoes by Andrei Savenkov, a Thai soup with Citronelle and langoustine by Oth Sombath, Hack with Iberian sauce and Wild Osietre Astrakhan caviar by Aurelio Morales, culminating with a gateau Napoleon of Marina Nosova, all accompanied by Brunier Russian wines. Students from the Lycée Technique et Hotelier de Monaco assisted in the kitchen and were in charge of the impeccable high dining service.
Among the personalities present at the dinner were H.E. Serge Telle, Minister of State of Monaco, H.E. Cristiano Gallo ambassador of Italy in Monaco, H.E. Mireille Pettiti ambassador of the Russian Federation, honorary consul of Russia in Monaco Ekaterina Semenikhina and her husband, and other personalities.
Natalia Marzoeva, founder of the festival, affirmed: “This festival is part of the continuity of the gastronomic gatherings existing between Russia and France at the end of the 19thcentury. The Gastronomy Seasons resumed that tradition in 2010 on the occasion of the France-Russia cultural year, extending it to Monaco in 2010 and becoming part of the Monaco-Russian year celebrations in 2015. The objective to represent each country through its gastronomic culture and the different flavors of regions of each country.”
As it has now become an annual tradition, the next editions of the Gastronomy Seasons International Festival will take place both in summer and winter next year, in Monaco, France and Russia.
Quote:
“Food is a central activity of mankind and one of the single most significant trademarks of a culture.”Mark Kurlansky