Chef de cuisine
Cooking is a moment of sharing and above all a language. I remember my childhood in Africa where we shared a meal with a village chief and his family, just the offering and the looks were enough to feel accepted. Sharing a meal builds bonds regardless of language and culture barriers.
Traveling taught me multicultural, fusion cuisine and offered the discovery of a thousand and one flavors. The crackling of spices at the bottom of a pan before being reduced to powder, the smell they give off is so powerful that they can captivate you. If cooking uses our five senses, the visual is always essential for me, the importance of colors and their associations having, in my eyes, almost as much importance as taste. I must have a predilection for sauces as the combination of different ingredients, different flavors and colors pushes me towards artistic creativity. Combining the purple of a beet with the green of a kiwi, the yellow of a sesame seed delights my palate even before tasting the whole thing.
Specializing in artist catering, I have become accustomed to and oriented towards veganism and veganism, which I consider to be in line with the challenges of tomorrow’s society. Combining avocado or zucchini with chocolate seems rather fun and ultimately coherent to me. Meeting fairies, gatherers of wild plants and edible flowers, awakened in me the desire to exploit the magnificent resources that nature offers us. One day, we may have to feed mainly on these plants and this knowledge will become vital. After all, our ancestors were fond of it.
My two culinary and artistic worlds came together during a commission from the Festival de la Vallée in Dordogne, work carried out with schools and residents around questions about the role of food on the transformation of landscapes as well as transmission and family heritage. A sound and visual installation, during this festival, made it possible to transcribe the reflections of children and adults.
Today, active in several solidarity cooking projects, places of sharing, experimentation, social and intergenerational diversity, I cook for Maison 24 in Périgueux, a place of welcome for refugees and the homeless. I then meet other refugee cooks who are so happy to be able to prepare meals which are distributed in the street. For me, it is a moment of sharingthat gives meaning to my life and my culinary practice.