Cooking for the President

Nicolas Sarkozy prefers light, balanced meals and poultry to red meat.

Since President Nicolas Sarkozy embarked on his re-election campaign, the kitchens of the Elysee Palace have been quiet.

This leaves the presidential chef, Bernard Vaussion, lots of time to wonder whether he will get to cook for a sixth French head of state.

If, as the polls predict, the Socialist François Hollande wins power next month, will he want to bring in a new chef?

“There is always uncertainty. We will see, it will be up to him to decide,” said the 58-year-old, who plans to retire in two years anyhow, as he gave a guided tour of the presidential kitchens.

An enormous cast-iron range dominates the giant room lit by tall windows that look on to the Elysee courtyard.

The workforce here is 100 per cent male, an unwritten rule instigated by Bernadette Chirac, the wife of Mr Sarkozy’s predecessor, Jacques Chirac.

The only President calling on the services of a nutritionist was François Mitterand

She feared that a feminine presence in the kitchens might disturb the team, said Mr Vaussion, adding that he regularly takes on women for work experience but has never hired one.

Mr Sarkozy’s term, which began in 2007, has seen “fewer state dinners and more intimate meetings”, explained Mr Vaussion, dressed in white work clothes with the French national colours – blue, white and red – decorating his chest.

The right-wing President personally approves the menu every morning, as his predecessors François Mitterrand and Valery Giscard d’Estaing did before him.

“He writes ‘yes’ in the margin next to the dishes I propose,” said the cook, who happily notes that the incumbent has a healthy appetite.

But Mr Sarkozy is also health conscious, preferring “light, balanced meals and poultry to red meat”, in a clear break with his predecessors who were not afraid of rich fare.

The only President who called on the services of a nutritionist was Mr Mitterrand but that was only “when he was sick”, said Mr Vaussion, who arrived in the Elysee in January 1974 as a commis chef after finishing a seven-year apprenticeship.

Mr Vaussion may have spent nearly four decades in the loyal service of the French head of state, but he says he is still awed by the prestigious guests who turn up at the Elysee palace.