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UNESCO: the French gastronomic meal
the podcast
by Sarah Heath | UNESCO: the French gastronomic meal
http://thehexagon.space/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/UNESCO-Gastronomy.mp3
This new series is on France’s contribution to the UNESCO World Heritage list, a distinguished catalogue of French places and cultural traditions as classified by UNESCO as being of “outstanding value to humanity”. In episode one, I’ll be discussing a slightly unusual but absolutely spot-on addition to UNESCO’s list.
If you were told to imagine France, what would be one of the first words you would think of? Baguettes? Cheese? Frog’s legs? Almost certainly, what would pop into your head would be something to do with food! France’s sensual love affair with food is no secret – clocks are practically set by when you sit down to eat! And good food in France is a treasure not to be rushed or taken lightly.
The words for food in French even make it sound so much more delicious than anywhere else: beef stew or boeuf bourguignon? Fish fingers or poisson pané? Ham and cheese toastie or Croque Monsieur? The English version sounds a bit factory-in-Slough while the French version conjures up a moustachioed Frenchman in a farmhouse kitchen, massaging a steak with his bare hands before flamboyantly pan-frying it in home-made brandy, while a table is being beautifully laid outside in the shade of an old oak tree. OK, I’m getting slightly carried away and admittedly, for a vegetarian, the chef sounds tastier than the steak, but those images aren’t just in my head are they?
Clearly not. In 2010, enthusiastic foodies from the UN cultural organisation decided that the French gastronomic meal fulfilled all the necessary requirements for its inclusion on the world intangible heritage list. No, I hadn’t heard of it either. Intangible heritage is also sometimes called living cultural heritage and is to celebrate and encourage those more abstract ideas of what makes up certain rituals in society – a shout out to day-to-day activities such as eating a beautifully prepared meal to one of the most recent additions to the French list, the art of dry stone walling.
The 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage says, and I quote word-for-word as I’m not sure I could untangle the wording into a neat précis:
Intangible Cultural Heritage means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.
But anyway, back to the food. The French need almost zero excuse to sit down with family and friends and enjoy a long leisurely meal and this ideal just in itself makes up a strong part of a key element required for its UNESCO status. It is a bringing together of people in a social environment. It might be for a special occasion like a birthday or a reunion or it might be a regular Sunday lunch-type affair. But it most definitely ISN’T eating beans-on-toast on your lap in front of the telly with Great-Aunt Marjorie!
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By Sarah Heaththe podcast
by Sarah Heath | UNESCO: the French gastronomic meal
http://thehexagon.space/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/UNESCO-Gastronomy.mp3
This new series is on France’s contribution to the UNESCO World Heritage list, a distinguished catalogue of French places and cultural traditions as classified by UNESCO as being of “outstanding value to humanity”. In episode one, I’ll be discussing a slightly unusual but absolutely spot-on addition to UNESCO’s list.
If you were told to imagine France, what would be one of the first words you would think of? Baguettes? Cheese? Frog’s legs? Almost certainly, what would pop into your head would be something to do with food! France’s sensual love affair with food is no secret – clocks are practically set by when you sit down to eat! And good food in France is a treasure not to be rushed or taken lightly.
The words for food in French even make it sound so much more delicious than anywhere else: beef stew or boeuf bourguignon? Fish fingers or poisson pané? Ham and cheese toastie or Croque Monsieur? The English version sounds a bit factory-in-Slough while the French version conjures up a moustachioed Frenchman in a farmhouse kitchen, massaging a steak with his bare hands before flamboyantly pan-frying it in home-made brandy, while a table is being beautifully laid outside in the shade of an old oak tree. OK, I’m getting slightly carried away and admittedly, for a vegetarian, the chef sounds tastier than the steak, but those images aren’t just in my head are they?
Clearly not. In 2010, enthusiastic foodies from the UN cultural organisation decided that the French gastronomic meal fulfilled all the necessary requirements for its inclusion on the world intangible heritage list. No, I hadn’t heard of it either. Intangible heritage is also sometimes called living cultural heritage and is to celebrate and encourage those more abstract ideas of what makes up certain rituals in society – a shout out to day-to-day activities such as eating a beautifully prepared meal to one of the most recent additions to the French list, the art of dry stone walling.
The 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage says, and I quote word-for-word as I’m not sure I could untangle the wording into a neat précis:
Intangible Cultural Heritage means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.
But anyway, back to the food. The French need almost zero excuse to sit down with family and friends and enjoy a long leisurely meal and this ideal just in itself makes up a strong part of a key element required for its UNESCO status. It is a bringing together of people in a social environment. It might be for a special occasion like a birthday or a reunion or it might be a regular Sunday lunch-type affair. But it most definitely ISN’T eating beans-on-toast on your lap in front of the telly with Great-Aunt Marjorie!