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(Jacques) Good morning!

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Good morning, everybody!

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(Audience) Good morning!

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Claudine and I are delighted 
to be with you this morning

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to be the first one.

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I left home when I was 13
to go to apprenticeship,

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that was in 1949.

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Actually, home was a restaurant
where my mother was the chef,

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I was already in that business.

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In fact, there was 12 restaurants
through the years in my family

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and 12 of them owned by women,

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I'm the first male to enter 
that business in my family.

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I went into apprenticeship from Lyon,
where my mother had her little restaurant

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to Bourg-en-Bresse, where 
I was born a few miles away.

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Prior to that, when we were 
about 8-9 years old,

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my mother had that little restaurant

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so, my brother and I, 
before going to school,

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walked with my mother to the market

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- the St. Antoine market
along the Saône river -

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and she would walk the market one way, 
about 1/2 a mile, and buy on her way back.

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Buying a case of mushrooms 
which were getting dark

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maybe for a third of the price or less.

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We carried, of course,
we didn't have a car at the time.

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She'd get home and start doing 
her vegetables, peeling for the day.

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She did not have 
a refrigerator at that time.

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She had an ice box, that is
a block of ice into a little cabinet,

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so she'd have chicken of the day, meat,

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fish, usually, whiting or mackerel 
or skate -inexpensive fish -

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and that she has to use it that day.

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And again, the day after, 
we start all over again.

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Everything was organic, 
everything was local.

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The word organic did not really exist --

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well, since chemical fertilizers 
did not exist either,

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or fungicides, insecticides, pesticides,
all that stuff did not exist,

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so everything was, you know, local and --

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(Claudine) Organic.
(Jacques) Organic, that's it.

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So, I went into apprenticeship, 
I was 13 years old and, at that time,

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it was very structured,
well, still is to certain extend,

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you got to be there on time,
you got to be clean,

40
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you have to be willing,

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it's discipline, it's structure,
that's the way a kitchen can work.

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We learn through a type of osmosis.

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The chef never really explained 
anything, he'd just say, "Do that".

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And if you say, "Why?", and he'd say, 
"Because I just told you".

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That was about the end
of the apprenticeship.

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Probably, just as good for
someone who's 13-14 years old.

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So, we worked, repeating, and repeating,
and repeating those techniques ad nauseam;

48
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we were not allowed
to go to the stove for a year.

49
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So, during that year,
I did pluck a lot of chicken,

50
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eviscerated a lot of chicken, 
scaled fish, chopped parsley,

51
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all of that type of things,
and then, the chef called me --

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My name was "you" at the time,

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then by the time I went to the stove,
they called me Jacques, so I got the name.

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So, he said, "You start tomorrow".

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"I start tomorrow?",
I didn't know how to do it;

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I went to the stove
and I knew how to do it.

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So there was that type of osmosis,
things that you show, that you mentor.

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I've got a book called, "La technique",
that I published in 1975,

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so it's 40-year old,

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and I don't cook
the way I did 40 years ago.

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But the way I did an egg white, 
or sharpen a knife,

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or bone out a chicken, 
to give you a sense;

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it is that kind of permanence,
that kind of continuity,

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that, you'll learn in the kitchen;

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to be first a craftsman.

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And it's very difficult, 
very often, to explain in words

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something that you can show --

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It's easier to show --

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than to explain

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in words.

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You can do that to chocolate as well.

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You'd do that at exactly 
the right temperature.

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And we used to

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put the butter in 
a little container, that on top,

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and now you can charge 20 bucks for it.

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(Laughter)

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Put that in water that's cold, 
so we could do whatever.

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(Applause)

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Thank you, Titine.

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For me, first you have to be a craftsman.

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You have to be a craftsman, and is
that repeat, and repeat, and repeat,

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that is very important.

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Just like

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you can spend a year, two years, 
in a studio in art school

85
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and learn the law of perspective,
it is perfectly fine,

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and you learn how to mix 
yellow and blue to make green,

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you know what to do with your sand, 
with your spatula, with the brush;

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then you can come out and 
do one painting after another.

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So, does that make you a chef? Not really.

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But you're by then, a good craftsman,
and that's very important.

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You have, first, to know your trade,

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whether you are

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a shoemaker, or a cabinet maker
- like my father -

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first, you know your trade.

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So, those things that we boned out

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I learned, as I said, as a child.

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And then, I learned this from --

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I don't remember where I learn that but --

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when you learn something 
you learn it a certain way

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and after a while, you don't remember 
where it comes from,

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and you do it your own way, eventually.

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To do a type of lollipop 
like that, as we used to --

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So, those techniques, as I said,
first make you a craftsman,

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and if you are a good craftsman,
then you can run a restaurant.

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There are about 20,000 restaurants in NY

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and 100 are well known, maybe 200, 
maybe 300, maybe 400 even,

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but what happen to the 19,500
is that they are run by artisans,

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people who know how to work properly,

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and this is the only way if you become,
in my opinion, a good craftsman,

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if you have that type of knowledge,
then you can express yourself.

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This is half of yourself,

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the other half has to do with talent.

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If you have talent --

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If you happen to have talent,

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by this I mean, if you have taste,

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if you have a bit of a vision,

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if you have a little bit of creativity,

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then you can express yourself,

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you now have the means in your hands
to express yourself,

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if you've gone through those techniques.

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You have to repeat 
those techniques, as I said,

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long enough so that,
you can afford to forget it after.

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Here we are, 
half of this, now the filet.

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(Claudine) If you have any questions
you should shout them out,

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it's a good opportunity.

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(Claudine) There's going to be a test.

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(Laughter)

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(Jacques) This way.

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There's my carcass.

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Now, the tip of the filet,
you remove it here.

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This one here --

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So, you free your hand
by learning those techniques

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and as I said, you can now

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think in term of texture,
in term of other things

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because, as I said, you free your hand
by repeating and repeating.

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Now, this is one part of yourself,

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half of yourself is there, 
it's the craftsman;

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the other part of yourself

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now depend on whether 
you have talent or not,

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and even if you have 
a little bit of talent, not too much,

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you can still run a little restaurant
by being a good technician.

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If you have a lot of talent,
then you can take it further.

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Not all the chefs are René Redzepi,

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or David Chang,

145
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or José Andrés --

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Here we are.

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(Applause and cheering)

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(Jacques) At that point 
you really don't want to cut the bone

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because the skin will shrink 
all over the place so, we break it.

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And you know, the interesting part
is that if you carve in the dining room,

151
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or if you do a quail 
or a pheasant or a goose,

152
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the morphology is the same.

153
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If you cut a chicken 
in pieces to do a skew,

154
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you cut exactly in the sample place,
at the shoulder joint, at the hip joint.

155
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Okay.

156
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Now, you have to be very proud 
of what you're doing

157
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but you also have to be humble
to a certain extend

158
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because there's always someone

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who can think with 
more creativity than you,

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or who can think harder than you do.

161
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We're all limited 
by the extent of our taste

162
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and they are different,

163
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and sometimes you have a food critic
who really doesn't know how to cook

164
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but maybe can taste better than you do.

165
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We follow on that 
and sometimes it's difficult to take

166
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but that's the way it is.

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For me, a young chef should work
with a good chef, in a good place,

168
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and at that point your [inaudible] is 
to try to visualize what that chef does,

169
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if he or she works with you
then you try to see --

170
00:11:16,300 --> 00:11:18,999
Yeah, where there's no bones --

171
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a little bit here --

172
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you try to see the food through
his or her sense of aesthetic,

173
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their sense of taste,

174
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and even if it doesn't coincide with you,

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most of the time

176
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it won't coincide with your sense of taste
or your sense of aesthetic,

177
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but it doesn't really matter 
at that point,

178
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you have to look at it through that,

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and you do it for a year or two,

180
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then you work with another chef
for a year or two,

181
00:11:47,928 --> 00:11:52,858
and again looking at things
from a different point of view,

182
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different sense of aesthetic,

183
00:11:57,021 --> 00:12:00,949
and then maybe with a third one
a few more times,

184
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then at some point 
you're going to give it back.

185
00:12:05,338 --> 00:12:11,633
You're going to give it back,

186
00:12:11,633 --> 00:12:13,978
and now you're going to filter it
through your sense of taste,

187
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through your sense of aesthetic,

188
00:12:15,088 --> 00:12:16,079
that's how it works

189
00:12:16,079 --> 00:12:18,997
because ultimately, at some point,
you cannot escape yourself,

190
00:12:18,997 --> 00:12:22,372
you are who you are, and that's the way
how you are going to do it.

191
00:12:22,372 --> 00:12:26,281
It's always a bit of a paradox for me

192
00:12:26,281 --> 00:12:29,060
because I work with young chefs
at Boston University

193
00:12:29,060 --> 00:12:34,100
and everyone wants to do 
something special and different.

194
00:12:34,100 --> 00:12:37,281
I do a class which I call a perfect meal,

195
00:12:37,281 --> 00:12:41,890
which is a roast chicken,
a bol of potatoes and a salad.

196
00:12:41,890 --> 00:12:43,679
It used to be this way --

197
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they all go to the stove
to do the same type of things

198
00:12:48,289 --> 00:12:54,928
and I say, "Don't try to blew my mind
because I know that I have 12 people here

199
00:12:54,928 --> 00:12:57,112
and I'm going to have 
12 different chicken."

200
00:12:57,112 --> 00:12:58,520
That's the way it is so --

201
00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,239
you don't really have to 
torture yourself to be different,

202
00:13:01,239 --> 00:13:02,190
you are different,

203
00:13:02,190 --> 00:13:04,050
there's no way that you can do

204
00:13:04,050 --> 00:13:07,968
exactly the same thing
than the person next to you.

205
00:13:09,219 --> 00:13:13,339
This is a good beef stuffing but --

206
00:13:13,339 --> 00:13:14,738
just to give you an idea.

207
00:13:22,399 --> 00:13:23,571
Okay, Titine --

208
00:13:27,468 --> 00:13:33,698
We have our galantine,
that is if we poach it,

209
00:13:33,698 --> 00:13:35,678
and our ballotine if we roast it.

210
00:13:36,359 --> 00:13:37,740
Thank you.

211
00:13:38,208 --> 00:13:40,051
So, we put it this way --

212
00:13:52,869 --> 00:13:55,488
(Claudine) No questions?

213
00:14:09,758 --> 00:14:11,760
(Jacques) Okay.

214
00:14:21,569 --> 00:14:24,600
- (Jacques) Very quiet here --
- (Claudine) I know --

215
00:14:25,229 --> 00:14:26,699
(Claudine) Do you want some wine?

216
00:14:28,418 --> 00:14:31,388
(Jacques) Ah, my daughter knows me --
(Laughter)

217
00:14:33,669 --> 00:14:36,109
(Jacques) Our galantine, so --

218
00:14:36,109 --> 00:14:42,088
(Applause and cheering)

219
00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:48,551
(Jacques) Up to that point --
(Claudine) You have five minutes --

220
00:14:48,551 --> 00:14:50,348
(Jacques) Oh yeah... okay.

221
00:14:50,348 --> 00:14:56,998
the technique to do something
remain fairly constant --

222
00:15:00,348 --> 00:15:03,539
but at that point
this is what it'll change,

223
00:15:03,539 --> 00:15:07,149
when you're happy with the way 
how you cook it, what you do with it,

224
00:15:07,149 --> 00:15:09,998
the seasoning and all of that 
become your own.

225
00:15:11,631 --> 00:15:13,448
Okay --
(Eggs cracking)

226
00:15:18,491 --> 00:15:21,468
- (Jacques) Pepper, Titine?
- (Claudine) Yep --

227
00:15:21,910 --> 00:15:25,178
- (Jacques) That's your salt --
- (Pepper mill grinding)

228
00:15:29,067 --> 00:15:32,281
(Claudine) Everyone needs one of me 
in the kitchen, you all need me --

229
00:15:32,281 --> 00:15:34,161
(Laughter)

230
00:15:35,449 --> 00:15:38,929
(Jacques) Now I cook with
my granddaughter as well.

231
00:15:39,730 --> 00:15:41,210
(Claudine) She's twelve.

232
00:15:42,908 --> 00:15:49,250
(Jacques) Yes, when I did a TV show 
with Claudine many years ago --

233
00:15:51,399 --> 00:15:53,579
(Jacques) Why did you 
give me two of those?

234
00:15:53,891 --> 00:15:56,339
(Claudine) I get... I offer
whatever you want it --

235
00:15:56,649 --> 00:15:58,249
(Jacques) Okay, good.

236
00:15:58,798 --> 00:16:04,741
(Jacques) I learned to make 
three different types of omelettes.

237
00:16:05,140 --> 00:16:13,308
A flat omelette, à la piperade
or omelette basquaise and so forth --

238
00:16:13,308 --> 00:16:15,349
Western omelette or in the US,

239
00:16:15,349 --> 00:16:17,779
and then we did an omelette
that my mother would do

240
00:16:17,779 --> 00:16:20,980
with very large curd, brown,

241
00:16:20,980 --> 00:16:29,298
and then we did a more 
classic omelette - like this one -

242
00:16:31,667 --> 00:16:37,579
and loose, we want to make 
very small curds like scramble egg --

243
00:16:52,061 --> 00:16:55,060
Now there are three different 
types of omelettes that I would do,

244
00:16:55,060 --> 00:16:58,888
one is not better than the other,
it's just different

245
00:16:58,888 --> 00:17:01,328
A few weeks ago I did that for television,

246
00:17:01,328 --> 00:17:04,401
they came to my house and wanted me
to do the three types of omelettes,

247
00:17:04,401 --> 00:17:06,468
which I did --

248
00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:10,668
and then they realized they only have 
a minute and a half when they edited,

249
00:17:10,668 --> 00:17:13,579
so they just took some stuff 
from one omelette to the other,

250
00:17:13,579 --> 00:17:16,118
to the other, and mix 
the whole thing together --

251
00:17:16,118 --> 00:17:17,208
(Laughter)

252
00:17:17,208 --> 00:17:18,448
(Jacques) What a waste!

253
00:17:18,448 --> 00:17:20,893
Here you bring it back here

254
00:17:20,893 --> 00:17:23,731
which you're rolling
really like a carpet --

255
00:17:23,731 --> 00:17:26,579
so you're just bringing one lid --

256
00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:28,858
one lid here and a half moon --

257
00:17:30,049 --> 00:17:34,160
nice half moon... 
bring that here --

258
00:17:34,798 --> 00:17:37,470
bring the other lid on top --

259
00:17:38,259 --> 00:17:39,918
this is the time 
when you want to stuff it,

260
00:17:41,158 --> 00:17:42,670
change hands,

261
00:17:42,670 --> 00:17:44,950
and that omelette should be --

262
00:17:46,219 --> 00:17:47,758
to the edge --

263
00:17:49,578 --> 00:17:52,370
Ooooh!

264
00:17:52,708 --> 00:17:55,829
- The chefs in my kitchen --
- (Applause)

265
00:18:01,550 --> 00:18:04,469
The chef in my kitchen 
would have seen the pleads on top

266
00:18:04,469 --> 00:18:08,599
and he would have done some reference
to the behind of his grandmother --

267
00:18:08,599 --> 00:18:10,261
(Laughter)

268
00:18:10,261 --> 00:18:17,418
As you can see it should be pale 
right on top, very creamy,

269
00:18:17,418 --> 00:18:20,278
very soft inside, like scramble eggs,

270
00:18:20,278 --> 00:18:24,438
and that's what a classic omelette is.

271
00:18:25,539 --> 00:18:27,661
(Jacques) Yes, Claudine?
(Claudine) Yes, papa!

272
00:18:28,618 --> 00:18:30,130
(Jacques) Ok, will you drink to that?
(Claudine) I will!

273
00:18:30,441 --> 00:18:37,993
(Applause)

274
00:18:40,458 --> 00:18:45,827
(Claudine) Whatever 
you take away from here, I hope --

275
00:18:46,448 --> 00:18:49,018
and it's so wonderful that 
you're taking the time to be here,

276
00:18:49,018 --> 00:18:53,211
I hope you share 
your knowledge with everyone

277
00:18:53,211 --> 00:18:56,669
because that's how the craft continues,

278
00:18:56,669 --> 00:18:59,469
that's how our trade continues,
that's how it gets better.

279
00:18:59,469 --> 00:19:03,982
(Jacques) Yeah, I realized quite well,
all of you know those techniques,

280
00:19:03,982 --> 00:19:09,468
some better than me, 
yet I thank you for coming

281
00:19:09,468 --> 00:19:13,589
and listening to me, but for me
the permanence is there,

282
00:19:13,589 --> 00:19:19,498
to teach, to explain and to show
at least the basic structure,

283
00:19:19,498 --> 00:19:22,629
and at that point, when you have
that type of manual dexterity

284
00:19:22,629 --> 00:19:24,508
or technical knowledge,

285
00:19:24,508 --> 00:19:26,798
then you can run a kitchen quite well.

286
00:19:26,798 --> 00:19:29,600
As I said, if you happen to have talent,

287
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:31,919
then you bring it to a another level

288
00:19:31,919 --> 00:19:38,149
and, like the person who works 
in a studio for a couple of years,

289
00:19:38,149 --> 00:19:40,992
as I said, after that, you know 
how to mix all your paintings

290
00:19:40,992 --> 00:19:42,632
and know what you can do with a brush,

291
00:19:42,632 --> 00:19:45,348
then you step outside you do
one painting after another --

292
00:19:45,348 --> 00:19:47,379
Does that make you an artist?

293
00:19:47,379 --> 00:19:50,059
Not really, at that point 
you're a good craftsman.

294
00:19:50,059 --> 00:19:52,518
If, however, you have talent,

295
00:19:52,518 --> 00:19:55,379
now you have the means 
to express that talent

296
00:19:55,379 --> 00:19:57,010
and take it somewhere.

297
00:19:57,010 --> 00:20:00,049
As I said, you do 
have to transcend that level

298
00:20:00,049 --> 00:20:04,246
in which you have to concentrate
on the manual task that you're at.

299
00:20:04,246 --> 00:20:08,019
You see a beginner coming around
and you said: "Do you have any parsley?"

300
00:20:08,019 --> 00:20:10,860
and he sayd: "Don't disturb me"
- someone is slicing something -

301
00:20:10,860 --> 00:20:13,900
So you have to transcend that level
you don't have to think about it,

302
00:20:13,900 --> 00:20:17,389
things are there so you can think
in terms of texture,

303
00:20:17,389 --> 00:20:20,572
combination of ingredients,
or things like that.

304
00:20:20,572 --> 00:20:21,617
- Right, Titine?

305
00:20:21,617 --> 00:20:23,820
(Claudine) Right. 
Do you have any questions?

306
00:20:23,820 --> 00:20:26,538
(Jacques) I think I was there at 
one and a half minute,

307
00:20:26,538 --> 00:20:27,758
now I'm back to seven minutes?

308
00:20:27,758 --> 00:20:29,408
(Laughter)

309
00:20:30,448 --> 00:20:31,728
(Claudine) Oh, okay.

310
00:20:32,828 --> 00:20:39,239
(Jacques) Yes, any questions?
No questions... Yes, sir?

311
00:20:39,900 --> 00:20:42,549
(inaudible speaking from the audience)

312
00:20:42,898 --> 00:20:44,499
(Claudine) Oh, yeah --
(Jacques) Do I know that man here?

313
00:20:44,499 --> 00:20:47,629
(Claudine) I gave him 20 bucks before 
to say that. Thank you, Michelle!

314
00:20:48,809 --> 00:20:49,898
(Claudine blowing a kiss)

315
00:20:50,169 --> 00:20:51,630
(Jacques) Thank you, Michelle.

316
00:20:51,977 --> 00:20:56,699
Yes, I know that there are 
great, fantastic chefs here --

317
00:20:56,699 --> 00:21:00,402
we had an extraordinary, 
extraordinary meal at Noma,

318
00:21:00,402 --> 00:21:03,079
I'm gratified to be here,

319
00:21:03,079 --> 00:21:05,929
I know I'm the oldest of the group

320
00:21:05,929 --> 00:21:10,169
and now that I'm passed 80 years old
I'm supposed to be wise --

321
00:21:10,169 --> 00:21:12,800
I don't think that I'm wiser
than when I was 30 years old

322
00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:16,601
but this is what happens when you get old.

323
00:21:16,939 --> 00:21:17,858
You think I'm wise, Claudine?

324
00:21:17,858 --> 00:21:19,769
(Claudine) Yes, yes, yes... 
of course, you are!

325
00:21:19,769 --> 00:21:20,898
(Jacques) Ok, that's a good daughter.

326
00:21:20,898 --> 00:21:23,788
(Laughter)

327
00:21:23,788 --> 00:21:27,131
(Jacques) Now I'm doing a show
with my granddaughter, Shorey,

328
00:21:27,131 --> 00:21:29,538
which we called "Lesson of a grandfather".

329
00:21:29,538 --> 00:21:32,749
So, little things, 
even how to set up a table,

330
00:21:32,749 --> 00:21:36,369
eat properly at the table or --

331
00:21:36,369 --> 00:21:38,948
but no, not enjoying wine yet --

332
00:21:38,948 --> 00:21:41,368
(Claudine) No, no, no wine yet,
it's just to give us show, so --

333
00:21:41,368 --> 00:21:43,481
(Laughter)

334
00:21:43,481 --> 00:21:44,829
(Claudine) Yes, sir?

335
00:21:44,829 --> 00:21:49,178
(inaudible speaking from the audience)

336
00:21:53,118 --> 00:21:57,259
It's a very interesting question...
Do you want to repeat the question?

337
00:21:57,259 --> 00:22:00,728
(Claudine) The question is how 
are the kitchens today different than

338
00:22:00,728 --> 00:22:04,319
the kitchens my father
was an apprentice in.

339
00:22:04,319 --> 00:22:05,888
Pretty dramatic?

340
00:22:05,888 --> 00:22:10,158
- Yes, well, no... but, yes!
- (Laughter)

341
00:22:10,158 --> 00:22:12,429
There is a permanence there,
the point is that

342
00:22:12,429 --> 00:22:14,409
you still have to come on time,

343
00:22:14,409 --> 00:22:16,289
you still have to be ready to work,

344
00:22:16,289 --> 00:22:20,499
you still work in a place which is 
very structured, very disciplined,

345
00:22:20,499 --> 00:22:21,539
like in the army,

346
00:22:21,539 --> 00:22:23,989
you don't say, "Yes, captain!",
but you say, "Yes, chef!",

347
00:22:23,989 --> 00:22:26,668
it's about the same thing
and you have to --

348
00:22:26,668 --> 00:22:29,660
you have to so that 
the kitchen works properly.

349
00:22:29,660 --> 00:22:31,158
You're a member of a team,

350
00:22:31,158 --> 00:22:34,079
and if you're late or you don't show up
to be part of that team,

351
00:22:34,079 --> 00:22:35,698
you're going to destroy the structure,

352
00:22:35,698 --> 00:22:37,708
so that remains the same.

353
00:22:37,708 --> 00:22:40,411
That being said, when I was a kid,

354
00:22:40,411 --> 00:22:45,949
when we cut a tomato
we only cut it in one direction,

355
00:22:45,949 --> 00:22:49,339
we never alternate to the other side
when I worked at the Plaza and in Paris,

356
00:22:49,339 --> 00:22:50,729
or whatever in the fifties.

357
00:22:50,729 --> 00:22:53,307
Now, there's a much greater deal

358
00:22:53,307 --> 00:22:55,861
and innovation is part of yourself too.

359
00:22:55,861 --> 00:23:00,188
And, of course, 
we, up to 20-30 years ago --

360
00:23:00,188 --> 00:23:05,898
I've been in the kitchen 65-67 years --

361
00:23:05,898 --> 00:23:08,440
the cook were at the bottom
of the social scale.

362
00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:12,828
Any good mother would have wanted
her child to marry a doctor, an architect,

363
00:23:12,828 --> 00:23:17,029
certainly not a cook.

364
00:23:17,029 --> 00:23:20,298
Now we are genius! I don't know 
exactly what happened but --

365
00:23:20,298 --> 00:23:21,089
(Laughter

366
00:23:21,089 --> 00:23:22,901
this is great, this is terrific, so --

367
00:23:22,901 --> 00:23:24,309
(Claudine) Papa, he has a question.

368
00:23:24,309 --> 00:23:25,441
(René) I have a question for you.
(Jacques) Yes.

369
00:23:25,441 --> 00:23:33,888
(René) You said 
you're more than 80, right?

370
00:23:33,888 --> 00:23:35,098
(Jacques) Yes.
(René) Yes.

371
00:23:35,098 --> 00:23:43,088
(René) So, I'm 39 
and I think a lot of cooks

372
00:23:43,088 --> 00:23:48,629
that deal with this... 
what can I say, like, guilt, sometimes --

373
00:23:48,629 --> 00:23:51,892
they feel like they should be yearning
for something in the past,

374
00:23:51,892 --> 00:23:53,889
that in the past 
things were better, kind of --

375
00:23:53,889 --> 00:24:01,309
Can you please tell us
how it used to be in the kitchen

376
00:24:01,309 --> 00:24:04,799
in whether you think 
the life in the kitchen is better today,

377
00:24:04,799 --> 00:24:08,949
and actually, do you think 
that food has become better

378
00:24:08,949 --> 00:24:10,301
and is becoming better?

379
00:24:10,301 --> 00:24:14,275
Or, is it better back in the old days?

380
00:24:14,275 --> 00:24:17,308
(Jacques) No, it is better (but)
there's a cycle also;

381
00:24:17,308 --> 00:24:20,152
certainly as I said, my mother used 
only organic products too

382
00:24:20,152 --> 00:24:22,368
but that's what we have,
we didn't have anything else,

383
00:24:22,368 --> 00:24:25,667
and we're going back to that,
which is a great thing, of course,

384
00:24:25,667 --> 00:24:27,598
to be in communion with the Earth,

385
00:24:27,598 --> 00:24:29,379
to be in communion with where you work

386
00:24:29,379 --> 00:24:31,060
and be local, and so forth.

387
00:24:31,060 --> 00:24:32,501
Yes, absolutely.

388
00:24:32,501 --> 00:24:36,279
The cooks now that the same structure
that we used to have

389
00:24:36,279 --> 00:24:41,128
but you have much more freedom
than we ever had before.

390
00:24:41,128 --> 00:24:45,570
Certainly, I got kicked in the rear end
a few times by my chefs,

391
00:24:45,570 --> 00:24:49,813
I mean it was the type of things
that it was supposed at that time --

392
00:24:49,813 --> 00:24:50,979
it was supposed to be difficult,

393
00:24:50,979 --> 00:24:53,411
you were supposed to go 
to a rite of passage and all of that,

394
00:24:53,411 --> 00:24:55,010
which is not really necessary,

395
00:24:55,010 --> 00:24:57,112
you don't need to be yelled at --

396
00:24:57,112 --> 00:25:04,762
I've seen a lot of show on television,
certainly, reality show,

397
00:25:04,762 --> 00:25:09,279
and the kitchen is like mayhem and 
the chef is yelling all over the place.

398
00:25:09,279 --> 00:25:12,789
This is not conducive 
to good work, certainly.

399
00:25:12,789 --> 00:25:16,708
There's a great deal of love, a great deal
of yourself that you put in that food,

400
00:25:16,708 --> 00:25:20,989
and the yelling 
and other people's lack of respect,

401
00:25:20,989 --> 00:25:25,152
those things are not conducive,
in my opinion, to learning well

402
00:25:25,152 --> 00:25:27,598
and teaching people how to cook.

403
00:25:27,598 --> 00:25:30,088
At a certain age, when I was 12-13,
the best way of learning

404
00:25:30,088 --> 00:25:35,189
was probably through 
that kind of osmotic way:

405
00:25:35,189 --> 00:25:37,809
you look, you repeat, 
you look, you repeat, and so forth.

406
00:25:37,809 --> 00:25:39,608
We passed that level now.

407
00:25:39,608 --> 00:25:43,248
Chefs come from cooking schools,

408
00:25:43,248 --> 00:25:46,490
they come out from college
to their older time,

409
00:25:46,490 --> 00:25:49,051
they want to know how to do it,
they want us to explain,

410
00:25:49,051 --> 00:25:52,409
so it's a different way of teaching
than what we're used to;

411
00:25:52,409 --> 00:25:55,809
and people are much more in a hurry
than how we were too;

412
00:25:55,809 --> 00:25:58,612
we had at least three other apprenticeship
without paid or anything,

413
00:25:58,612 --> 00:26:03,379
so, you know, there are six other
apprentices in front of you --

414
00:26:03,379 --> 00:26:04,797
so, this is much better now.

415
00:26:04,797 --> 00:26:08,779
A much greater respect for the chef,
for what we do for our tradition,

416
00:26:08,779 --> 00:26:10,819
and this is why, I mean, 
we're here today --

417
00:26:10,819 --> 00:26:13,669
- Yes?
- (Claudine) Wrap it up.

418
00:26:13,669 --> 00:26:15,928
(Jacques) Wrap it up. Yes, ma'm, okay.
But I still see one minute --

419
00:26:15,928 --> 00:26:18,900
- (Claudine) Trust me.
- (Laughter)

420
00:26:18,900 --> 00:26:21,791
(Jacques) I don't know whether 
that's the right answer to your question,

421
00:26:21,791 --> 00:26:26,020
or if it's specific enough but --

422
00:26:26,020 --> 00:26:27,669
(René) Can you just say in a yes or no?


423
00:26:27,669 --> 00:26:30,678
(Laughter)

424
00:26:30,678 --> 00:26:33,989
(Claudine) You'll be the first one
to ever get that answer, if it's possible.

425
00:26:33,989 --> 00:26:36,597
If you look back when you were 30

426
00:26:36,597 --> 00:26:40,448
and you look at kitchens 
and chefs and cooking now,

427
00:26:40,448 --> 00:26:42,220
do you believe that is better now?

428
00:26:42,220 --> 00:26:44,500
(Jacques) Oh yes, absolutely, 
no question at all --

429
00:26:44,500 --> 00:26:45,509
(René) Thank you!

430
00:26:45,509 --> 00:26:46,642
(Applause)

431
00:26:46,642 --> 00:26:53,949
(Jacques) No question at all.

432
00:26:53,949 --> 00:26:56,841
(Claudine) Thank you, of course,
to the MAD team for working there,

433
00:26:56,841 --> 00:27:01,010
took us all to the extend 
that I find extraordinary

434
00:27:01,010 --> 00:27:03,988
and rather inspiring so,

435
00:27:03,988 --> 00:27:05,698
I hope that everyone feels really good
about the work here,

436
00:27:05,698 --> 00:27:09,948
but, of course, thanks to all of you
for caring so much about what we do

437
00:27:09,948 --> 00:27:12,938
and about what you do 
and bringing it to the next level

438
00:27:12,938 --> 00:27:15,599
We hope you have a wonderful,
wonderful couple of days.

439
00:27:15,599 --> 00:27:16,799
- Thank you!
- (Jacques) We are!

440
00:27:16,799 --> 00:27:18,309
And drink a lot of wine!

441
00:27:18,309 --> 00:27:24,509
(Cheering and Applause)

442
00:27:24,852 --> 00:27:25,739
Thank you very much!

443
00:27:25,739 --> 00:27:26,819
(Cheering and Applause)

444
00:27:26,819 --> 00:27:29,569
My daughter, Claudine!

445
00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:32,568
(Cheering and Applause)

446
00:27:32,998 --> 00:27:35,108
(Claudine) I'm going 
to bring this in the back for [inaudible]

447
00:27:35,108 --> 00:27:36,349
(Jacques) Okay, good.

448
00:27:38,818 --> 00:27:39,829
(Jacques) Hi Michelle!

449
00:27:43,098 --> 00:27:45,541
(Jacque) Jose is not here?
(René) He's here --

450
00:27:47,770 --> 00:27:51,448
(Jacques) Okay. Everything I know,
I learned from him, you know.

451
00:27:51,448 --> 00:27:53,548
(Laughter)