Secrets of the Elysée Kitchen Disclosed by Head Chef

Bernard Vaussion, Head Chef at the Elysée Palace

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Elysée's head chef steps down after almost 40 years and discloses the culinary secrets of Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande

François Mitterrand preferred seafood, Jacques Chirac snails and sauerkraut, Nicolas Sarkozy took cheese off the menu and followed a draconian diet while François Hollande "eats everything".

After almost 40 years in the kitchens of France's presidential palace, the Elysée's head chef is stepping down at the end of the month and has been sharing tit bits about his illustrious guests before throwing in the apron for good.

Bernard Vaussion can still remember the first time he stepped through the presidential gates in 1974 as a mere assistant chef to find nobody in the vast kitchen in the bowels of the Elysée; the entire cooking staff was attending Georges Pompidou's New Year's address.

"I found myself all alone in this huge room in the middle of saucepans," he told Le Parisien [€].

In two weeks, a culinary page in French political history will be turned when he steps out of those gates for good after catering to the tastes of six French presidents, and a range of leaders from African dictators to the Queen. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Thursday, October 17, 2013