Fêtes Gourmandes in Villeneuve Loubet Honor Auguste Escoffier

Many young and older gourmets had an appointment at the home of Escoffier in Villeneuve Loubet Village from July 19 to 21, during the Fêtes Gourmandes, dedicated to gastronomy and culture in honor of Auguste Escoffier, the world famous “King of Cuisinier and Cuisinier of Kings”, a native of the city.

In a relaxed and festive atmosphere, visitors took advantage of this beautiful French Riviera summer to walk the aisles lined up with stands of typical products from our beautiful Provencal land and feast on delicious zucchini flower fritters, socca or pan bagnats. But also taste wines, cheeses and Basque meats smelling the French terroir, canapés with candied aromatics or nougats, drink pressed citrus juice, sniff the scent of products based on olive oil or relax with a Peach Melba or a cup of coffee roasted by Cafés du Monde.
In front of the Town Hall, an Italian village, Piazza Forlimpopoli, was settled in honor of the twinning with the town of Forlimpopoli and a tribute to a native of the city, Pellegrino Artusi, great propagator of Italian gastronomy. The producers from Italian provinces offered tasting to preesent their gastronomic delights including products of Emilia Romagna region: honey, wine, meats, oil, cheeses, confectionery. For the curious, the Mariettes association organized a live production workshop of pasta to the delight of all. A restoration area of Italian product was installed on the small plot to treat the hungriest.
In the evening, some Italian musical notes came to complete this pretty picture of flavors “Farfalle de la Note” and “Raphael Gio Quintet”.
Many workshops were available to children, such as tastes introductory workshops and games on the subject of food, snacks around chocolate, games in the footsteps of the small Escoffier, the floral creation, introduction to carving fruits and vegetables, sensory and creative workshops or the one of the small budding pastry and animations around bread (Place des Délices, with Michel Lefèvre and Christian Vinciguerra).
For art lovers, Fêtes Gourmandes proposed an exhibition that was held at the Escoffier Museum including that of Véronique Champollion and her Tables Gourmandes, set out in the courtyard of the museum and a treasure hunt where curious cooks could find the fun characters of Ratatouille among the museum objects as well as an exhibition entitled ” Les Carottes sont Cuites ” (Carrots Are Cooked), a visual and interactive tour featuring the expressions related to food.
Place des Délices (Place of Delights), in a musical and street entertainment atmosphere, everyone could relax, drink and dine at leisure to different bars installed on the square, sitting around tables and benches placed at their disposal.
On Sunday afternoon took place the awards ceremony of the Fêtes Gourmandes culinary photo contest entitled “Flower and Gastronomy”, organized by the city of Villeneuve-Loubet in collaboration with photographer Aline Gérard (Cook and Shoot), very present on this beautiful event with a workshop initiation to photography and the exhibition at Augutes Escoffier Art Culinaire  Museum “Ah Musée Vous”.
 Meanwhile, parents could enroll in the chocolate shop or attend cooking demonstrations by chefs from major institutions of the French Riviera on the theme “Flowers and Gastronomy.”

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