When did gastronomy first become one of France’s most potent forms of soft power? That is among the many questions asked at the fascinating new exhibition, Paris, Capitale de la Gastronomie, du Moyen Âge à nos jours, April 13^th  – July 16^th  2023, at the Conciergerie on Ile de la Cité in Paris. The answer we learn is January 5th, 1378, during an extraordinary banquet held in this very palace by the King of France, Charles V, in hopes of impressing and gaining favour with the Emperor Charles IV of Bohemia and his son, the Prince Wenceslas, Count of Luxembourg and King of the Romans – a repast which took place in this very building, which from the 10^th to the 14^th century was the seat of power for the Kings of France.

For the historian Bruno Laurioux, the meal represents one of the earliest recorded examples of “gastrodiplomacy”, and though it took place more than 600 years ago, the exposition allows the visitors to appreciate the event in rich detail, presenting the entire sprawling menu and medieval paintings of the meal (like the image above from the 15^th century book Grandes Chroniques de France), providing virtual reality reimagining of the scene with a ‘HistoPad’, and for a lucky few, tasting some of the dishes during a sold-out dinner which took place in May, during which the medieval cuisine served at the banquet was recreated. 

The exposition offers a chance to better know France’s first celebrity chef – Guillaume Tirel, known as Taillevent, author of the first French cookbook, Le Viandier, and the man who prepared the banquet for Charles V. The King ordered four courses of forty dishes for the meal, then decided the elderly Emperor might not be up for all that, so he settled for three courses of thirty dishes (oyster stew, capons in a fish salmis, reversed eels, roasted sea bream, salted goose, stuffed figs covered in gold leaf, Boar’s tail, stuffed gilded rabbits, roast mullet with safflower sauce, white almond blancmange…).

As a visitor, it’s a delight to discover this story and then step into the Conciergerie’s still-intact medieval kitchens, which have retained the same configuration they had in the 14^th  century when Taillevent cooked this meal here. I admit that while I’ve never been a great fan of the ‘HistoPad’ in exhibitions, but to be able to view each of the kitchen’s four enormous fireplaces as they would have looked when they were all working, each dedicated to a different task (roasted meats, fish, consommés or vegetables) was fascinating, and an example of how the technology can truly help to bring the history of a place to life.

Of course, all this represents only a fraction of the exhibition, which spans the history of gastronomy in France from medieval times to the present day, with looks back at historic meals, and at the restaurants and places which helped make Paris the culinary capital it still is today. 

Here are just a few of the many delicious memories I’ll take away from the exhibition.

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