Spotlight on Centre-Val de Loire

6th Edition: Spotlight on Centre-Val de Loire

After Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Provence, Goût de/Good France will feature Centre-Val de Loire in a series of events in France and abroad. In many ways, the gastronomy of Centre-Val de Loire epitomizes the French art of living. It is in the this same region, in Tours, that the European Institute for the History and Cultures of Food began promoting the Gastronomic Meal of the French for inclusion on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.

In partnership with the Centre-Val de Loire Regional Council and Regional Tourism Committee, the region will make gastronomy the focus of its 2021 “Nouvelles Renaissances” Cultural and Tourism Season. The region would like to present to the entire world this special relationship with regional products and gastronomy intrinsic to the landscapes in the heart of France and the Loire Valley in Goût de France/Good France events.

An ambassador promoting all things local: Christophe Hay

The two-Michelin-star chef of La Maison d’à Côté in Montlivault, in the Loir-et-Cher, Christophe Hay is this year’s ambassador of the sixth edition of Goût de/Good France that showcases the gastronomy of the Centre-Val de Loire Region. Trained under Paul Bocuse, for whom he brought the pride of French cuisine to the United States for five years, he is dedicated to transmitting culinary culture and a leader of the sustainable gastronomy movement, which draws inspiration from the idea of a nourishing earth.

“When I think of my Loire Valley, a flood of images fill my mind: the river, creeks and ponds, forests, fields and vegetable gardens, chateaus, farms, vines, fauna and flora,”explains this chef who loves nature and to share the riches of the place where he is from: the Garden of France.

Freshwater fish caught directly from the Loire, Wagyu beef of local livestock and home-grown vegetables from his permaculture garden: through his modern cuisine, in which the respect for the land is omnipresent, Christophe Hay is first and foremost an ambassador for all things local who can masterfully re-interpret dishes derived from historical cultural heritage, with contemporary flair. He invites us to discover this region’s cuisine throughout this year’s Goût de France/Good France.