“Knowing, choosing, preserving, cooking, these are the “4 Cs” essential to eating well”

I was made aware of the environment and the importance of good nutrition from a very young age. Born in Évry, I grew up in Ris-Orangis, in Essonne, watercress department. I’m a suburban guy, from a farming family. My father devoted himself to the Île-de-France Livestock Farm, my grandfather was a grain grower near Sens, in Yonne, my grandmother took care of the farmyard and livestock. On weekends, we met as a family at my grandparents’ house to help on the farm. In the summer, we harvested the crops, in the fall we went to pick the apples for cider, and in the spring we pruned the fruit trees.

My grandmother cooked a lot, I was marked by these tastes and smells of the countryside, the scent of good homemade dishes (pumpkin soup, veal’s head, bacon quiche). My two brothers became an organic winegrower, the other “sourcer” of fish for sustainable fishing and my sister, a school teacher. And I followed a “green thread” throughout my journey.

I studied geography, to understand how the earth works, then worked within the e-graine educational network to develop educational tools around environmental awareness. I then went into the field in Lebanon, with the Bahr Loubnan association. And finally in Rhône-Alpes, to take care of a natural park, then become a trainer.

Make vegetables familiar

I have lived in Lyon since 2011, where I teach at university in rural geography and awareness of taste, within a course “Local products, short circuits and gastronomy”. I passed my CAP cuisine in 2016, driven by the conviction that eating well can reconnect people to themselves, to others and to nature. I worked in restaurants, in farm inns, then I co-founded the Santé Goût Terroir association, because between us and the environment there is the product we taste, this piece of landscape, of terroir that we consume.

We have launched tasting conferences in the presence of producers, to introduce the public to the products, their history, and ways to transform and appreciate them. In the same spirit, the book that I co-wrote with the organic market gardener and founder of AMAP Daniel Vuillon, aims to familiarize people with vegetables, to draw their portraits, by listing the “4 Cs” essential to eating well: knowing, choose, store, cook. You must first know the vegetable, its history; then know how to choose it carefully according to the season, the method of production, the variety, the appearance; and finally how to store and cook it so that it is at its best in taste and nutritional value.

Watercress velouté is a recipe from my childhood that left its mark on me: I discovered this funny spicy salad, full of virtues, which grows in water all year round in our regions, and which we can enhance it by avoiding overcooking it. You just need to heat it for a minute to remove its spiciness but retain its taste, vitamins and color. Thus, the vegetable is sufficient in itself, simple and sublime.