InvestigationForgotten the encyclopedic and intimidating manual, make way for gourmet and intimate works. Cookbooks now attract readers looking for embodied craftsmanship, stories and personalized recipes. A literary genre driven by the appetite for well-being and “better eating”.
This Sunday afternoon in November, a bitter cold is blowing over the old town of Périgueux, in the Dordogne. A light mist dissipates here and there in the maze of cobbled streets. Most of the businesses have lowered the curtains and an army of loudspeakers spits out a little summer music to absent tourists. Everywhere, the Perigord capital seems to be enveloped in an autumnal lethargy.
However, just a few hundred meters away, an electric atmosphere worthy of a rock concert floats on the forecourt of the Odyssée Theater. In front of the enclosure which welcomes this weekend the 16e edition of the Gourmet Book Festival – the only event in France to devote all of its literary programming to the culinary theme – several hundred people wait in an endless line and stamp their feet with the effervescence of great evenings.
They are young, old, there are as many women as there are men; they came alone, as a couple or as a family with strollers and children; some are regulars who come back every year, others say they have traveled a bit for the occasion. They all carry a copy of Cook well with my Mentor method (Albin Michel), the latest work by Philippe Etchebest, Michelin-starred chef with multiple media appearances, invited by the festival for a cooking class and a signing session.
When the imposing figure of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France and “Top Chef” star finally appears, the security guards are struggling to contain the crowd. Under a cloud of smartphones and crackling flashes, Philippe Etchebest, belted shirt and white apron with blue, white, red edging, takes the time to greet the assembly before sitting down at the table next to a stack of books. He rolls up his sleeves, grabs a felt-tip pen and, as if to cheer himself up before a marathon, starts playing an AC / DC album on his phone, volume up.
At the beginning of the line, one reads in the eyes of a child, under the admiring gaze of his parents, a mixture of joy and excitement. Further on, as any Beatles fan would have brandished their freshly autographed single, a woman proudly wears her cooking apron. Across, on the red cotton fabric, we can read a handwritten note: “Amitiés gourmandes, Philippe Etchebest”.
Driven by the craze for personalities from the restaurant world, the cookbook is experiencing a real rise in power. This rapidly changing literary genre has been in the spotlight in Périgueux since 1990, in a festival where we meet more than 80 culinary authors, among chefs, pastry chefs, specialist journalists, bloggers, but also – novelty – influencers. The event recorded 10,000 visitors this year. But the editorial success is general: in 2021, sales of cookbooks increased by 48% in France, after having experienced a low the previous year because of the health situation, according to a survey by GfK published by Weekly Books.
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