ABOUT
As a child, I used to spend all my school holidays with my grandparents who lived in a council flat in France. The kitchen was not very big but quite functional, with a large pantry at the back where I would hide every time a salesperson knocked on the door. I remember this extra secret room being home to many things: a washing machine, a cloth basket, food tins, saucissons hanging, general food storage, a ham cutting machine and several homemade jam jars of vibrant colours, marinated olives, sauces… It was a concentrate of food abondance.
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My grandad who had a deep passion for eating was in charge of cooking, he was up at 5am every morning potting around in his kitchen. Despite the small size room and a table large enough for only 2 or 3 people, we would always gather in there. I and the other kids in my family spent a lot of time at the kitchen table, playing dominos with sugar cubes or doing magic tricks with eggs. It is at this very same table that we also developed a taste for unusual food such as bone marrow on toast.
I would look forward to accompanying papi on food errands, local butcher, the town market or some wild foraging for dandelion leaves, mushrooms and snails!
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The whole building was filled with life, smells and chit chats, us kids spent all our days outside. The neighbours on the ground floor originated from Morrocco would share their tasty traditional dishes with us. The excitement of homemade Couscous! The first-floor lady was a hairdresser and the fair exchange of a perm for homemade breads was totally appropriate.
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Used as an acceptable currency, a way to bring different cultures together or an opportunity to connect with nature, food was at the heart of everything.
My grandparents had very little money and lived a very humble life, but in the 80's food was available to everyone. Discounted supermarkets, lower quality ingredients and microwaves had not yet emerged into our world. Food inequality simply didn't exist, we had access to safe, healthy, affordable ingredients; regardless of where people lived or how much they earned.
Those fond memories of my early childhood have certainly influenced my passion for cooking and the place food has in my life and in my heart, an invaluable heritage I am now passing on to my own child.
Food is not just fuel, food is culture and heritage, food is a public crisis, food is health, habit and behaviour, food is history and identity, food is the environment and much more.
About 10 years ago, I had to remove gluten from my diet due to medical reasons. This pushed me to develop a new cooking style, and from then on, my interest in nutrition and the relationship between health and food began, as well as the impact on the environment and the financial barriers.
My mantra is, "constraints encourage creativity!"
The Mediterranean Table prepares fresh, home-cooked buffets inspired by the Mediterranean diet, available for parties and business events, specializing in vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free cuisine, but also has a mission to share knowledge and experience through practical cooking classes, such as how to cook healthy meals on a budget or easy gluten-free meals workshop, or kids' workshops.