The spirit of Le Cordon Bleu

MILLIE: Being in Paris was like being in heaven! One of the first things that came to my mind as soon as I arrived in   the gastronomical capital of the world,  was to take cooking lessons. On top of my list was Le Cordon Bleu but unfortunately, all the short term culinary courses for food enthusiasts I was interested in were fully booked or did not conform with my schedule. To my great surprise, Karla and I were invited to meet no less than the President of Le Cordon Bleu, Andre J. Cointreau who was in Manila last week. Imagine meeting him face to face, this very charming and fine educated French gentle man who speaks perfect English and has inspired and attracted thousands of  gastronomes worldwide to learn the craft.

KARLA: In my generation, Le Cordon Bleu is one of the most, if not the most popular international culinary school of today. This is because Le Cordon Bleu has been able to expand to 35 schools around the globe and is accredited in 10 countries. Like any other school, Le Cordon Bleu’s goal is for their students to be recognized as #1 in the industry. The difference is that, Le Cordon Bleu’s focus is teaching French Culinary techniques and French values. Both this knowledge and skills can be applied to local cuisines. The curriculum of Le Cordon Bleu changes according to the needs of the location. This gives the school the flexibility to accommodate the requirements of local education departments and to address the current need of the market for education. With the rise of culinary schools around the country and the popularity of this chosen field, Mr. Cointreau mentioned how being a chef is a very hard job. He says that there are long hours involved, a lot of intensity, unending challenges with one’s creativity and a constant update of knowledge is needed. Yet unlike in the past, chefs are being featured here and there, on TV, magazines etc. whereas before, being a chef was not even recognized as a profession.

MILLIE: Our discussions naturally centered around the industry’s needs and how important it is to educate chefs-to-be as they are beginning to be recognized globally as professionals and as artists. French culinary techniques are applied and taught as these are useful in many cuisines. Le Cordon Bleu’s emphasis is on skills training, earning a reputation that their graduates are  industry ready.

I intimated to Andre Cointreau my concern about training the under privileged in the Philippines and sought his help or assistance in the same way his organization is training some 800 under privileged students in Peru. Le Cordon Bleu also offers Training the Trainer courses which is ideal and would help bring the quality of culinary education to a higher level. 

While in Paris, my friend Babette Aquino took me to lunch at ZE at # 4, rue des Grands Augustins in the 6th arrondissement where I met Aaron Isip, a young Filipino chef who was trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Aaron was lucky to have been allowed to pay for his professional course by working as an assistant at Le Cordon Bleu. Aaron shares the same culinary passion as his present boss, William Ledeuil, Chef Patron of ZE whose creations are unique and appealing. We will be featuring  Aaron and ZE’s interesting style  in this column in the next few weeks.

A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, young Filipino chef Aaron Isip prepares a unique dish of seabass sashimi with a jelly of oyster juice served at ZE restaurant in Paris.

On another issue I asked whether Le Cordon Bleu had any courses for Maitre d’hotel professionals which seem to be a dying breed. Andre Cointreau remarked that it has to be economically viable for the school to offer a special course. But, considering that times are changing, veering away from the formal and traditional fine dining experience, diners now prefer a more casual feel. He believes  that “ the best approach is to train better “sommeliers” or waiters so that the whole experience revolves around the plate and adds to the satisfaction of the client.”

Very few waiters recognize that service is an art. I have trained thousands of waiters and from my own experience, I have come across only one in a thousand that were close to perfect by my standards. They are those who have the “feel “ for their profession that even their movements and manner of attending to clients with sheer anticipation are captivating.

KARLA: Towards the end of the interview, I mentioned how I own a mobile bar or a beverage catering service where I go to a location and serve drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. We then started to talk about spirits, and to my delight, I realized I was right in front of the descendant of the founder of Remy Martin and of Cointreau. Andre Cointreau then mentioned that he is actually 5th generation of the Cointreau side and the direct grandson of Remy Martin. With this, we started talking about family businesses, just like ours, The Plaza and The Aristocrat.

Mr. Cointreau’s very wise and inspiring words are, “Great families are entrepreneurs.” In my case, as a 4th generation restaurateur, where my great grandmother, Engracia Cruz Reyes, built The Aristocrat, I totally understand what he meant and there was quite a lengthy exchange of ideas and experiences. Andre Cointreau says that it takes two or three generations to build an empire but when a new generation comes in, there will be an atmosphere of competition in terms of ideas or practices within generations. This means that competition has to be welcomed because with fresher ideas, technology or new things the next generation can bring, there is opportunity to be a better and bigger empire. If the company and older generation closes doors to new ideas and practices, then surely, there will always be a competitor to over take your lead in the market. Andre Cointreau shares his philosophy: “Be properly over educated; over privileged; learn by doing. Every generation should prove their points to bring what is needed to the next generation.”

For family run businesses, Andre Cointreau shares that it is all an equilibrium. The leaders ruling the family business should try to develop an understanding on how much each person is lucky to have the other in the business because without recognition, the company and family will have problems. Everything is a question of balance. We must keep our family values intact, and the values that our founders handed down. Always go back to questions like, “Why was this business started” and it should keep you on track. Andre Cointreau’s words of wisdom: “It is the duty of the ruling party or leader to develop and invest time and endeavors to be able to contribute to the community. Let us educate the family because nothing is stronger than the basis of society which is family. The family values is not only for financial but rather, humanitarian reasons and that means giving back. Be humble and you will have more chances to continue.”

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For those interested to learn more about Le Cordon Bleu, you may contact Pinky, Agnes or April from Aussie Pinoy Edu.Com Corp (APECC)  International Study Consultants Manila, Philippines You may email them aussie.pinoy@yahoo.com or call the following numbers:  Tel. (632) 7214568, Mobile  +63 905 4291388; +63 927 2017990.

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Send e-mail to milliereyes.foodforthought@gmail.com and karla@swizzlemobilebar.com. Find us on Facebook and read on articles you might have missed: Food for Thought by Millie & Karla Reyes.