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FOOD AND DRINK

French caviar farms look forward to EU label of origin

At a caviar factory in south-west France this week, a worker used tiny pliers to carefully line up black sturgeon fish eggs against a ruler.

French caviar farms look forward to EU label of origin
Workers fill in boxes with caviar at the Sturgeon caviar production workshop in Saint-Genis-de-Saintonge, south-western France. Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

“I’m measuring the eggs to be able to classify them. Above a certain size, they’re premium,” said Magdalena Puaud, wearing a hair net and face mask.

The fish roe, once sorted and left to mature in small tins for several months, will be sold in France and abroad for €2,000-10,000 a kilo.

Caviar was first introduced to France around a century ago by Russian aristocrats who had fled their home country after the 1917 revolution.

The southwestern region of Aquitaine, which is naturally home to sturgeons, started to produce the delicacy in the 1920s and is today home to four caviar farms that make up 90 percent of all French production.

After a decade of lobbying, Aquitaine’s farms are looking forward to their caviar finally receiving an EU certificate of origin in the new year.

According to the European Union, “geographical indications” protect products against misuse or imitation of the registered name and guarantee their true origin to customers.

“We have nothing to hide,” said Laurent Dulau, the managing director of the biggest of Aquitaine’s farms in Saint-Fort-sur-Gironde, which produces 20 tonnes of fish roe a year.

He and fellow producers hope the EU stamp of approval will allow them to stand out in a market nowadays dominated by China and awash with opaque labelling.

“We’re going to guarantee total traceability – origin, environmental responsibility and sustainability, and no genetically modified organisms or antibiotics,” he said.

Last week, in the runup to Christmas, French authorities seized and destroyed 17 kilos of caviar worth some €35,000 for not following health and safety guidelines, including not identifying its country of origin.

Near the sturgeon pools in Saint-Fort-sur-Gironde, employees fished out females and examined them one by one, a man rolling an ultrasound over their plump white bellies.

“Caviar,” he shouted when he saw semi-circles on his monitor, indicating the fish was ready to be sliced open.

When the eggs were not yet big enough or too mature, the fish was sent shooting down a slide back into the water.

The label “validates the way we work,” said fish production manager Nicolas Proust.

Dulau said the certificate of origin would help French producers compete against huge quantities of cheap Chinese caviar.

“There are 600 tonnes of caviar produced in the world, and China alone produces 250 tonnes, while France produces just 50 tonnes,” he said.

Francoise Boisseaud, who buys up French caviar and mostly sells it abroad, agreed the new EU guarantee was good news.

“France is a small country,” she said. “We are forced to bank on quality, not quantity. It’s strategic.”

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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

No French fries but lots of lentils for Paris Olympic athletes

There will be no French fries but plenty of lentils on offer to athletes attending the Paris Olympics, with organisers unveiling a Games menu that combines eco-minded recipes with French gastronomy.

No French fries but lots of lentils for Paris Olympic athletes

The 3,300-seat restaurant at the Paris Olympic village, which will welcome athletes next month, was given its first test-run on Tuesday by a hungry crowd of sports figures, officials and journalists.

Based in a vast former power station, the food hall includes six dining areas offering meals from around the globe, with half of the 50 dishes available each day being 100 percent vegetarian.

“People are going to meet here in France, with its culture, its heritage but also its gastronomy and so there are expectations,” chief Paris 2024 organiser Tony Estanguet told reporters.

Although many athletes would stick to their usual nutrition before competing, they will also be offered the chance to discover France’s famed food, with several Michelin-starred chefs taken on as advisers.

“We’ve allowed ourselves to put French gastronomy in pride of place so that curious athletes from around the world can try French culinary excellence,” Estanguet added.

The giant warm-food buffets will not include French fries, however.

McDonalds, a long-time Olympics sponsor, had its own fast-food restaurant in the Olympic village until the Rio Olympics in 2016, but athletes wanting a hit of junk food will have to look elsewhere.

“For technical reasons, we can’t offer fries,” said Estelle Lamotte, deputy director of village catering at food group Sodexo, told reporters.

She explained deep-fat fryers were not allowed in the temporary kitchens at the site, which is usually used as a film studio.

Gregoire Bechu, head of sustainable food at the Paris organising committee, stressed the quality of the ‘delicious’ lentil dahl recipe that has been developed for athletes.

“One of the major commitments by Paris 2024 was offering vegetarian meals in order to halve the carbon footprint of each meal on average,” he said. “We wanted vegetarian meals everywhere.”

At sports venues, 60 percent of food offered to fans will be vegetarian and the temporary stadium hosting skateboarding, BMX and breakdancing at the Place de la Concorde in central Paris will be entirely meat-free.

In a further bid to lower carbon emissions, only two of the six restaurant areas at the village will be air-conditioned, with the rest in outdoor courtyards sheltered by fabric sun shades and ventilated with overhead fans.

Tuesday’s test event, held under fierce sunshine and in 27C heat, saw some people visibly sweating.

“I think we’ve found a good compromise between offering the right temperature but also reducing our carbon emissions,” Estanguet said. “It’s one of the main challenges of the Paris 2024 edition.”

In a break from Olympic tradition, the 2,800 apartments at the village do not come with air-conditioning as standard.

But many Olympic teams have decided to install portable coolers at their own cost.

Paris has suffered a number of record heatwaves in recent years with temperatures peaking above 40C in July and August, but 2024 has so far been wet and cool.

The Paris Olympics run from July 26th to August 11th, followed by the Paralympics from August 28th to September 8th.

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