This week's collection of whimsical and curious stories will once more come as a book review. In slightly uncharacteristic fashion for this series, the book in question is actually very respectable and only few would describe it as providing much cause for levity. However, it is a rather curious little book that has been published for more than 100 years and offers an interesting tale of industry and politics.
Counting stars - Just a few days ago, a minor earth quake shook the world of fine dining when the Guide Michelin announced it would award one of its prized stars to a vegan restaurant (Link)*. This is of course reason enough to take a brief look at the turbulent history of this little red booklet that can make or break culinary careers:
The early years - It all started out as a ploy to sell tires. You see, in 1900, André and Edouard Michelin (owners of the Michelin Tyre Company) faced the business problem of how to encourage France's ca. 3000 motorists to buy more of their products. They came to the sensible conclusion that they would need to encourage their customers to drive more and so they published a guide that would help them locate petrol stations, mechanics, and accommodation along the country's fledgling road network. Initially, their free-of-charge guide seemed to have attracted little attention until André Michelin hit upon a timeless business insight (“man only truly respects what he pays for”) and changed the price to 7 Francs.
An equally important factor in boosting the guide's influence was likely also the "upgrade" of the company's mascot (as seen below on the cover of the 1911 Guide to the British Isles).
Legend tells that the Michelin Man was inspired by a pile of tires at the 1894 Lyon Universal Exhibition and in early advertisement was often shown smoking a cigar or raising a glass with the words "nunc est bibendum" - Latin for "now is the time to drink".**
War in Europe - Since the early 1900s, the guide has not only conquered the culinary world ("the only guide that counts", in the words of the famous French chef Paul Bocuse) but also went on some remarkable detours. In 1919, the company published guides to World War I battlefields (just one year after the war had ended) and in 1944, Allied Forces asked for a special reprint of the latest edition to help them navigate France (judging their own maps inferior and proving the rather cliché point that the invasion of France can only succeed with a guide to fine dining).
The times they are a-changin' - As the Guide expanded to other nations and became more influential, politics started to enter the picture. The guide has frequently been criticised as favouring the French cuisine (a "tool of Gallic cultural imperialism", as the Guardian newspaper put it in 1997 - Link). The Italians might have had similar thoughts when in 1956 the first Michelin Guide to Italy was published not awarding a single star to any restaurant in the country. However, since the appointment of the first non-French editor-in-chief of the guide (the German restaurateur Juliane Caspar), those accusations will likely fade. The German newspaper Die Welt commented on the appointment, "In view of the fact German cuisine is regarded as a lethal weapon in most parts of France, this decision is like Mercedes announcing that its new director of product development is a Martian" (Link). Awarding a star to a vegan restaurant is only the latest sign that the times are indeed changing - even for this most venerable of French institutions.
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*This must have come as a shock to many French chefs who have been led to believe that it takes at least a small menagerie of birds and mammals just to make it past the hors d’oeuvres
**His goblet was filled with nails and broken glass, which was meant to be indicative of how tough and hardy Michelin tires were
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