Gladmat Festival, translated "happy food" was, from a chef's point of view..a sad food festival
And those few ones who dared, like me, aren't being accepted by the government to settle down here and work, just as everyone else.
The result? A culinary oblivion, where norwegian or polish chefs, pseudo-chefs and wannabe foodies feel like making spanish or mexican food, serve it at a restaurant, charge you 300 nok (30 euros or 600 mexican pesos) and even claim its authentic!
Just because the norwegian Chefs Bent Stiansen and Geir Skeie won the 93' and 09' versions the Bocuse d'Or, doesnt mean that there is no place in this Country for other Chefs. Or that the Norwegian Cuisine is the best in the world, or even less, that norwegians can make ALL kind of foods!
I've heard many times that there are Mexican, French, Italian, Spanish restaurants. But have you been there and tried the pseudo-ethnic food they serve?
Its absolutely ridiculous.
I assisted to the Gladmat Festival, recommended by everyone, to be the culinary heaven, but sadly, It was nothing like that.
This cr---p, a pseudo "chile con carne" with corn bread and out-of-the-can corn was sold by some wannabe mexican restaurant during the festival, and they claimed it was authentic mexican food "from everywhere in Mexico"-as I was told by someone working there.
-Excuse me, but what is this?-We have a tortilla wrap, ribs and this is chile con carne, all mexican specialties.-Im sorry but, specialties from where, from which state?-Everywhere in Mexico, really, all mexicans eat this.-Oh dear...I see... And you got your recipes from?-A chef from Maine, she came and gave us this amazing recipes.-Yeah, with canned corn as topping, right?
But hey, it doesn't end here, lets see what else happened in other stands, because during the 3 days i attended, i found enough material to make my own version of kitchen nigthmares.
Actually at one spanish stand, I felt a bit like Gordon Ramsay, facing disgusting food sold as authentic goodies to all these poor people.
I have nothing about other people selling the food they like the most, I do it myself, considering my experience and education in France. But hey, I have a big respect for the food, and despite the facts we Chefs are allowed to make some minor changes to the food, I wouldn't fuck up a coq au vin and then sell it as traditional french food.
Said that, i approached the spanish chef, you know, chef jacket with the Spain flag, his and his restaurant's name all in spanish.
-hola, que tal? me puede dar dos platos de paella, por favor? (hi, can i have 2 paellas please)-snakker kun på englesk! (speak english!)-My apologies, I just thought you are in love with spain and its food, so you would speak some spanish, hein?-I dont understand-Yeah, you have a spanish restaurant, you serve spanish food, you have the Spain flag in your jacket, i would expect you to speak spanish-Ja, ja....what do you want?(pissed off)-I wanted paella but, why is it so mushy, and It looks overcooked from here.... you put saffron in it, didn't you?
Enough said, local restaurants participate in this festival wanting to make money before making food. What a wicked idea.
And hey it's not only my opinion. Its well known that the local newspapers gave a poor rating to many of the stands in the festival, and many other stands were shut down for failures to stick to food hygiene and food safety regulations. Damn but we all chefs have learnt that at school haven't we? Or wait are they real chefs or just a dude with a chef jacket and a hat?... or actually no chef jacket and no hat, and sometimes not even an apron. Just a random dude there that has no idea of what's going on, like at this oriental stand, where they couldn't tell me the ingredients inside the not amazing spring rolls. Or be clever enough to notice the rice is undercooked and cold.
Even at the cheapest nastiest chinese they would give you decent rice (a fool-proof dish), and know the basic ingredients of a vegetarian spring roll. And as a spanish friend, who also attended this festival said, we would have cooked, even for free, to make a real authentic food, but the norwegians are so proud that they wont ask for, or accept any help.
Just like him, I would have liked to be there next to their stand, with my own traditional mexican food, and see what would have happened. Next year, maybe, if norwegians realise that making food is first an art, and then a business.
Just like him, I would have liked to be there next to their stand, with my own traditional mexican food, and see what would have happened. Next year, maybe, if norwegians realise that making food is first an art, and then a business.
