It is at the initiative of the Princesse Margot association that chefs are getting involved in feeding young patients at the Gustave Roussy hospital in Villejuif who are suffering from cancer. The first of the “repas toqués” of the season took place last Monday under the leadership of Irwin Durand, one of Guy Savoy’s seconds, now at the head of Chiberta in Paris.
What does this gourmet cuisine bring to the treatment of patients? The answer from Christelle Dufour, head of the pediatric and adolescent cancer department at Gustave Roussy: “These meals awaken all the senses. The taste, the touch with different textures in the mouth, the visual which is different from that of the hospital plates – I am thinking in particular of the hamburger – and the smell, a very sensitive point for patients treated by chemotherapy because it can cause nausea.”
All over France
The initiative is not unique: all over France, renowned chefs are working with hospitals to bring comfort to the sick. Christian Têtedoie in Lyon, Jean Imbert in Paris, Jacques Chibois in Grasse, and Suzanne Weymel in Rouen: “Every two months, the hospital chef comes here and we prepare a starter, a main course and a dessert that will be put together. We have to avoid certain flavours like acidity or rawness. We try to give life a taste again in this difficult stage.”
Adding taste and colour to the plates of cancer patients to give them back their appetite, several associations are dedicated to this across the country. For the toqués meals of Princesse Margot, in Villejuif, it is now every Wednesday.
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