Niagara, Friday, February 29, 2008

It was with great pleasure and indeed conviction that I welcomed Jean‑Daniel’s proposal to create an award celebrating the nation’s table.

Not just because the table serves as a meeting place, bringing people together, as Jean-Daniel has just reminded us.

But because it is also a place where the forces of creation triumph over the forces of destruction each and every day.

Around the table, guests and hosts alike have no other concern than to “add to the sum of human pleasures,” as Brillat-Savarin so wonderfully put it.

The illustrious gourmet wrote that “cooking is the oldest of the arts, for Adam was born fasting.”

Of course, from seed to harvest, preservation to distribution, research to creation, the blending of grape varieties to the blending of flavours, all activities that bring food and drink to the table are central to the idea of civilization. 

Every table serves as the stage on which the earth’s bounty meets cultural genius to nourish bodies and minds.

Because to eat is to celebrate the land and the sea, to rejoice in human genius.

Every time we sit down to a meal, we are reminded that we are products of our surroundings and culture.

There is a clear link between the pleasures of the table and that sense of belonging that I believe is so essential to Canada and the world today.

From the diversity of ingredients as we search for flavour harmony, and from the table as a gathering place, we are learning to transform an everyday activity into the art of living and being together.

Each new dish tells of our relationship with the land and the sea, our inventiveness, our penchant for sharing, our rejection of blandness and our desire to broaden our taste horizons.

It is no surprise that Brillat-Savarin found that “the discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a star.”

How could I not jump at the chance to support Jean-Daniel’s wonderful suggestion that we find an official way to recognize the invaluable contribution that our nation’s tables have made to the expression of our collective identity?

This project has already whetted many an appetite across Canada.

It reminds us that in this very humble corner of our lives that is the dinner table can be found the ingredients for the art of living, not least of which is the ability to excite our palates and unearth the flavours of this country.

Long live the culinary arts!