Book Jean COUSSAU “Moments of Life” prefaced by Alain Ducasse • ​​Les Nouvelles Gastronomiques

“For a moment, let’s be a little chauvinistic. Jean Coussau and I are from Landes. Magescq, where the Relais de la Poste is located, is barely forty-five minutes from Castel-Sarrazin, where my parents' farm was located and where I grew up. For good measure, not far from Magescq, in Soustons, was the Pavillon Landais where, while still a teenager, I cut my very first teeth in the profession of cook (…) We are both from Landes and that creates links. Let's face it: this is the starting point of our friendship.

There are many other reasons and much more serious.

The first is its admirable longevity. I know of few establishments that can boast such a long history. We know that it began in the mid-nineteenth century, with the great-grandparents of Jean and Jacques Coussau. This is a first performance and we must salute it. Added to this is a second achievement: the restaurant has been continuously awarded two stars in the Michelin guide since 1971. Having held two macaroons for more than fifty years: hats off! Opening a restaurant is not too complicated; having a little success happens; but maintaining your rank over time is truly an exceptional performance.

Such longevity requires bringing together many qualities. It takes talent, of course, but, even more, tenacity. Put on your white apron every morning with the same energy. With the same passion, intact as on the first day. Know how to train your team and make passion contagious. Keep the same requirements, refuse the facilities. This is what these fifty-three doubly starry years mean. This is what they demand. We are no longer talking about a job here, we are talking about a life.

With Jean, we share the same vision of cooking. This point is essential. It's obviously not about recipes: we each make our own and they are obviously different. No, it is a much deeper affinity. Because, as Alain Chapel said, cooking is much more than recipes. Being a cook means first of all assuming the role of a passer: taking what nature gives us, where we are, and transforming these products into food for our contemporaries, that is to say, making it good for us to think about. and good to eat. In a word, it is converting products of nature into products of culture.

From this point of view, Jean Coussau is a formidable passer. It's an understatement to say that he knows his land: he lives it, he embodies it. The relationships he has built with all the producers, breeders, market gardeners, fishermen and pickers are much more than customer-supplier relationships. It's about sharing the same passion, the same love of the land. And this is how he delivers a cuisine that expresses an intimate knowledge and an unconditional love of his country. In short, a kitchen that has a soul.

Modern, Jean Coussau? The Gascon would undoubtedly be surprised by the epithet, he who is so steeped in the Landes culinary tradition. And yet! Isn't the search for this carnal and emotional truth of cooking exactly what drives a large part of gastronomic debates today? Isn’t this reconnection with nature one of the main challenges of contemporary food? Jean Coussau provides his answer, quietly, discreetly. Listen to him talk about his beloved Landes asparagus, the turbot and sole that his fisherman from Capbreton brought him, the chanterelles that his picker found for him, the duck provided by his breeder friend. This truth of products takes you far beyond the kitchen; it speaks to you of the sincere love of a terroir and of human authenticity. What if this was modernity?

I almost forgot, there is a third reason for our friendship. We are both equally greedy. I can testify to this: the moments I spent at his table remain moments of delicious happiness in my memory.

Thank you, Jean, and thank you to Annick, Jacques, Clémentine and all your teams.

Alain Ducasse