Sailing for almost three months alone on board, far from your loved ones, having to climb to the top of a 29 meter mast during damage or freezing in the South Seas… Very little for us. On the other hand, if there is one element that could motivate us to participate in the Vendée Globe, apart from to escape the daily journeys on line 13 of the metro, it is to enjoy the dishes prepared by chef Eric Guérin .
The owner of the restaurant La Mare aux Oiseaux, in Loire-Atlantique, has in fact collaborated with a few skippers, such as Yoann Richomme or Charlie Dalin, to carefully prepare dishes that will accompany them during this tenth edition of the race around the world in solitary and non-stop. An interview that smells of colombo and tartiflette.
What is the genesis of your arrival in the world of sailing?
During Covid, we were confined with a friend on a catamaran in the West Indies and he told me that he was going to do a double-handed transatlantic race even though he was not at all pro. It stressed me a little because I found it to be a big commitment and, knowing the character, who was quite a foodie, I asked him how he was going to eat. He told me about freeze-dried food, cakes, candies… I told him that it might be nice and fun if I could make meals.
I returned to mainland France, I spoke about it to my assistant Benjamin Larue who is keen on sport, he got started on the subject, we built meals, with a common thread, where we knew every day what he was going to eat. The more it arrived towards the West Indies, the more dishes were created that had the tastes and flavors of the West Indies. Upon arriving, my friend spoke about it to Fabien Delahaye [un skippeur professionnel]who immediately called me and trusted us. It went like that. Fabien then talked about it on the pontoons, and we had a partnership with Charles Caudrelier who we follow on all his races. And little by little the circle grew with Yoann Richomme, Isabelle Joschke, Charlie Dalin…
What were the main difficulties?
At the start, we did it in a very artisanal way, we didn't know at all where we were going. We immediately had a lot of pressure, because we realized that the energy of the meal was what made them move forward and that if we missed somewhere or if they ever caught something like food poisoning was our fault. The challenge was to create dishes which, for me, had taste, quality products, a history, a memory. It had to create an emotion and, at the same time, it had to be able to stay for days and days at extreme temperatures. It also had to reheat easily. We also worked a lot on the fact that the same dish could be eaten in two versions, hot and cold.
How do you keep the dishes preserved?
We looked for a lot of solutions, we did tests and today we even set up a special laboratory at La Mare aux Oiseaux. We make canned sous vide in autoclave cooking. And the products can be kept for almost a year at room temperature.
How is your collaboration going with the skippers?
There are skippers who have real stress with food, particularly because of allergies or significant weight loss. Yoann Richomme took us 75 meals for this Vendée Globe. This is huge because you also need variety. We work hand in hand, we make tailor-made products for each sailor. Each time we return from a race, we call them, we go to see them in Lorient, we chat with them, we create menus for them. Before, it was just a purely technical moment to eat in a boat: Today, it becomes a moment of pleasure, they choose their meal, they choose the moment when they are going to eat it and it is a moment where they connects a little to their [environnement] emotional.
Do you have examples of dishes requested by skippers?
Yoann Richomme, he asked us to work on a foie gras to take away. He came to taste it, he loved it. Then he asked us to work on a tartiflette, because he loves it and wanted to eat it at sea. Charlie Dalin asked us for a chicken with red curry, because it's his favorite dish. He ordered a lot. And he tasted Yoann's foie gras, he asked us for 40 portions of foie gras for the Vendée Globe. Nicolas Lunven wanted fish, so we worked on monkfish, we made monkfish with small vegetables and Nantes butter. He loves it, he's had lots of it. We keep our spirit as a starred restaurateur in two ways: the taste and the textures which we try to preserve as much as possible.
Does it completely change your daily life?
It's a new challenge. Already, it was a world that was completely unknown to me. Today as soon as a race starts, we are on the phones, we are connected directly with the bases and with the guys who manage them. And then we also had to understand the technical challenges. For that, we went to sea several times with them to see the way they eat, the way they heat up. And then there is also the nutritional side, energy, everything that needs to be given to them so that they have the strength to move forward. When we construct the dishes, we pay close attention to the seasonings and the fat we add. We really have a sporty build today and that's something I didn't have at all before. But it also nourishes my professionalism in cooking, and today I cook food that is even more natural and purer also thanks to that.
