Cooking not war: Ukrainians training with a star chef

A little finesse in a country at war: twelve Ukrainians from Mariupol, a city devastated by bombs, are preparing to return to the country with, in their suitcases, gastronomic ammunition acquired during training with the starred chef Thierry Marx, in Toulouse.

“Cooking is the only serious way to ignite the bond of trust, this power of social bond is important, even more so in a country at war”says Thierry Marx, in the kitchen of one of the ten training institutes called “Cooking, instructions” that he created in France “for the casualties of life”.

Under the orders of chef trainer Claude Resimont, Vitalli Aheiiev is busy preparing the cocktail closing two months of training.

At 24 years old, including six in the army and two in war, he is the troublemaker of the “brigade Marik”the nickname of the city of Mariupol.

Tattooed arms, wide smile under his white hat, he taunts the other trainees while remaining focused on his beef tataki.

“These two months in Toulouse did me good, it was almost like a vacation, even though we worked. We discovered another culture. French cuisine, there are combinations of ingredients, it’s strange, and then at the end, it’s very good”blurted the former soldier.

– Classic recipes –

After ten months of captivity in Russia and serious injuries – a bullet in the stomach and another in a leg – he has just been demobilized and intends to reconvert.

Another member of the brigade, Yuliya Kurnalyeyeva, 38, has been working in a restaurant in Ivano-Frankivsk, in western Ukraine, since she was chased out of the port of Mariupol by Russian bombs.

In addition to classic recipes, she discovered a passion for éclairs and croissants. “Cooking is important, it brings joy”.

When discussing the future of Ukraine, his outlook becomes troubled.

Then this mother of two children says: “I dream of the war stopping and opening a restaurant in a peaceful country”.

Back in Dnipro, a town in the east of the country where they are refugees, most of the trainees will be able to put into practice the recipes learned in Toulouse in the “Mariupol Canteen”created in a renovated university campus and transformed into housing for 1,400 displaced people from the city.

“Cook, rebuild”

“We wanted to create something useful and comforting. To stay in Ukraine, you need security, but also housing and a job”observes Edward Mayor, president of the NGO Stand with Ukraine, behind the creation of the restaurant and this training in Toulouse.

“Cooking,” he continues, “is a way of rebuilding after trauma”.

In “Mariupol Canteen” of Dnipro, a place for catering and gathering, trainees trained in Toulouse will be able to cook for the community “and train other Ukrainians”rejoices Thierry Marx who will give a masterclass there.

Blanquette of veal, beef bourguignon, duck breast, Paris-Brest, opera or violet macarons, the Ukrainians have reviewed all the classics of French gastronomy.

“Recipes that help you work on the basics. The idea is to teach them the 80 technical gestures of French cuisine”specifies Claude Resimont, trainer at “Cooking Instructions”.

Now, she assures, “They are capable of running the Mariupol canteen. I was impressed by their motivation, their diligence, despite everything they went through. They’re crazy. I’m going to miss them.”.