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The world’s private chefs gather

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The private chefs who serve the world’s presidents, prime ministers, and kings are members of an exclusive club called the “Club of Leaders’ Chefs.” The 25-member club is in Italy today for their annual meeting. Anchor Lisa Mullins finds out what’s on the agenda…and on the menu…from Mark Flanigan, private chef to Queen Elizabeth.
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LISA MULLINS: I’m Lisa Mullins, and this is The World. It’d be nice to have your own personal chef. Just imagine every meal prepared to the highest culinary standards, and to your personal tastes, be they high or low. Well, it’s not just a fantasy for everyone. Presidents, and prime ministers, and kings have their own private chefs. They belong to the Club de Chefs des Chefs, that is the Club of Chefs of Leaders. This week, the 25 members of this exclusive club are holding their annual meeting. They’re touring Italy, in fact, right now they’re in the town of Assisi. These are chefs from France, Italy and Russia among others. We got a couple of them on the line.

MARK FLANIGAN: My name is Mark Flanigan, and I’m chef to her majesty the queen.

LISA MULLINS: Which, I imagine is a title your mother is extremely proud of. Can you tell me how long you’ve been doing it?

MARK FLANIGAN: I’ve been at Buckingham Palace for seven years.

LISA MULLINS: Cooking for the queen all that time?

MARK FLANIGAN: That’s right, yeah.

LISA MULLINS: Now, what kind of tips are you getting on this tour of Italy, that you can bring back and possibly use in your preparations for the queen?

MARK FLANIGAN: Well, at the moment we’re just at the start of the trip, and we are just experiencing Roman cuisine.

LISA MULLINS: Roman cuisine?

MARK FLANIGAN: Which is very simple, uncomplicated, fair. It’s very tasty, really lovely.

LISA MULLINS: What’s your favorite thing so far?

MARK FLANIGAN: So far, I think the favorite thing was Porchetta.

LISA MULLINS: Porchetta is what?

MARK FLANIGAN: It was a very slow roasted leg of pork, with lots of herbs and spices. Very simple, but it’s very, very tasty.

LISA MULLINS: And do you know if this is the kind of thing the queen likes. I mean, what is her favorite dish?

MARK FLANIGAN: Well, we don’t normally talk about what the favorite dish is of a majesty are, because as soon as somebody finds out that’s what they would try offer her everywhere she went. And pretty soon it wouldn’t be her favorite.

LISA MULLINS: [LAUGHS] It would no longer be her favorite, but maybe she’ll be trying roast leg of pork pretty soon?

MARK FLANIGAN: Maybe.

LISA MULLINS: Maybe?

MARK FLANIGAN: Yeah, I hope so.

LISA MULLINS: Alright. Mr. Flanigan, there are other fellow chefs of world leaders around, who’s closest to you?

MARK FLANIGAN: I have Hilton Little from South Africa.

LISA MULLINS: Okay, it’s been a pleasure to talk to you, thank you.

MARK FLANIGAN: [OVERLAPPING] And you, thanks.

HILTON LITTLE: This is Hilton speaking, good afternoon.

LISA MULLINS: Hello Hilton, this is Lisa Mullins in Boston. Can you tell me who you are the professional chef for?

HILTON LITTLE: I started out being the professional chef President then, Nelson Mandela, President Baki, and now for the President Jacob Zuma.

LISA MULLINS: I imagine you’re pretty good then.

HILTON LITTLE: I try.

LISA MULLINS: [LAUGHS] You try? Because there are three subsequent presidents who you’ve been cooking for. So is there an overlap between what you cook right now in South Africa, and anything that you’re exploring there in Italy? Or are they completely different?

HILTON LITTLE: Not that much different, okay? In South Africa we have what’s called a rainbow cuisine, a little bit of everything, you know? We call is some of cuisine, some of this and some of that.

LISA MULLINS: [LAUGHS] Some of this and some of that.

HILTON LITTLE: [LAUGHS] And, because the presidents cannot dine in restaurants, we try and keep the menu interesting. So today we would cook Italian, tomorrow we’d cook, you know, different, from another country. And for me it’s a great opportunity just to be here, you know? Because if I wanna cook an Italian dish, what better place to finally get to know the recipe and actually to see them make it, you know?

LISA MULLINS: Absolutely. So, you’ve discovered a certain Italian dish that you may wanna serve once you get back home and cook for Jacob Zuma?

HILTON LITTLE: As Mark mentioned, you know, we enjoyed the slow roast pot today.

LISA MULLINS: Yes.

HILTON LITTLE: It was very good. And the other night we had something completely different, there was tripe with tomato, which was very tasty.

LISA MULLINS: Tripe is intestines…

HILTON LITTLE: That is correct, yes.

LISA MULLINS: …of…

HILTON LITTLE: The lamb.

LISA MULLINS: …of the lamb. And, yeah, it’s very traditional Italian dish.

HILTON LITTLE: Yeah. And also we used that [INDISCERNIBLE], as well as one of the [INDISCERNIBLE] dishes. But this one was prepared with a reduction of tomato and lots of herbs, it was very, very tender.

LISA MULLINS: Very tender.

HILTON LITTLE: Very enjoyable, yes.

LISA MULLINS: Well, if Jacob Zuma doesn’t like, it sounds like you will.

HILTON LITTLE: I will, you better believe it.

LISA MULLINS: [LAUGHS] It’s been very nice to speak with you, Hilton, thank you very much.

HILTON LITTLE: [OVERLAPPING] Nice speaking to you too ma’am.

LISA MULLINS: Okay. All the best, enjoy your trip.

CHRISTIAN GARCIA: Hi.

LISA MULLINS: Hello, who’s this?

CHRISTIAN GARCIA: I’m Christian Garcia, chef of the Prince Albert of Monaco.

LISA MULLINS: Oh, for the prince of Monaco?

CHRISTIAN GARCIA: Yeah.

LISA MULLINS: Christian Garcia, thank you, where are you from personally?

CHRISTIAN GARCIA: I’m French, and I’m working for the Prince Albert for 22 years.

LISA MULLINS: Oh my goodness. Well, obviously you have cooked an awful lot of meals for him. Can you tell us what you could possibly learn in Italy that you can bring back to Prince Albert the second?

CHRISTIAN GARCIA: Yes. So, you know, in Monaco we are close Italian, so I use most of the time the Italian produce and the [INDISCERNIBLE] of the Prince Albert is a Mediterranean cuisine, and the cuisine de la Riviera, with Italian Riviera, and French Riviera.

LISA MULLINS: Ah, I see. So he’s very familiar with it. And Prince Albert I think is also a big fan of organic vegetables, correct?

CHRISTIAN GARCIA: Yes, the prince has a summer residence, and every day we have food and vegetables from the garden.

LISA MULLINS: Well it sounds, Mr. Garcia, like you’re not gonna be able to surprise him with anything. Do you have a mission on this tour of Italy? Something in particular to bring home to the prince?

CHRISTIAN GARCIA: Oh, I’m sure that the mission is to discover of [INDISCERNIBLE] and couture of the country. It’s chef is a kind of a ambassador of his country. Two years ago I organized the meeting in Monaco, and we tried to show all the best of Monaco.

LISA MULLINS: Mr. Garcia, very nice to speak with you. We hope you enjoy your trip.

CHRISTIAN GARCIA: Thank you, and excuse for my English.

LISA MULLINS: Christian Garcia is the chef for Prince Albert the second of Monaco. We also spoke to South African chef, Hilton Little, and Mark Flanigan, who’s the chef for Queen Elizabeth of England.

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