Last Saturday, the Académie de l'Art Culinaire du Monde Créole hosted the 4th edition of the Trophées de l'Art Culinaire Créole at a new venue.

The Hôtel de Ville of the City of Paris provided the sumptuous Salle des Fêtes as the location for the event.  This is the most elaborate reception room that Paris's City Hall has to offer.

Salle des Fêtes
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Hundreds of people queued up to attend the ceremony,

Waiting in line
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including these two dapper men in blue. 

Men in blue
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I met up with Marie-Antoinette Séjean, the Academy's Health Ambassador, as we waited for the line to move forward.

Monique and Marie-Antoinette Séjean
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The evening began with a cocktail and a photography session.  We saw one of the "men in blue" posing for a shot:

Ti-DaDan JoJo
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It turned out that he and his friend would be our table mates for the evening and that his friend, Mike Monlouis-Bonheur, would join me and others on stage to receive a special honor.

The celebration began with an energy-rousing procession by the dance troop from the Association of Kanak Students and Interns.  They performed traditional Kanak dances and songs as they paraded up and down the side aisle of the reception room,

Association of Kanak Students and Interns - 1
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Association of Kanak Students and Interns - 2
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and then performed on stage.

Association of Kanak Students and Interns - 3
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The first official proceeding of the evening was the installation of the Academy's new ambassadors (yellow sashes) and delegates (blue sashes). 

Ambassadors and Delegates
Image courtesy of the Académie de l'Art Culinaire du Monde Créole

From left to right, the Delegates and Ambassadors are:

Official responsible for delegates : Nicole Etienne, General Secretary of the Académie de l'Art Culinaire du Monde Créole
Delegates: Malia Lape (Polynesia);  Mike Monlouis-Bonheur (Martinique);  Monique Y. Wells (USA) - Nalini Goojha (South India) - Ved Prakash Goojha (North India)
Ambassadors : Janick Ancete (Martinique);  Jérôme Bertin (Amb. for young chefs);  Leslie Beliot (Les Yvelines); Ishice Koce (Dubaï);  Olivier Polizzi (New Caledonia);  Stéphane Sorbon (Val d'Oise);  Sandra Mayotte (Mauritius)
Official responsible for ambassadors : Antoine Prudent, President of the Observatoire National des Originaires d'Outre-Mer

Having served as the Ambassador to the U.S. since November 2016, I was thrilled to take on a new role as the Delegate to the U.S. for the Academy.   The responsibilities of delegates are as follows:

· Represent the Académie de l'Art Culinaire du Monde Créole (AACMC) in a defined territory;

· Protect the interests of AACMC and its members within said territory ;

· Negotiate with organizations within that territory;

· Inquire / investigate conditions and the evolution of activities and events related to gastronomy in the territory and provide information about these activities and events to AACMC;

· Promote friendly relations and develop economic, cultural and scientific relations between the organizations in the territory and AACMC.

Next time, I'll share information about the trophy winners!

Monique in delegate sash and robe
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