Chefs explore Palestinian food on culinary tour

More than 50 French chefs met for a ceremony near Paris on Monday to receive their coveted Michelin stars.

Shutdowns due to COVID-19 have dealt a heavy blow to restaurants in France, the birthplace of haute cuisine. As chefs try to adapt, some are wrestling with fundamental questions about the live fine dining experience.

After the pandemic torpedoed his chance to work at a Michelin-starred New York restaurant, Lim Wei Keat returned to his roots by becoming a Singapore street food chef cooking local fare. The 25-year-old is among a small but growing number of young Singaporean street food vendors, or "hawkers", fuelling hopes that a new generation will preserve the city-state's culinary traditions.

A fresh dish concocted by Michelin-starred chefs sound tempting? In Colmar, the region's best cooks are taking turns to prepare one hundred meals for students every day.

Much of America’s food culture is built on the work of Black Americans, yet they have rarely been credited for their contributions which include some of the country's most iconic dishes, like the quintessential American staple mac and cheese. Black chefs such as Jerome Grant are now demanding their heritage be recognised, in an industry where Black people are drastically underrepresented as chefs and restaurateurs.

In the south-eastern French region of Vienne, one tomato grower has striven for years to produce the best possible flavours. Jacky Mercier has won over the most demanding of palates, including top Paris chefs like Yves Camdeborde and Iñaki Aizpitarte. They now cannot imagine doing without his traditional tomato varieties. Jacky's secrets are character, authenticity and lots of patience. We went to meet him.

Located near the Spanish border, France's Basque Country has no fewer than twelve Michelin-starred restaurants, born of the marriage between local produce and the know-how of top Basque chefs. In Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, regular market-goers easily recognise chef Philippe Arrambide.

During a farm-to-table tour of the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, five high-profile chefs of Palestinian heritage encountered a Palestinian cuisine often unfamiliar to foreigners more accustomed to news of conflict with Israel.