If you're a fan of flavors, culture, taste, cooking and sharing, Émile Jung will meet you July 10-13, 2008 at the foot of Strasbourg cathedral. Butchers, charcutiers, cheese makers, bakers and restaurateurs will offer the general public delicious tastes in all the colors of Europe.

"While Europe today is mostly economic or political, the purpose of this new festival is to add a new cultural dimension, in which gastronomy will play an essential role as a catalyst between citizens of our old continent," says Émile Jung, co-founder of Food Culture. "The idea came about from discussions with Jean-Louis de Valmigère. We were seeking to create an event in Strasbourg that could enliven the summer. In winter, Strasbroug has its Christmas market, so this summer we're welcoming the first edition of 'Food Culture': four days celebrating the cultures and flavors of Europe." The high point of this first event will be a conference on the theme of "Gastronomy: Source of Cultural Identity," to be held at the Council of Europe on July 10 and 11. Many exceptional participants will attend, including chefs, academics, writers, scientists and journalists, as well as artists who are being invited to share around this theme.

What better than gastronomy to gather and unite people, leading them to discovery through a love of food? What better place to hold such an event than Strasbourg, the seat of numerous European Institutions, located in the heart of a food-loving region? Who better to initiate such reflection than food professionals? What better moment to launch this vast subject than the beginning of the French Presidency of the European Union Council? What better idea could be found to recognize French gastronomy as part of the immaterial UNESCO heritage?

In order to answer all these questions, we have set up an association « Cultures et Saveurs d'Europe » (European Cultures and Flavors). Its main purpose is to gather people around the Festival, by initiating a not-to-be-missed appointment with European gastronomy in Strasbourg, in Alsace.

The program of the Festival offers a Professional Convention, as well as a festive part open to the general public with emphasis on the love of food. Through these two complementary spheres, our aim is to promote gastronomy, its corporations and its traditions, in a cultural context favoring exchanges, in an atmosphere of conviviality and sharing.

We want to keep gastronomy alive, reinterpreting and sharing it. To do so, a Food Culture village on the Place du Château will allow visitors to discover a great diversity of European culinary products. On Saturday, July 12 in Gutenberg Square, a roast beef will be prepared and in the many streets around the cathedral, restaurateurs will bring tables out in front of their establishments. I myself will be serving sauerkraut with paprika for the occasion. This inaugural Food Culture will be a learning experience for next year!

As President, I hope with all my heart that our actions will open the minds and awaken the appetites of some 500 million European citizens, by inviting them to discover themselves, and encouraging them to come together around dishes and recipes filled with color and flavor.