The journalist who has sneaked French gastronomy into Spanish homes

During the most flexible stage of confinement, the food journalist Julie Andrieu (Paris, 48 ​​years old) traveled with her daughter through Malaga and Granada.

She visited the cities, enjoyed the heritage, savored the restaurants and hallucinated with the fried eggplant washed down with cane honey.

She also with flamenco: since then she has received weekly classes in her own house.

What surprised her the most, however, was the number of people who recognized her on the street.

"It's incredible: I'm better known in Spain than in France," says the Frenchwoman, amazed.

It is the consequence of her television show,

, has been broadcast from Monday to Friday for five years on La 2. Since 2017, 237 episodes of eight seasons have been broadcast, some repeated two or three times [many of them can be seen on demand on the free public platform RTVE Play] .

With an average audience of 226,000 people, up to 26 million Spaniards have ever seen its culinary adventures, according to data handled by the director of the public channel, Samuel Martín Mateos.

It is one more at the Spanish table.

In his program, with different formats but always under the name

, the specialist —who received the Pau Albornà i Torras Journalism Award in 2021 at San Sebastián Gastronomika— travels with her red Peugeot 304 to the most remote places in rural France.

He has visited all the Gallic departments.

He travels in search of unique ingredients, local producers and traditional recipes of popular cuisine, his favorite.

A faithful follower of the program probably knows French gastronomy better than Spanish by now.

From Camargue eels to Loire cheeses or Normandy scallops, each chapter ends with a group lunch in an enviable atmosphere.

The protagonists taste the dishes and products rescued thanks to the infinite curiosity of the journalist.

In several seasons she is accompanied by renowned chef Thierry Marx and chemist Räphael Haumont.

Julie Andrieu with chef Thierry Marx, a regular collaborator of the program. RTVE

The series is a work of fundamental gastronomic archaeology.

“I want to go further, find out why a recipe is a certain way or includes a particular ingredient, but also the utensils used, the temperatures, the way of cooking.

It is something that changes from valley to valley, from town to town and even from family to family because each one has different roots.

The kitchen can help us learn about geography, literature, the past… In the end, what it is about is telling stories, ”Andrieu explains by video call in the living room of his house in Versailles.

Surrounded by books, from there she chats with EL PAÍS while maintaining an infinite smile.

The conversation takes place right after her flamenco lesson and cooking a plate of pasta carbonara for her son.

Also while in Spain a chapter of his program is broadcast.

There are already 499 times that the Parisian has appeared on the screen of La 2.

Recipes for all audiences

The kitchen is your office.

There she spends much of the time to prepare dishes learned in her program or her travels around the world.

In his personal file there are already more than 2,600 recipes that he, he assures, he also keeps in his head.

Up to 150 of them make up the book also entitled

(Planet), published last November.

“There is the kitchen of my day to day, with dishes influenced by all continents.

And they are very accessible so that anyone can do them”, points out who says he takes great care in the description of each step to follow.

“The editors tell me that they are long texts, but I think it is good that the information is detailed to avoid mistakes”, he maintains.

For measurements, keep a secret.

On his trips with the Peugeot 304 he is also accompanied by a weight: "So, when they tell me a handful of flour, I can measure exactly how much it is."

The perfect solution for classic recipes such as "a splash" or "a pinch".

Cover of the book of Julie Andrieu, creator and presenter of the program.

Andrieu believes that today there are more young people interested in cooking and gastronomy than when she started at the age of 20.

“I had no idea then.

I didn't know about breads, vegetables, wines.

I didn't know the products.

Now many people do have that knowledge”, comments the journalist.

It happens, she says, due to several factors.

Among them, a greater awareness that a good diet has a positive impact on health and the large number of programs such as

or

.

“There you get to the kitchen from the show.

Then people realize that it is hard work and they quit, but there is always a residue.

And that is positive, ”remarks she, who will continue safely on Spanish television at least during 2023.

The journalist has already made new seasons of her program —one focused on investigating what artists like Cézanne, Proust or Zola ate, and another on the development and maintenance of a home garden— that have not yet crossed the border.

She also hasn't she her quarterly magazine, which includes 70 recipes.

She does want to do it: she hopes to be able to tour the country to carry out a program dedicated to Spanish gastronomy.

“New ideas always come to me.

I think I should calm down a bit because I do too many things, but on the other hand, I feel like it and I can do it.

It is a debate between stopping or going further, which, I think, happens to everyone”, reflects Julie.

Productivity or quality of life.

The eternal doubt.

Also for TV stars.

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