St Patrick, Shamrock and Veal's Head

St Patrick’s week is always a whirlwind of meetings, greenings, receptions and handshakes. After two years of Covid it was particularly special to see all the familiar faces (literally!) and be able to invite new friends to the Embassy. ?It is our chance to put Ireland centre stage: we shine up the silver and the shoes, dust off the green ties and outfits.

Opera singer Tara Erraught enchanted our guests with a rendition of Gortnamona. Classical piano and traditional harp music floated throughout the rooms at Avenue Foch. We demonstrated also our solidarity with Ukraine by inviting their Ambassador to be our guest of honour and recalled Ireland’s support for refugees and our humanitarian assistance in the field.

As trade and economic counsellor, my day job is usually more prosaic: preparing economic briefings, working on access issues at the Ports, tracking developments at Bercy. However, this week, I had the privilege of working with colleagues in Bord Bia to organise a visit to Rungis for Minister Feighan for St Patrick’s Day. It was one of the highlights of the programme for me and epitomizes my work as a diplomat at the interface between two countries, out and about “sur le terrain” engaging in a two-way process of translating and interpreting our values, culture and interests and those of our host country.

Rungis is the largest wholesale food market in the world. It is the modern day “belly of Paris” having moved out from Les Halles in 1969. It services 18 million people living in the Paris region and further afield. Rungis is a 24-hour operation, though peak activity is between 2am to 7am, rhythmed by the opening of the fish and meat markets, then milk products, cheese, flower and fruit markets.

We cross the péage, the drawbridge to this world apart of those who work through the night to sustain the bustling city next door. There are bright lights and a fast flow of refrigerated trucks, it could be Champs-Elysées on a Saturday night. We are careful not to take a step out of line as trolleys and boxes whizz around us. We are headed to the Triperie and the Meat Hall to meet those who have been doing business with Ireland for decades. The Tripe Hall is an “exception fran?aise”, a particularity of French gastronomy. Throughout the night, teams prepare veal’s head, veal feet, beef tongue and the untranslatable “fraises de veau”. ?

The centre-piece of the VIP visit to Rungis is the preparation of veal’s head. French politicians on the campaign trail stop off here: Sarkozy, Hollande and Macron have all been through. It was famously Chirac’s favourite dish, at least in front of the cameras. There was going to be no escaping this fixture. Twice in a week, I have been out to see the veal’s head in the Tripe Hall. This is part of the job: getting under the skin of the host country, understanding parts of its culture that even many French people never get to see.

There is something atavistic about the chain mail apron and the sharpening of knives. It is part of the tradition, a “savoir faire”, that endures and is a source of pride for those doing the demonstration. It is also essential because this job can’t be done by machines. There are 4kg of meat in a veal’s head. Nothing is wasted. It is served in the Parisian Bouillon restaurants and in canteens across France. The Tripe Federation of France organises an annual World Championship of Tripe Products. Next year, it is hoped that both an Irish and Ukrainian chef will participate in the competition. Alongside shamrocks, there were Ukrainian flags pinned to the white overalls of all those we met.

Ireland supplies 7-8,000 tons of beef and lamb to the Tripe Hall. Irish skirt steak (onglet) and flank steak (bavette), staples of the brasserie menu, are in high demand. It is classed as offal at home where there is a preference for more premium cuts of meat. We met French buyers who had walked the land in Ireland, worked in Irish meat factories and even invited Irish business partners to family gatherings. The relationships and friendships run deep.

Next door in the Meat Hall, we saw beef being aged, whole carcasses and more prime cuts. This is where 12,000 tons of Irish beef and lamb arrive each year for onward distribution. After a few hours in a freezing 4 degrees, we were rewarded at 8am with a gourmet buffet of Irish beef, lamb and Guinness to mark St Patrick’s Day and partnerships with Ireland which was offered to all?those finishing up after a long shift. We presented shamrock to the Director General of the Market and explained why it was important for us to bring our Minister to Rungis for St Patrick’s Day.

As a diplomat, you are the outsider, the observer looking in, and at the same time the insider explaining outwards, deciphering everyday mythologies.