China Magnet 2 : French Chefs in Shanghai
1 : Groupe ESSCA
(ESSCA)
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Website
Université Catholique de l'Ouest
1 rue Lakanal BP 348 49003 ANGERS Cédex 01 -
France
Shanghai is hosting an important community of French cooks enjoying high positions in the F&B industry. Some are independent entrepreneurs, others are hired by luxury hotel chains or employed in western cuisine international school teachers.
The paper looks at how the valued know-how can create migration channels from the North to the South in privileged professional niches. How training and appropriation of technics and "cuisine philosophy" lead to a progressive internationalisation of know-how i.e. how the expertise overcomes the supposed authenticity of the French experts' cuisine. The hypothesis is that along with the process of internationalisation of expertises, professional niches for highly qualified expatriates slowly disappear in profit for local experts. The paper is based on interviews with French chefs in Shanghai conducted in 2016.