Mesdames et Messieurs, bonsoir!

Secretary General,

Excellencies,

Chefs,

Ladies and gentlemen

Je suis très heureux d’être ici à Strasbourg ce soir, et pour avoir l’occasion de vous inviter à goûter le saumon norvégien avec moi.

Food is a true product of history and culture.

Tonight, we are offering you a taste of our own culture and tradition. But our culinary culture has not developed in a vacuum.

The cuisines of the various European countries have always influenced and enriched one another and contributed to cultural exchange. Food is an important part of our common European cultural heritage.

Tonight we will therefore be enjoying barbecued Norwegian salmon with a French touch. It is a pleasure to see that my country’s products are being put to such creative new uses here in France. Our chefs tonight will be giving us a taste of this marvellous aspect of cultural exchange.

In Norway, fish in various forms has always had a special place in the cuisine and culture. Along the rugged Norwegian coastline with its mountains and fjords, people first and foremost relied upon fishing as their primary source of nutrition and income.

Fish, and especially dried cod, has been exported from Norway ever since Viking times. Dried cod from the Lofoten Islands was exported to much of Europe, and this was the start of Norway’s active participation in foreign trade.

Writings from the early Middle Ages tell us that marine fisheries were a pillar of the Norwegian economy during times of insecurity.

Today, fisheries and aquaculture are our second largest export industry. Norway is one of the world’s largest exporter of seafood. Norwegian fish finds customers in many different cultures all over the world.

The Norwegian Seafood Export Council plays a key role in supporting Norway’s fish export, and I would like to thank them for making it possible for us to enjoy samples of what my country has to offer here this evening.

The Seafood Export Council aims to inform all segments of the French market about Norwegian seafood products that are safe, natural, healthy, and environmentally sustainable.

Perhaps it was Norwegian seafood products that Molière had in mind when he wrote “Il faut vivre pour manger et ne pas manger pour vivre”!

The French market is, of course, one of the most sophisticated and demanding of seafood markets. Many Norwegians look with envy at the highly diversified culinary culture that France has developed. Our respect for the French cuisine is reflected in the teaching of Norwegian chefs, who are taught French cooking as part of their education.

French chefs are not the only people who put a high value on Norwegian seafood products. Every day, thousands of French consumers buy Norwegian salmon and other Norwegian seafood products, and Norway supplies about 50 per cent of the fresh salmon and about 60 per cent of the smoked salmon consumed in France. Other species, such as cod, herring, saithe and shrimp, are also important export products.

It is a great pleasure for me to officially launch the Norwegian Seafood Export Council’s summer campaign for Norwegian Salmon. Nature has blessed Norway with cold, clear waters. During this campaign more than 70 million people in France, Belgium and Luxembourg will have the opportunity to taste high quality and healthy seafood from these waters.

They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I hope we will reach many hearts tonight!

- Bon appétit!