Cook up a meeting

　DOZENS of world leaders and royals from around the globe might have had to visit McDonalds last week as their personal chefs met in Thailand for a holiday. The chefs enjoyed a week of cooking parties and a break from their demanding duties.
　The group was made up of 36 top cooks, nearly all members of the Club of the Chefs to the Heads of State. This group says it is the most special gastronomic club in the world.
　The personal cooks to kings, princes and presidents went to Thailand for their yearly meeting.
　In a rare change from the usual, they were given the best wine and food as if they themselves were the leaders of nations.
　But not all of them were in Thailand. French President Jacques Chirac's personal chef could not go because he had to be in France for a state visit.
　For those who went to Thailand, it was a chance to discuss global cooking trends, taste local dishes, and perhaps pick up a few ideas to try out on their employers back home.
　US President George W. Bush's cook, Walter Scheib, said: "I love Thai food's gingers and chillis and the wonderful curry sauces. I will use ideas from Thailand when I cook for the president and his wife."
　Scheib said Bush's choice of food, like his conversation, is very typical of the southern US: spicy meat flavoured with wood smoke.
　Lionel Mann, the long-time chef to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, described the food eaten by the royals in Buckingham Palace as classical French and traditional English. Mann is retiring this month after 42 years of feeding the royal family.
　Denmark's royal family perhaps has a more modern view of cooking traditions - it enjoys food cooked by a Japanese chef called Mr. Takeshi. Japanese favourites such as sushi appear on the palace menu, said Takeshi.
　Prince Albert of Monaco is "quite fond of cooking", according to his chef Giles Brunere. Brunere often helps the prince with difficult dishes when he decides to cook a meal for his friends.