Moroccan Chef Wins France’s Top Couscous Award in Toulouse

"I was surprised to have been selected among 109 candidates from all over France and to have been selected among the five best. I was even more surprised when I found out I had won. I am especially happy to have brought this award to Toulouse," he told La Dépêche. The dish of this 45-year-old chef won over the jury of the culinary show on Paris Première "Très, Très bon".

This native of Kénitra developed his love for cooking while growing up among the women, including his mother Hadda. "I lived in Morocco until the age of 14 before coming to join my father in France," he recalls. "I arrived in Valence d’Agen (Tarn-et-Garonne) without papers. Nothing was simple. I had to learn French on my own. I had to make it. I didn’t want to be deported."

After being regularized, he was hired in precision mechanics at Airbus. "After my military service in Clermond-Ferrand, I joined the mountain troops where I stayed for two years. I almost made a career there before giving up and returning to Toulouse," Hamid recounts. Meeting the woman who would later become his wife brings him back to his first love: cooking. "I met my wife Tiphaine. A click made me realize that this profession was my dream and my true passion," he says.

Hamid strives to learn French gastronomy through cookbooks and reports. He discovers talented chefs who crown the cuisine with letters of nobility and the secrets of traditional dishes: coq au vin, pot-au-feu, gratin dauphinois, etc. At the same time, he works as a dishwasher in several establishments in the city center.

Subsequently, the idea of opening a restaurant comes to his mind. He and his partner buy a house to run a guest house: "We welcomed our friends for moments of sharing in all simplicity." He is very quickly noticed for his talent. La Pente Douce is born in Toulouse. In addition to Toulouse dishes, the restaurant specializes in couscous and adds a special touch to it. Customers love it. "It reaches new heights," comments François-Régis Gaudry, food journalist.