Belgian chef Christian DeVos still remembers the first time he ate corn for dinner. While in France visiting the family of his future wife, he was served corn – even though it usually was fed to animals and not people.

Remarking on the contents of his plate, DeVos said, “Oh, this is what we we serve to pigs!”

His mother-in-law reminded him of that incident for many years.

After recounting this tale, DeVos spoke Thursday to about 20 students in a talk sponsored by the French Interdisciplinary Group, one of a series of informal luncheons that examine aspects of French culture. The events are open to all students.

DeVos, dean of Kendall College’s School of Culinary Arts, is the former chef and general manager of the Signature Room Restaurant on the 95th floor of Chicago’s John Hancock Observatory. He shifted gears in 1994 to become director of the Chicago Fund on Aging and Disability, a non-profit organization that benefits Meals on Wheels.

In the informal session, while students enjoyed cookies and sandwiches, DeVos entertained listeners with an introduction to food and gastronomy in French culture.

Michal Ginsburg, chairwoman of Northwestern’s Department of French and Italian, introduced Devos by saying, “I have a secret to tell you. Monsieur DeVos is actually Belgian, which gives him so much more credit, because we know Belgians are the best chefs!”

DeVos went on to explain that his father was Belgian and his mother was French. He said he decided to pick a Belgian nationality because the Belgian military required 12 rather than 15 months of service.

Though DeVos considers himself Belgian, he was born and raised in the Congo and has traveled all around the United States.

DeVos said French and American people have a “love-hate relationship.”

“(The French) love to eat McDonald’s, but they hate McDonald’s,” he said. “They drink Coca-Cola, but they hate Coca-Cola.”

DeVos came to the United States when he was still in training to become a cook.

“I came for only three months, and I am still here,” he said.

A main cultural difference between the French and Americans, DeVos said, is that in France people place as much value in the entire dining experience as in the food.

“Dinner is like a theatre,” he said. “You go there to see people and be seen.”

DeVos also talked about different norms in the culinary scene. For example, he mentioned the export of horse meat from Iowa to Belgium and France, which many of the listeners were unaware of and surprised to hear. He explained how horse meat is eaten in other countries, but is prohibited in Illinois.

He jokingly added, “They may add horse meat in your hot dogs and you just don’t know it!”

This elicited several groans.

To wind up, Devos spoke of the “nouvelle cuisine” that emerged in the 1970s, when traditionally trained chefs realized that French food was too rich. Chefs tried to start a new taste by reducing richness.

Devos said some chefs now have no traditional training and commit great atrocities.

Ginsburg said she encourages students to attend the next two events of the Winter Quarter, which will address changes in the French welfare state and urban slums in France and the United States.

Weinberg junior Adrianna Zhang said she liked the speech.

“It was cool,” Zhang said. “It was very informative and I was surprised by the different connections he made on different levels.”