Japanese chefs hone skills in cradle of French cuisine

Liergues, France

SNOW blankets a vineyard deep in France's Beaujolais region, where a select group of future top chefs from Japan are busy learning the secrets of French cuisine in the kitchens of an elegant chateau.

Shouts of "Oui, chef!" punctuate the morning as the Tsuji school's lead teacher Aime Nallet instructs his students in the fine points of smoking Charolais steaks with vine shoots or stewing cluster tomatoes to garnish red mullet pies.