C’est catastrophique!
What is more French than savouring a steaming casserole of Coq au Vin, splashed down with a quality bottle of Sauvignon Blanc served at a classy restaurant which has honed l’art de la table .
The rest of the world could buy take-aways and fizzy drinks, but les Francaises like to think they are bred into gastronomic refinement by centuries of gourmet style.
But, what’s this snippet one reads in The Times of London about the French losing their “luxury appetite’’? A new study has revealed that France has become a fast-food nation, which has guzzled more takeaways last year than sit-down meals in bistrots, brasseries and restaurants for the first time.
The startling news is a fresh blow to the nation’s reputation only days after Yannick Alleno – a three- Michelin star chef – had denounced the national cuisine as “no longer at the front of the stage’’. “It’s in the frying pan,’’ he added.
On the one hand, traditional restaurants are cutting prices in a desperate bid to win back customers and on the other, takeaways are enjoying a boom, says a report by Gira, food consultants.
Gira Conseil director Bernard Boutboul says the French fast food market has grown by 73.5 per cent since 2004 to E34 billion last year.
And in an historic shift, takeaway outlets accounted for 54 per cent of the total number of meals eaten outside the home in France.
The sweeping changes in French lifestyles mean the number of meals eaten in traditional restaurants fell by up to 4 per cent taking it under 50 per cent for the first time.
Quel un catastrophe!
absolutely french | nadine 08/03/2013
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