” Apicio says:

Re: congealed vittles in France. Alas, the inexorable allure of convenience has began to encroach too in the land of haute cuisine. RGM looky here:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=P8&xml=/health/2005/11/29/whaute27.xml
August 1st, 2007″

Fave line:
Maurice: I will die soon, Venus. Can I touch your hand?
Jessie: That’s one chat-up line I haven’t heard.

Thanks for the articles. They were certainly eye-opening. I have a french friend that almost fainted when I bought a cup of Starbucks coffee to his house, and he avoids McDonalds so much, he had a hard time here in Manila when he went here. So I’d think that the French would avoid McDonald’s. However, I’ve heard that the McDonalds are really beautiful in France. Instead of the usual red and yellow, it was done in gold and white (back then) and now in black and white. It’s quite interesting. However, all of this is shattering my Francophile sensibilities. Hahaha! Just kidding.

As for the pre-cooked food, it is a truly sad affair. I don’t want to go to France and eat something that is made to look like “fait maison”, while in fact, it’s all pre-prepared! Quelle Dommage! This, however, reminds me of something I read about food critics in Paris, food critics for Le Guide Rouge Michelin to be exact.

To be considered a food critic by Michelin, you have to have an extensive background in gastronomy. So extensive in fact that one of the tests that they give to hopefuls is that they have to taste a dish, know all of the ingredients used, know HOW the dish was prepared, and most importantly, by just using their tastebuds, know whether any shortcuts were used and whether other unspeakable haute cuisine sins were committed. Not to mention that they have to have an incredible eye for detail (most Michelin food critics are women, and one time, a critic saw that a “garcon” in a 3 star restaurants had dirt under his fingernails that she considered making it a 2 star instead!) At least, we can all sleep soundly at night with the thought that such bastions of haute cuisine stand guard, all for sake of glorifying gastronomy.

Mrs. MM