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French Culture – I’m hungry … and I’m in a hurry! Posted by on Nov 17, 2020 in Culture, Vocabulary

A friend of mine was recently asking me about fast food in France. France – one of the world’s undeniable gastronomic powerhouses – has a complicated and conflicted history with la restauration rapide.

La malbouffe1lit. bad eating from the French for bad and the slang term bouffer / to eat (correctly manger)

France is, after all, the country that coined the term bad eating and where, in 1999, the future candidat à la présidentielle (presidential candidate) and future député européenne verte (French Green Party representative in the European Parliament), José Bové, led an attack on a McDonald’s, protesting the growing domination of the global food an agriculture business by huge multinational corporations, that made international headlines.

And 36 years ago, most people that I knew looked down on McDo’s (as McDonald’s is known in France) and Burger King … even though you could find both on the Champs-Elysées. And you could eat anytime at the slightly-less-offensive-because-French (and not American!) Quick (which to my untrained American eye was basically a McDonald’s/Burger Clone … but French 😉 … ).

Today, France is one of McDonald’s most robust markets outside of les États-Unis2and outside of Covid quarantines!. French McDonald’s have adapted to their culture with robust McCafé’s (even selling macarons!), beer and wine, and even a McBaguette (a sort of jambon beurre but aux steaks hachés/with ground beef patties!).

Speaking of les États-Unis  … I’ll always remember the first time I was asked what my native language was and when I replied “l’anglais” (English)  I was corrected and told that I spoke “l’américain(American)3Note that French people also differentiate between le français et le québecois (French from France and French from Quebec.  … Similarly I had it pointed out to me that I didn’t live “en Amérique” but “aux États-Unis” … and it is true that l’Amérique … or more appropriately les Amériques (l’Amérique du Nord, L’Amérique centrale, et l’Amérique du Sud)4The Americas: North America, Central America, and South America. is (are) much more than just the United States … but I still think I speak anglais (et français!). Click here for a quick audio discussion on the topic from the DGLF.

And France has continued to innovate the fast food movement with their own creations like Flunch … un self (restaurant où les clients se servent eux-mêmes.) qui s’adapte au Covid en livrant au domicile (a self-service restaurant where clients serve themselves that is adapting to Covid by offering home delivery).

Et pourquoi pas And why not …

Pour finir, une ‘tite chansonette (To conclude, a little song). A good reminder of the days of the week if you need a refresher … and as the title says si tu kiffes le McDo tu vas kiffer cette chanson (if you like McDonald’s you’re going to like this song)!

Photo by freestocks.org from Pexels

  • 1
    lit. bad eating from the French for bad and the slang term bouffer / to eat (correctly manger)
  • 2
  • 3
    Note that French people also differentiate between le français et le québecois (French from France and French from Quebec. 
  • 4
    The Americas: North America, Central America, and South America.
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About the Author: Tim Hildreth

Since my first trip to France at 16, I have been a passionate francophile. I love the language, food, music, art, people, and more that make France and la Francophonie in general such an amazing part of our global community. Having lived in France and studied the language and culture for over 35 years, it is my great pleasure to be able to share a little bit of my deep love with you through this blog.