{"id":32480,"date":"2020-11-17T05:30:45","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T04:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=32480"},"modified":"2020-11-17T03:51:29","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T02:51:29","slug":"french-culture-im-hungry-and-im-in-a-hurry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/french-culture-im-hungry-and-im-in-a-hurry\/","title":{"rendered":"French Culture – I’m hungry … and I’m in a hurry!"},"content":{"rendered":"

A friend of mine was recently asking me about fast food<\/em> in France. France \u2013 one of the world\u2019s undeniable gastronomic powerhouses \u2013 has a complicated and conflicted history with la restauration rapide<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

La malbouffe<\/strong>1<\/a><\/sup>lit. bad eating<\/em> from the French for bad<\/em> and the slang term bouffer<\/em> \/ to eat <\/em>(correctly manger<\/em>)<\/span><\/p>\n

France is, after all, the country that coined the term bad eating<\/em> and where, in 1999, the future candidat \u00e0 la\u00a0<\/strong>pr\u00e9sidentielle<\/b>\u00a0(presidential candidate)<\/em> and future d\u00e9put\u00e9 europ\u00e9enne verte<\/b> (French Green Party representative in the European Parliament)<\/em>, Jos\u00e9 Bov\u00e9, led an attack on a McDonald\u2019s, protesting the growing domination of the global food an agriculture business by huge multinational corporations, that made international headlines.<\/p>\n

And 36 years ago<\/a>, most people that I knew looked down on McDo\u2019s (as McDonald’s is known in France) and Burger King \u2026 even though you could find both on the Champs-Elys\u00e9es<\/a>. And you could eat anytime at the slightly-less-offensive-because-French (and not American!) Quick<\/a> (which to my untrained American eye was basically a McDonald’s\/Burger Clone \u2026 but French ? \u2026 ).<\/p>\n

Today, France is one of McDonald\u2019s most robust markets outside of les \u00c9tats-Unis<\/strong>2<\/a><\/sup>and outside of Covid quarantines!<\/a><\/span>. French McDonald\u2019s have adapted to their culture with robust McCaf\u00e9\u2019s (even selling macarons<\/a>!), beer and wine, and even a McBaguette (a sort of jambon beurre<\/strong><\/a> but aux steaks hach\u00e9s<\/strong>\/with ground beef patties<\/em>!).<\/p>\n

Speaking of les \u00c9tats-Unis<\/strong> \u00a0\u2026 I\u2019ll always remember the first time I was asked what my native language was and when I replied \u201cl\u2019anglais<\/strong>\u201d (English)\u00a0<\/em> I was corrected and told that I spoke \u201cl\u2019am\u00e9ricain<\/strong>\u201d (American)<\/em>3<\/a><\/sup>Note that French people also differentiate between le fran\u00e7ais et le qu\u00e9becois<\/b> (French from France and French from Quebec.<\/em>\u00a0<\/span> \u2026 Similarly I had it pointed out to me that I didn\u2019t live \u201cen Am\u00e9rique<\/strong>\u201d but \u201caux \u00c9tats-Unis<\/strong>\u201d \u2026 and it is true that l\u2019Am\u00e9rique<\/strong> \u2026 or more appropriately les Am\u00e9<\/b>riques (l\u2019Am\u00e9<\/b>rique du Nord, L\u2019Am\u00e9<\/b>rique centrale, et l\u2019Am\u00e9<\/b>rique du Sud)<\/strong>4<\/a><\/sup>The Americas: North America, Central America, and South America.<\/span> is (are) much more than just the United States \u2026 but I still think I speak anglais<\/strong> (et fran\u00e7ais!<\/strong>). Click here<\/a> for a quick audio discussion on the topic from the DGLF<\/a>.<\/div>\n

And France has continued to innovate the fast food movement with their own creations like Flunch \u2026 un self<\/strong> (restaurant o\u00f9 les clients se servent eux-m\u00eames.) qui s\u2019adapte au Covid en livrant au domicile<\/a><\/strong> (a self-service restaurant where clients serve themselves that is adapting to Covid by offering home delivery<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Et pourquoi pas\u00a0<\/strong>\/\u00a0And why not …<\/em><\/p>\n

Pour finir, une ‘tite chansonette\u00a0<\/strong>(To conclude, a little song). <\/em>A good reminder of the days of the week<\/a> if you need a refresher … and as the title says si tu kiffes<\/a> le McDo tu vas kiffer cette chanson<\/strong> (if you like McDonald’s you’re going to like this song)!<\/em><\/p>\n