French chefs exposed as microwave cheats
Apr 13, 2015, 10:29 am
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French chefs exposed as microwave cheats
Most French chefs order the nation’s top dishes from a catalogue and reheat them in a microwave, according to a Parisian restaurateur.
Xavier Denamur, who has five bistros in the capital, has infuriated the country’s culinary establishment by revealing trade secrets about practices that he condemns as cheating.
His diatribe comes at a time when French gastronomy is struggling to restore a reputation battered by claims that it has been surpassed by many other countries.
The decline of the once-admired national cuisine prompted the government to pass legislation last year to encourage chefs to use fresh produce. This week ministers admitted that the law had been a flop.
Xavier Denamur, who has five bistros in the capital, has infuriated the country’s culinary establishment by revealing trade secrets about practices that he condemns as cheating.
His diatribe comes at a time when French gastronomy is struggling to restore a reputation battered by claims that it has been surpassed by many other countries.
The decline of the once-admired national cuisine prompted the government to pass legislation last year to encourage chefs to use fresh produce. This week ministers admitted that the law had been a flop.
Apr 13, 2015, 11:14 am
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I spent a lot of time in Europe, and the French food never impressed me. I found absolutely nothing that I would recommend. And every waiter I dealt with was rude. I started buying food to go, and took it to my Hotel. The best food I found was in Germany.
Apr 13, 2015, 11:17 am
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I read about this problem some years ago when there was a real effort to try and reintroduce scratch cooking to French restaurants, which seems to have failed miserably. Partly this is due to the union issues. And this has made many waiting staff in Paris dire as well as the kitchen laziness and lack of skills and interest. Things are sometimes more hopeful rurally with owner cooks.
I find it interesting because I'm old enough to recall when I'd take wifey regularly to Paris for some decent food ... sometimes just for lunch ... because London was so dire. London improved year on year and Paris went downhill long ago. London now beats Paris hands down. I also became aware of how lazy places became in well known other places.
One place we have been going to for over 20 years in Cannes hasn't changed it's menu at all in all that time. The only change has been the price.
I have suspected for some time that a lot of what is bistro and restaurant food seemed "samey" and this explains why.
I find it interesting because I'm old enough to recall when I'd take wifey regularly to Paris for some decent food ... sometimes just for lunch ... because London was so dire. London improved year on year and Paris went downhill long ago. London now beats Paris hands down. I also became aware of how lazy places became in well known other places.
One place we have been going to for over 20 years in Cannes hasn't changed it's menu at all in all that time. The only change has been the price.
I have suspected for some time that a lot of what is bistro and restaurant food seemed "samey" and this explains why.
Apr 13, 2015, 1:37 pm
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I love good, old-fashioned French food...but Italian is still my favorite. The only food I had in France that was legitimately good was that at trendy new restaurants in Paris (Le Chateaubriand and Yam'tcha) or no-name mom and pop places in the country.
Apr 13, 2015, 4:54 pm
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Les Auberges ?
Apr 13, 2015, 5:06 pm
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I still have fond memories of wonderful French meals, full of cream and other heart attack inducing substances. But I haven't had such a meal for many many years. Sadly, France has not modernized its repertory, simply microwaved it. It will, I suspect, be a long time before France wakes up to how much it is lagging in this area (and many others).
Apr 14, 2015, 1:52 am
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French restaurants do seem to so often have complete disdain for their customers, so I'm not surprised their superiority complex and their laziness combine in this.
Luckily living in London there's no shortage of good French food.
Luckily living in London there's no shortage of good French food.
Apr 14, 2015, 3:56 am
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Of course they do, but those aren't THE chefs.. those are in bistros small cafes etc. Now they have to have s special sign if the food is cooked in-house.
Some even say that the "cooks" in bistros are so bad that it is better to serve frozen food.
Some even say that the "cooks" in bistros are so bad that it is better to serve frozen food.
Apr 14, 2015, 1:52 pm
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Wow. Best food I've ever had has been in France, and just a couple of years ago. And the restaurants treated us quite well in Paris and Normandy. The butter and eggs (most delicious omelettes ever, for me) were otherworldly delicious. I will say that a galette is not my favorite form of sandwich, though.
We'll be in Provence and Languedoc this summer; hope we repeat our last good French experiences and not those lousy ones presented by you all here.
We'll be in Provence and Languedoc this summer; hope we repeat our last good French experiences and not those lousy ones presented by you all here.
Apr 15, 2015, 2:32 am
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Ah, I would travel far (and have done) to get a galette de sarrasin! They're not too difficult to make at home, but you just can't recreate a Breton galette complete.
However... It's not just the small bistros and chain restaurants that are guilty of this - a lot of much higher end places (in many countries) pre-prepare many dishes in a central kitchen, bagged up to be finished sous vide and in a frying pan on site. And the quality doesn't suffer. If you can get microwave food of a similar calibre (and yes, there's a whole spectrum from one end to the other), is this necessarily a problem? The technology and food science behind gets better and better, and opens up a world of possibilities for a small bistro that previously offered little more than a burnt croque monsieur for lunch (croque madame and croque hawaiien available for a supplement).
As for service, I haven't found rude service in Paris for years now. But you do have to play the game, greet appropriately, etc. It's just how it works.
However... It's not just the small bistros and chain restaurants that are guilty of this - a lot of much higher end places (in many countries) pre-prepare many dishes in a central kitchen, bagged up to be finished sous vide and in a frying pan on site. And the quality doesn't suffer. If you can get microwave food of a similar calibre (and yes, there's a whole spectrum from one end to the other), is this necessarily a problem? The technology and food science behind gets better and better, and opens up a world of possibilities for a small bistro that previously offered little more than a burnt croque monsieur for lunch (croque madame and croque hawaiien available for a supplement).
As for service, I haven't found rude service in Paris for years now. But you do have to play the game, greet appropriately, etc. It's just how it works.