French Foodies Fight Boil-in-a-Bag Trend

LONDON â€" In a fight back against a rising tide of boil-in-a-bag meals and other gastronomic horrors, France is to consider a law change that would limit use of the word “restaurant” to establishments that use proper ingredients prepared on the premises.

In a proposal being formally presented on Tuesday, the National Assembly is being asked to consider a measure that would bar about a third of the country’s outlets from calling themselves restaurants, according to estimates from a restaurant trade union that is backing the ban.

Some of France’s top chefs say the list of offenders is much higher, claiming preprepared “industrial cooking” is the norm in three out of four of the country’s 150,000 restaurants.

The brouhaha comes less than three years after Unesco, the international cultural agency, added French cuisine to its “world intangible heritage” list.

But it also follows the European horsemeat scandal, which tarnished France’s foodie image because some of the tainted meat may actually have ended up on French restaurant tables.

In a proposed amendment to an upcoming consumer protection law, Pascale Got, a legislator of the governing Socialist Party, says restaurants worth the name would have to guarantee their meals were made from raw materials cooked on the spot.

Menus would have to inform diners whether what was on their plate was freshly made or was a reheated industrial dish.

The measure appears to have a cross-party support. A similar amendment was put forward by Daniel Fasquelle and 30 of his parliamentary colleagues from the opposition U.M.P.

Didier Chenet, head of the Synhorcat restaurant and hotel union, which supports the amendment, said a survey showed a change in the law could encourage two-thirds of establishments to abandon industrial food and go back to real cooking.

He said the word “restaurant” had been abused in France. “In the United States, a grill is called a grill,” he told France’s Lyon Capitals. “There’s nothing wrong with a grill but it’s not the same thing as a restaurant.”

Mr. Chenet’s union believes the law change could create as many as 27,000 jobs in the industry.

Others are not so sure. Six organizations from the restaurant, hotel, cafe and fast-food trades, say the name restriction could lead to a loss of jobs and would be confusing to the public, particularly foreign tourists.

They favor the creation of an “artisan-restaurateur” designation that would have the same effect of specifying establishments where traditionally prepared food was on offer.

Some of France’s leading chefs have decided to take their own action against a boil-in-the-bag food culture and not wait for a change in the law.

Michelin-starred chefs, who include Alain Ducasse, Joël Robuchon and Anne-Sophie Pic, have begun an initiative to save France’s food image by creating a Restaurant de Qualité label for restaurants and bistros that prepare fresh food in their own kitchens and give diners a proper welcome.

According to Mr. Ducasse, “The average person has no idea what they are in for when they open the door to a restaurant.”

Do we really know what we’re eating when we sit down to a restaurant meal? Are French foodies right to defend traditional cuisine from a fast food takeover? Or is it all a storm in a sauce boat? Let us know your thoughts.