Oh dear, le pauvre French. They do get their pantalons in a twist, non? In a panic-driven, typically reactionary fashion they've invented a new law - "Fait maison" - to help regulate the 135,000 nationwide restaurants who make a habit of reheating industrially-prepared food instead of cooking à la maman, which - as you know - is how all we tourists long to eat when we are ON THE CONTINENT. The little saucepan logo is meant to reassure the customer that there has been "no major modification" to the food on-site, ie, it's all been freshly prepared and cooked by proper chefs. Unfortunately, the law is so desperate to please simply everyone, it's laughably nonsensical: Vegetables can be prepared off-site, apart from potatoes; Frozen, smoked and vacuum-sealed food can also be considered home-made.
The law's introduction does make a sort of sense. For years, visitors to France have been left underwhelmed by the downward-falling quality of the food - and its concomitant high cost - with many complaining that the French don't seem to care any more. Where are the gites typique, the quaint little bistros of yore, where Maman in her kerchief ladled huge potions of home-cooked genuwine French food onto your groaning platter, while Papa uncorked another dusty gem from the cellar with his teeth? Gone with the advent of the 35-hour working week and the high cost of employing some ungrateful teenager to peel the potatoes is the answer.
However, there is a wider argument to be made, and it's one we've banged on about before. Is traditional French cuisine really still that relevant? And if the French can't be arsed, should we? The French have never assimilated their immigrant population into their cuisine culture as we have; you can trawl the streets of Paris or Marseille until the end of time searching for a good ethnic restaurant that reflects the growing population; yet their cynicism toward the paying non-French customer is breathtaking as they churn out grey steak, soggy frites and overcooked chicken. Where is the pride in these dishes they are so furious to protect?
Cuisine dignitaries such as Alain Ducasse and Joel Robuchon have set up another scheme, Restaurant du Qualité, which signifies that restaurant has met the highest criteria of preparation and food (apparently nearly 1000 have signed up) but it seems just another regulation designed to structure and contain rather than grow and explore. Maybe it's time France let go of its national pride in dishes they themselves have debased and look to the future. It's Korean.
