Mention the French, and the first thing that usually comes to mind is fine wine and equally fine dining. Indeed, marketers know that if you want to make a particular type of food seem really upmarket, just add the word, ‘French’ in front of it, and voilà ! people start clamoring for it.
But what about the stereotypical ‘French’ foods the world associates with us? Do we deserve these accolades – and in some cases, the criticism? Did Julia Child, MFK Fisher, and James Beard really have the right of it, or is the reality that they were in fact, rather over-zealous in their evangelizing of French food?
Let’s explore some of the most commonly-held perceptions about the French and our food.
Garlic
Everyone seems to think we use far more garlic than the rest of the world put together but the reality is that we simply don’t. In fact, out of the top ten garlic consumers in the world, five are Asian – France doesn’t even appear on the list. China is the largest eater of garlic in the world, consuming around 12 cloves per capita, per day. India is next, followed by the Republic of Korea.
Bread
Of course we love our bread, doesn’t everyone? Admit it, you love a baguette or a brioche as much as we do; however, we’re not the largest loaf-lovers on the planet. That distinction goes to Turkey, where the average person eats in excess of three times their own bodyweight in bready goodness each year. Phew!
Cheese
Yes, we love our ‘stinky’ cheese (we don’t find it particularly smelly, it has to be admitted) but guess what? We’re not foremost on the world’s fromage front. Plenty of you out there out-rank us; the US produces far more than we do, the UK has more variety (hard to believe, I know), and the Greeks eat more per person than we do. But we still think ours are the best!