Food in France? Was a deal better when I lived here way back when - 1979/81 Paris. Have noticed a definite deterioration. Far more commercialised products and, very difficult to find biological foods, and as for chicken or prok products? Forget it. 99.9% raised in production factory farms. tasteless yuck! (Hence my chicken thrown into the pot for soup...almost Euro 8 for a scrawny looking rather sad package
) For chicken bio I have to drive out 45 miles or wait for the special weekly market, 60 miles in another direction. ALL very tedious.
France is the biggest user of nitrates, nitrites, phosphates, organophosphatesa insecticides and ALL the rest of the whole UE. Followed by Ireland. UK comes further down on the list. So, fruits and veggies are...not that good. And again, very diff to find bio products. When you do, they are not only expensive, but, rather sad and limp!
So, all in all, I'd definitely saya that food in France is nowwhere as good as in the UK. Even their bread, IF you buy the pain complete (complte) the flour is milled straight from the full grain, incl husk, WITH all the pesticides etc etc on the husk, which one then imbibes...
(There was an interesting article on this very subject a few months ago.) So I stay clear from the pain complete. Love the pain au cereals, bread with cereals added. That is yummy, but... (Apart from the pesticides, which are there but not quite so abundantly as in pain complete, it does a number to my gut wall
)
For other meats? Beef is revolting. Tough and stringy, no flavour, no matter what you pay - feed lots of course! Lamb is not too bad - nowt much you can do TO lamb
. But very expensive, like Euros 32 per kilo (E16 per lb, about $12/14 per lb). Pork is cheap,, they raise a lot of pork over here, but factory farmed. No flavour.
Fish is good. An abundance of fish - a lot of it imported, even imported from Vietnam. And then re-frozen! Bought some last week...ummmmm. Won't bother again. Tasteless, in spite of cooking it in white wine and herbs etc. Most disappointing. Good shell fish, though don't indulge too much in shell fish - always 'wary' of the waters it's gathered from...
Much of the fish is farmed. Which I refuse to buy into.
No. French food? Not even their pastries - but then Germany and Austria for pastries, and of course, same for breads: Germany is famous for amazing breads - nowt like that over here. So, one is left with the famous baguette and the croissant. Yes. I eat those temps en temps.
At the nd of the day, alla rather sad. Prefer Greek food and as for Belgium, Yeeeeees. Good food in Belgium. The Belgians really know how to eat well and fantastic supermarkets, much better than here in France (have to go to Paris for GOOD supermarkets). But much of ALL supermarket food is mass and factory produced, everywhere.
Open markets used to be good over here, but now, again (and by and large) the same products that you find in the supermarkets.
In the UK - especially where I lived in LIncolnshire (fab ara in which to live) good food and good small food shops. The provinence of the meat always written up outside the butcher's shop...good stuff. Really miss the ***Excellent quality of meat, and the abundance of bio food that is readily available in the UK - WOW.
Nowt like to it over here. (Yes, IF I could sell this place, and
find a cheap place in the UK, I'd return!)
OK. Long diatribe on French food
Take care you guys - eat well. (Am on coffee this morning, don't feel like eating any of what's on offer - in the house!) Sigh! <LOL>
