Gazpacho - à la française

It's summer and a great time to enjoy a typical Spanish dish; gazpacho, a cold tomato-based vegetable soup.

Absolutely delicious even if sometimes the chef tends to be a little heavy-handed on the garlic.

Now you might think that the French, when they decide to "revisit" a recipe - albeit from another country - and add their own special touch to a classic, would come up with something rather special.

After all back in November last year the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) recognised French gastronomy as a world treasure when it added it to its list "aiming to protect intangible slices of a nation's heritage."

That was the somewhat formal and convoluted way of saying it had been given the official seal of approval and was the first time any country's gastronomy had been included.



That's all well and good, but take a look at the preparation suggestions on a box of dinky glasses for amuse-bouches available in a chain of hard discount (or "ard discoont" as pronounced in French) stores up and down the country.



Can't read what's written without having the print enlarged?

No sooner said than done. Here you go.



You see that?

The third tip on what to make, and how - "Espagne: gaspacho (mixer 1 boite de tomate pelées avec un bocal de poivrons égoutté et un concombre épluché."

For those of you whose French is a little on the rusty side, that reads - "Spain: gazpacho (mix 1 can of peeled tomatoes with a jar of drained peppers and a peeled cucumber."

Nothing like fresh ingredients...and that's nothing like etc...

Yum.

Bon appetit.

Or should that be buen provecho?

Pinup girls promote French cheese

Looking for an unusual Christmas present? Well the Association fromage de terroir might just have the answer.

It's a non-profit organisation set up in 2001 to support France's cheese makers and retailers and help them "educate the public and the industry in general".

And for the sixth year in a row it has produced a calendar giving cheese rather a different angle.

It is, as the Association describes on its website, both "cheeky and sexy" (there's no denying that) with the 12 pinup girls striking poses which apparently follow the course of French history throughout the centuries from the Middle Ages to the present day.

The intention, according to the Association is to "celebrate not only the role of women in the tradition of cheese-making but also to emphasise the importance of France's gastronomic heritage in which cheese has played an important part."

Of course in France wine and food are an integral to the country's history and culture and that was undoubtedly very much in the minds of Unesco experts last week when they decided to recognise French gastronomy as a world treasure.

And cheese is undeniably an essential part of that gastronomic heritage.

France is well known for the diversity and number of cheeses, and there are plenty of quotes to back up that up including most famously former president Charles de Gaulle's 1962 quote, "How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?"

Proceeds from the sales of the 2011 calendar will help the Association (in its own words) "to continue the fight to maintain biodiversity, which guarantees the beauty of our land and the quality of our cheeses."

It puts forward a whole argument about independence, freedom of speech and the threat to France's small producers of high quality cheeses from multinationals flooding the domestic market with cheaper alternatives (you can read all about it on the website).

Screenshot from YouTube, "Making of the 2010 calendar"

But is the Association's claim that its calendar "promotes the art of the French life style" really anything more than jumping on the "sex sells" bandwaggon as a way of the ends justifying the means?

After all the link between Géraldine Gruyère, Estelle Livarot, Adeline Camembert and the nine other lasses is pretty flimsy (apart from the creative surnames) if not downright non-existent to say the least.

Still it isn't the first time, and certainly won't be the last, that an image of a pretty woman is used that has little or nothing to do with the product or service that is being promoted.

The calendar can be purchased from the modest price of €18.75 from the Association's website.

McDonald's withdraws blasphemous Happy Meal

Hamburgers and religion have proven to be a less-than-tasty combination here in France recently although they've certainly been making the news.

After the French fast food chain Quick sparked a row which took on political dimensions following its decision in November last year to take non-halal products and pork off the menu in eight of its 350 branches, McDonald's has found itself the target of criticism.

And at the centre of the controversy has been its Happy Meal for children, which has upset a Catholic priest in the southwestern département of Tarn, led him to call for a local boycott of the fast food giant and brought about a swift reaction and an apology from McDonald's itself.

It's not actually the food as such that has upset Xavier Cormary, the priest in the town of Saint-Suplice, although there are certainly those who would question its nutritional value and place within this country's cuisine. But that's quite another issue.

Instead it was the booklet that accompanied each meal and which contained a number of games and puzzles, one of which he and some of his parishioners found "bordering on the blasphemous".

The game in question shows a design, taken from the popular cartoon series and books for children, Kid Paddle, in which readers have to try to break a code to discover what a bishop is saying as he addresses a couple about to be married.

Harmless enough in the simple description perhaps, except the bishop, who along with the couple is drawn in the form of a misshapen potato, is holding a crucifix depicting Jesus as a frog, and his words, once the code is deciphered read, ""Do you accept to take Suzanne, here present, for dinner?"



Father Comary was incensed when he was made aware of the puzzle at the end of February and, being more than a little Internet-savvy, wrote exactly what he thought about it on his blog.

"Once again, the Christian faith is ridiculed," he wrote. "Marriage is violated, the bishop is mocked, and the crucifix is represented in a form that is offensive to beliefs that are at the heart of our Christian faith."

The 37-year-old didn't stop there though.

He called on parishioners to boycott branches of the fast food chain in the nearby towns of Gaillac and Lavaur, wrote directly to McDonald's France management and the publishers of the game and the original comic books.

And all to good effect it would appear, because according the local newspaper, La Dépêche, not only has he received an apology, but the booklet containing the game that had "caused offence" has been withdrawn.

Nathalie Febvre from McDonald's France customer services reportedly sent an email to the priest earlier this month in which she stressed there had been "no wish in any way to offend the sensibilities of its customers," and that "McDonald's would no longer be distributing Kid Paddle at its restaurants."

McDonald's at the Louvre - quelle horreur!

The Louvre in Paris is about to get a new neighbour, as the US fast food chain, McDonald's, plans to open an outlet in the underground mall (Carousel du Louvre) at the approach to the museum.

And "Quelle horreur" seems to be the response from many according to a report in Britain's Daily Telegraph.

Any trip to France of course means enjoying some of the fine grub for which this country is rightly proud.

France even has an application pending with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) to honour its cuisine.

But if you think the French take a traditionally dim view of US culture and especially its food and drink, think again.

Yes it might well seem to some a little incongruous having such a symbol of modern "culture" right next to a temple of art, but Starbucks is already in the Carrousel du Louvre.

Then there are the facts and figures for McDo's (as it's called here) that speak for themselves.

There are over 1,000 outlets here already. In fact the one opening within waddling distance of the museum will be its 1,142nd as it celebrates 30 years of business in France.

And besides why should the Louvre be spared the same fate that has already "befallen" other prestigious French sites such as the place du Capitole in the heart of Toulouse?

McDonald's, place du Capitole, Toulouse

The French clearly love burgers. McDonald's itself opened 30 new outlets last year and collectively its eateries reportedly pulled in 450 million customers making it the company's biggest market outside of the US.

The country even has its own fast food restaurant chain (although it started life as Belgian) in the shape of Quick, with over 300 restaurants.

And get this.

In last week's episode of the reality television game show Koh Lanta, the French equivalent of Survivor, what did the two contestants who won the reward challenge get as their luxury?

Yep you've guessed it. Burger and chips in the middle of the jungle.

Oh well. Perhaps it's a lost cause and the French shouldn't be too snooty about McDo's setting up shop right next to the Louvre.

Make mine a Mona Lisa burger please - with French fries of course.