Is it possible to have bad food in France? Of course it is.

I think I'm guilty of waxing too lyrical about the food in France sometimes, and I'm certainly not alone in that. If you believe some people (many of whom have a vested interest in upholding the myth) you may think that French people eat delicious, fresh, well-prepared gourmet food and heavenly pastries all the time. That's just not true, of course. I'm just back from a two week stay in Provence, and while most of the food was wonderful as usual, there were some definite low lights.

The thing is, France suffers from the same afflictions as any modern nation - people are too busy, they are in a hurry, there's no time. Most of the people taking their leisurely time at the weekday morning markets are elderly. If you go to the hypermarché in the afternoon, there are many younger people, working people, doing the toss-it-in-the-shopping-cart-it's-edible routine that all of us do. There are tons of packaged, canned, frozen, etc. items for sale - and they must sell otherwise those hypermarchés wouldn't be successful. Much of the bad food in modern society is a result of people not having enough time to shop for, and prepare, and most importantly eat food slowly enough to actually taste it. When you are too preoccupied with other matters, or other matters take up too much of your energy, then food simply becomes something to fill that empty space in your belly or to keep up your energy.

There are fast food restaurants everywhere in France - as well as McDonalds and KFC and the like there are also the French chains like Quick and Flunch. And then there are the roadside diners. Granted, roadside diners anywhere generally have a tough time maintaining quality, but still - I encountered one of the worst looking so-called meals I've ever seen at an Autogrill (a roadside restaurant chain) near Lyon on the long drive back home. It was called a Steak Haché - which translated to 'minced steak' - a.k.a. a hamburger.

I know I know, what was I doing ordering a hamburger? What can I say, I wanted something warm, not yet another cold sandwich. Besides, several other people were eating it and it looked okay from afar. But this is what it looked like up close:

autogrill1.jpg

The fries smelled as if they had been fried in old oil. The hamburger had a curious rubbery, resistant feel on the surface. When cut open, the insides were....raw, as in bright red raw. At this point I somehow lost my appetite.

autogrill2.jpg

So what point am I making here? Well...I guess it's that 1. you can get a bad meal anywhere, even in France. 2. not all French people are gourmets and 3. I will never order a steak hache at an Autogrill again. I think I'll stick to soda and Pringles. Oh yes, they sell Pringles in France.

(Incidentally, a few days before the Autogrill episode, we somehow missed lunchtime and ended up at another chain restaurant around 3 in the afternoon. Let's say it wasn't the most inspiring place in terms of cleanliness or general atmosphere. Yet, someone at a nearby table at a cafe was tucking into a steak tartare, complete with raw egg, with gusto. Maybe I'm too nervous about raw chopped meat. Or, maybe not. I'd rather not find out through trial and error. )

If you'd rather savor some of the best food from France, be sure to check out the Just Hungry Menu For Hope Food Hamper and donate!

Filed under:  food travel restaurants philosophy france

If you enjoyed this article, please consider becoming my patron via Patreon. ^_^

Become a Patron!

Comments

Oh lala, those Autogrills can be nasty! I have had some pretty lame food in Paris that was overpriced and gross. It happens everywhere. It's nice that you got to go see the truffles!! And experience some other fine places in France.

We ate some pretty horrible food when we first moved to Paris. You definetly have to do a bit of searching to find the good stuff.

And I've yet to eat a hamburger here that wasn't pink inside. Even the steak hachee that is served for lunch at the nursery school where I work is pink. You get used to it.

I actually don't mind a 'medium rare' or even sort of rare burger...or even a steak tartare, if I'm confident of the meat. But I draw the line when it's quite obviously pre-frozen and bouncy on the outside...

Steak Haché has been on my list of "do not eat ever anywhere cheap" foods ever since a friend of mine related his fun food poisoning episode.

FWIW We buy food at the Hypermarché all the time, but we do so because it saves time shopping. We still buy fresh ingredients and avoid the majority of packaged crud though. A single shop where you can buy everything from coffee and wine to foie-gras to truffles isn't bad and the price and quality is good usually. Having said that we tend to buy bread from one of the half dozen or more bakeries within a mile or so from our house and we have a few favourite farmers where we buy veggies as the mood strikes.