4 ms·

The irony is that French food is often not very good. After some stays there, I formed the hypothesis that French like to talk about food all the time for the s

The irony is that French food is often not very good. After some stays there, I formed the hypothesis that French like to talk about food all the time for the same reasons that the British like to talk about the weather all the time - because it tends to be bad... (To be sure the "public facing" food in France is great, but the daily, mundane stuff often disappoints).

peteretep 10y ago
Arguably Brits talk about the weather because it's so changeable
- tudorw 10y ago
  it's a fairly universal ice breaker too, if you happen upon a stranger in close proximity whereby it would be impolite not to say something, commenting on how it is hotter/colder/windier/calmer than expected/yesterday/forecast/this time last year is a good start, their response is the key to whether they would like to exchange small talk, 'yes, it is isn't it, well, yesterday I was in Golant and ....' vs 'Yes.'
- JBReefer 10y ago
  Isn't it also because class is very important in England, and the weather is a neutral topic?
hocuspocus 10y ago
Often not good? Where? The French do care about food, it's not a stereotype. I live in Germany and most people here don't really mind having a company restaurant that's "good enough", or don't mind not having a hot meal for dinner. The French (and a few other nationalities) really do, and put more effort and money into eating properly.
- anothercomment 10y ago
  Maybe not in the restaurants, but in private life. For example, when I went there as an exchange pupil, I lived with a family that had potato crisps as a side dish. If you come to Paris as a tourist, of course you can also stumble into a lot of bad restaurants that are just looking to rip of tourists. Of course good stuff also exists.
  - reacweb 10y ago
    As a french, I think that "potato crisps as a side dish" is a good idea when receiving a young child. In schools, childs often refuse to eat vegetables and prefer to choose french fries. When receiving a foreigner, I will ask for his taste before deciding the menu.
invaliduser 10y ago
French people do not really talk much about food. Sometimes with foreigners, because it's a bit of a cliché topic, and foreigners usually may want to talk about it, or as a way to chitchat with a foreigner (but between french people, this very rarely happens). However, they talk a lot about wine, really a lot, and that is very boring when you don't drink. As for food, it really depend on the restaurants, or event where you happened to be, but I wouldn't call french food «bad», it's usually ok or above ok. Actually, I wouldn't call any country's food «bad», not to my taste maybe, or very different to what I'm used, but generalizing to bad a whole food culture, that's a bit harsh, and certainly unfair whatever the country.
- anothercomment 10y ago
  I'm sure you can get a lot of good food, it was just my personal experience, and my remark was meant to be humorous. I should also note that I don't like wine much, and I was a vegetarian when I was in French - not the best conditions for enjoying their food. Talking about food and wine all the time would quickly get boring to me, so I'd probably prefer the Sillicon Valley version in the long run.
  - invaliduser 10y ago
    You are so right. Try living in Bordeaux when you don't drink wine. It's awful, people wouldn't believe I didn't like the taste of wine. Not my fault, I just dislike it. French people would always try to convince me it's because I didn't tried their favorite brand, or thinking I didn't know the Bordeaux wine. Sometimes I even had to resort to telling them it was religious (which it's not) so they'd stop bothering me.

peteretep 10y ago

Arguably Brits talk about the weather because it's so changeable

tudorw 10y ago
it's a fairly universal ice breaker too, if you happen upon a stranger in close proximity whereby it would be impolite not to say something, commenting on how it is hotter/colder/windier/calmer than expected/yesterday/forecast/this time last year is a good start, their response is the key to whether they would like to exchange small talk, 'yes, it is isn't it, well, yesterday I was in Golant and ....' vs 'Yes.'
JBReefer 10y ago
Isn't it also because class is very important in England, and the weather is a neutral topic?

hocuspocus 10y ago

Often not good? Where? The French do care about food, it's not a stereotype. I live in Germany and most people here don't really mind having a company restaurant that's "good enough", or don't mind not having a hot meal for dinner. The French (and a few other nationalities) really do, and put more effort and money into eating properly.

anothercomment 10y ago
Maybe not in the restaurants, but in private life. For example, when I went there as an exchange pupil, I lived with a family that had potato crisps as a side dish. If you come to Paris as a tourist, of course you can also stumble into a lot of bad restaurants that are just looking to rip of tourists. Of course good stuff also exists.
- reacweb 10y ago
  As a french, I think that "potato crisps as a side dish" is a good idea when receiving a young child. In schools, childs often refuse to eat vegetables and prefer to choose french fries. When receiving a foreigner, I will ask for his taste before deciding the menu.

invaliduser 10y ago

French people do not really talk much about food. Sometimes with foreigners, because it's a bit of a cliché topic, and foreigners usually may want to talk about it, or as a way to chitchat with a foreigner (but between french people, this very rarely happens). However, they talk a lot about wine, really a lot, and that is very boring when you don't drink. As for food, it really depend on the restaurants, or event where you happened to be, but I wouldn't call french food «bad», it's usually ok or above ok. Actually, I wouldn't call any country's food «bad», not to my taste maybe, or very different to what I'm used, but generalizing to bad a whole food culture, that's a bit harsh, and certainly unfair whatever the country.

anothercomment 10y ago
I'm sure you can get a lot of good food, it was just my personal experience, and my remark was meant to be humorous. I should also note that I don't like wine much, and I was a vegetarian when I was in French - not the best conditions for enjoying their food. Talking about food and wine all the time would quickly get boring to me, so I'd probably prefer the Sillicon Valley version in the long run.
- invaliduser 10y ago
  You are so right. Try living in Bordeaux when you don't drink wine. It's awful, people wouldn't believe I didn't like the taste of wine. Not my fault, I just dislike it. French people would always try to convince me it's because I didn't tried their favorite brand, or thinking I didn't know the Bordeaux wine. Sometimes I even had to resort to telling them it was religious (which it's not) so they'd stop bothering me.