France: is traditional catering a threat?

It is a fact that each of us has witnessed over the years: our country has more and more fast food outlets and establishments serving foreign cuisine. And this to the detriment of the ever fewer restaurants dedicated to the French culinary tradition. Focus on the representative case of Rennes…

As everyone knows, the crisis of Covid-19 has, despite state aid, put many restaurants in difficulty, penalized in particular by the desertion of employees who have left to seek less demanding work in other sectors of activity. However, it is not this threat that is mentioned here, but the multiplication in our cities of restaurant chains serving foreign cuisine, often exotic, to the detriment of establishments serving traditional cuisine from our regions.

The phenomenon gained momentum in our country several decades ago in two types of places: districts with a strong tourist vocation and cities of concentration of immigrant populations. Then, like what happened beyond our borders, it gradually spread, not only to all metropolises and medium-sized towns, but also to small towns in our countryside. Hence the question that we can legitimately ask: has traditional French catering lost the battle?

Obviously no, at least not yet. But, for spreading that it was in time, the “invasion” was nonetheless revealing of globalization on the move. A process which, obviously, is not finished: pizzaïolos, kings of tajine, specialists in yakitori and other cooking experts tandoori continue to establish themselves in the territory, and this even in modest towns where it is now not uncommon to discover, instead of an old traditional inn, here a Chinese brand, there a Maghrebian restaurant, elsewhere a Indo-Pakistani settlement.

But it is obviously in large and medium-sized cities that the phenomenon has developed in the most spectacular way. Of Little at Marseille, from Brest at Grenoble, from Strasbourg at Bordeaux, anyone who travels can see it. It is hardly surprising that this societal change first originated in Paris, given the cosmopolitan character of the French capital and the tropism it has always exercised. That she reached, oh surprise, the city of Lyon, world renowned for its gastronomy – including the sapper apron and the canut brain are emblematic – is much more surprising. From there to think that between Rhône and Saône, one pushes the stopper a little far in the eyes of the upholders of the tradition, there is only one step.

The ubiquitous Breton galette

In the city of Rennes, there are dozens of creperies. Certainly we are in Brittany, but it must be recognized that this type of inexpensive and family-friendly catering is gaining more ground each year, and not only in Armorican soil: the same observation can be made throughout the national territory. Including in winter sports resorts, as well as in the heart of regions very famous in terms of gastronomic heritage such as theAuvergne, the Bourgogne or the Gascogne. The art and manner of using cheap (hob) are now perfectly mastered. An Auvergne where the buckwheat pancake, locally called bourriol, nevertheless existed in the west of Cantal long before this invasion of the krampouezenn (Breton shortbread biscuits. The bourriol has not for all that disappeared, but its notoriety hardly exceeds the limits of the department.

Aside from the creperies, traditional cuisine (taken in the broad sense) is holding up well in the Rennes metropolis, and this despite the invasion of fast food brands such as fast-food, sandwich shop, kebab which, let us remember, represent on average more than 35% of the offer on French territory! In addition to the Michelin IMA star, directed in the kitchen by chef Julien Lémarié, and his alter ego Roots, where the creative talent of chef Virginie Giboire is exercised, the Breton metropolis has many restaurants that display in their menus the classic dishes found in most regions of France. But not only: are also offered on the menus, here seafood cuisine, there Savoyard or Alsatian catering, elsewhere specialties from the southwest. Rennes even has a hostel for lovers of medieval feasting where you can get exhilarated with the gargamelle of pork cheeks and D’flambé snails watered withhypocras.

A traditional offer that is therefore solid but strong competition from an impressive foreign legion made of cooks who have crossed mountains and oceans to come and delight our taste buds with their exotic flavors or who have inspired French colleagues. Rennes has dozens of establishments serving specialties that have their roots in the gastronomic tradition of four continents. Only theOceania is absent from the Rennes tables, still deprived of fig kangaroo or from banana bread (banana cake).

A tempered exoticism if we take into account the strong Italian armada made up of the inevitable pizzerias and other transalpine restaurants. With around fifty brands, our Italian friends the lion’s share of the supply from foreign sources is carved out. It should also be noted that in this respect, Rennes does not stand out from other regional metropolises where pizza regina and spaghetti bolognese are omnipresent, even in the very bourgeois Bordeaux, more and more unfaithful to its entrecôtes “wine merchant” or to his sunglasses.

What are our traditional dishes now?

And what about the cuisine from the Asian continent ? It is present in around sixty establishments spread over Indian, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese and Korean. There is even a Tibetan whose boss, let it be said for the anecdote, is very friend of that of the Parisian restaurant. Norbulinga, herself very close with her husband to Dalai Lama. The world is decidedly very small!

That said, not all Rennes residents who wish to travel for a meal do not aspire to taste Asian cuisine. Never mind, they still have many other possibilities in the dozens of remaining restaurants. And what a variety! In addition to the aforementioned establishments, there are North Africans, Lebanese, Greeks and Turks, Mexicans, Creoles and Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africans and even a Brazilian and a Hungarian. What, again, to wake up the taste buds by tasting a tiéboudienne from Casamance, a Beans and pork of North East, a stifado of Peloponnese or one goulash from Transdanubie.

As we can see, the offer is very wide and particularly varied in the Breton metropolis. It is true that Rennes is an important university center of which nearly a quarter of the population is made up of students and researchers. Among them, many foreigners, delighted to find here and there the flavors of their country and to introduce them to their French friends and classmates.

Either way, one thing is true: academics or not, all the cities of our country are now experiencing the same phenomenon, to varying degrees. Isn’t it, Strasbourg friends with whom thelamb tikka massala now competes with riesling chicken ? Or Clermont comrades now more familiar with the beef chop-suey only coq au vin ?

Globalization is an irrefutable fact, and it is seen not only in the global spread of ready-to-wear or digital equipment brands, but also on our plates. Personally, I have no problem with that, being a lover of exotic cuisine and new flavors. I regret none the less, from time to time, the almost total disappearance of our grandmothers’ recipes on restaurant menus. What are our small salted lentils, coarse salt beef or calf’s head ravigote become? There would be a lot to say about this, as well as the quality of the cuisine served, which, we must admit, does not always meet customer expectations. But as would say Kipling, This is another story…

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