Beef is disappearing from French dinner tables
Try to imagine a French restaurant without filet mignon or Boeuf Bourguignon. It used to be unthinkable; now it's commonplace.
Since October, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad-cow disease, has had tremendous effects on French food habits. It has gradually affected aspects of everyday life from the family dinner hour to school lunches.
In a country where food equals pleasure, it has become a serious issue. Many cooks have been ignoring beef, with sales having fallen 35 percent since October.
According to a recent survey of French households, 45 percent said they have entirely stopped eating beef or reduced their beef consumption. One-third said they had found alternatives to beef and would eat less red meat in the future. Most public-school cafeterias are no longer serving beef in any form.
Even the award-winning chef of L'Arpege in Paris has decided to focus his dishes more on vegetables.
The distrust of beef is also contributing to a record boom in organic food consumption in France, which has already risen 25 percent each year since 1994.
Organic stores and chains - including Planet Bio, Canal Bio, Naturalia - have opened all around the country, though the Paris area accounts for one-third of the national consumption of organic food.
The French call it "bio-attitude," and see it as part of a back-to-nature movement. Suddenly, an organic lifestyle has become trendy. One of the poshest restaurants in Paris, the Philip Starck-designed BON, has a sophisticated and expensive organic food store.
Noodles have also captivated Parisians, as has a soup bar in the Bastille neighborhood. There, owner Anne-Catherine Bley offers original flavors such as carrots-coriander, pumpkin-bacon, or mint-peas.
"This 'soup comeback' was bound to happen," she says. "The Parisians don't have time anymore to cook soups at home. And they find soups healthy."
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