Fresh or frozen... diners get boost

BOIL-in-the bag restaurants will be found out under a new law passed by the National Assembly which will force them to give information on whether or not the dishes on their menus are fresh.

All dishes that are prepared with fresh ingredients will have to be marked with an asterisk on the menu to differentiate them from dishes using pre-packaged, tinned or frozen ingredients.

Critics have highlighted the increasing use of microwave meals and frozen produce as hastening the death of great French cuisine, along with the increase in fast-food chains, out-of-town supermarkets, and the corresponding demise of high-street commerce and open air markets.

MPs voted-in the menu law as part of a bill reinforcing consumer rights, protection and information.

However, president of the Hotels and Restaurants Union (UMIH) Roland Héguy, who represents 120,000 establishments, said only 20,000 used fresh produce. And he said customers were well aware they were eating frozen goods.

He regretted the “absence of dialogue” with restaurant professionals, the hasty nature of the amendment, above all, what he feels is an indirect attack on frozen produce, which had many uses.

Serious Parisian restaurateurs source fresh ingredients at Rungis, the out-oftown market said to be the world’s largest food market, while the alternative would be the wholesalers Metro, where, alongside standard frozen goods and dry foods are freezers full of readymade desserts, sauces and snacks.

For Héguy, the problem lies with a “lack of differentiation between professionals who use industrial produce and those who use fresh produce but who sometimes freeze that produce to avoid waste”.

UMP MP Fernand Siré, who proposed the law, says it will highlight the work of restaurateurs who uphold the standards of French gastronomy; a tradition rewarded last year with its inclusion on Unesco’s “world intangible heritage” list.

In an interview with Le Parisien, he said: “It seems perfectly normal that we single out the restaurateur who makes the effort to work with seasonal and fresh produce. It’s a way of maintaining standards. It is not a question of saying that pre-prepared is no good but rather of giving customers the chance to make an informed decision.”

The move is unlikely to ruffle feathers at the highest gastronomic levels.

At Hôtel Le Meurice, where three-star Michelin chef Yannick Alleno works, a spokesman said: “There’s no place in our kitchen for anything but fresh produce from the French terroir. People who eat here take that for granted. The law won’t affect us but in general it’s a good thing for the reputation of French cuisine.”

However, restaurants with smaller kitchens and fewer staff may prefer to use quality frozen ingredients rather than spend time making dishes which might not be up to scratch and which cost as much to make as they do to buy.

One such is Benoît Dupont, patron of a small quartier restaurant, Jours de Fête, in Paris’ 10th arrondissement, who said:

“We pride ourselves on our fresh ingredients and the fact our dishes are made on the premises.

“But our chef is not a pâtissier and rather than have him waste time making a respectable but average puff pastry, it makes more sense to buy it frozen.”