Burger vs. baguette

The Americanization of French food has hit a new high, or low considering your viewpoint. More hamburgers on a bun were sold in this culinary-crazy country last year than the ubiquitous "jambon-beurre baguette," sliced ham on a buttered French loaf.

Chalkboard ad outside Marseille restaurant.
 "Du moment" is the new "du jour,"
 or "today's special."

The tally was 1.46 billion burgers compared to 1.22 billion baguette sandwiches, Gira Conseil, which monitors the consumption of food in France outside the home, told the Reuters news agency. The French ate 14 times fewer burgers a decade ago.

"But the French are now crazy about burgers. You find them everywhere, from fast food to Michelin-starred restaurants," Gira Conseil director Bernard Boutboul told Reuters. 

It's not just Mickey D or Burger King steadily gaining in popularity. Of French restaurants, 85 percent now offer a kind of burger, Boutboul said.

I recently  participated in this sea change having ordered a burger off the menu at a bistro in Aix-en-Provence.

I made the mistake of ordering a French hamburger during a visit several years ago. It was barely edible. This time was an experiment. I was expecting another odd-tasting concoction as if its origin was an animal of a different hoof than a cow. It would be on the red side of pink because I ordered it medium. (Ask for medium-well or well down in France, you usually still get medium.)

I was surprised at how good it was. The patty wasn't bleeding all over the plate and tasted close to a burger from a good American restaurant or bar. However, as the French are wont to do, it was topped with a different-tasting sauce; good, just different. Ketchup, mustard or steak sauce would have made it an excellent fit for my Midwest palate. 

Paulita with almost-daily baguette.

The bun was a little dry, but that's sometimes the case at American joints.

"The rest of us had leg of lamb," francophile Paulita noted. 

Like I said, it was an experiment. I'm not about to give up my frequent ration of a baguette with ham and cheese. But I might have a burger now and then, with frites, of course.