Leisurely Lunches in France

Times are changing everywhere, but not at the same speed. I just returned from a week in the French countryside, and I can tell you that the traditional practice of shopkeepers closing for two hours at mid-day for lunch continues.

Most clothing stores, patisseries, bakeries and other shops close their doors at 12 noon and don't reopen until 2:00 or even 2:30 pm. These closures give proprietors and their staff ample time to enjoy lunch with a friend or spouse, and even run an errand or two.

Sure, it is true that France is one of McDonalds' most successful non-U.S. markets. And in Paris, many workers are opting for fairly quick lunches of sandwiches. But in the small towns and villages outside the capital city, one still sees plenty of French eating lunch at a leisurely pace at restaurants or cafes. The cheque dejeuner system encourages this.

That photo above was my lunch one day as we stopped in the Burgundian village of Gevrey-Chambertin, amid the region's hallowed vineyards. I ordered the foie gras, which was served with wonderfully toasted slices of brioche, caramelized onions, some greens and a fig-balsamic glaze.

Where the Meat Is Safer

From a food safety standpoint, this is pretty depressing news. From an article in today's USA Today:

In the past three years, the government has provided the nation's schools with millions of pounds of beef and chicken that wouldn't meet the quality or safety standards of many fast-food restaurants, from Jack in the Box and other burger places to chicken chains such as KFC, a USA TODAY investigation found.

. . . McDonald's, Burger King and Costco, for instance, are far more rigorous in checking for bacteria and dangerous pathogens. They test the ground beef they buy five to 10 times more often than the USDA tests beef made for schools during a typical production day.

Expense-Account Lunches Live On

The Huffington Post writes that "one of the biggest casualties" of the Wall Street financial meltdown that occurred a year ago was the expense-account lunch.

But now some corrupt soul has developed a scheme to allow business execs to continue expensing those pricey meals by claiming them as non-food expenses. According to Huffington Post:

Maloney & Porcelli have created an "expense-report generator" that lets you take the total you spent on your meal (or essentially any figure that you choose) and creates fake cab, office supply, and cheap-o meal receipts so your boss won't know about the filet mignon and merlot you had on the company's tab.

The receipts come looking like they've been photocopied onto 8 1/2 x 11 paper, and are even perfectly wrinkled to look like they've been mussed while stuffed into a pocket.

The unscrupulous are creative, aren't they?