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'An insult to my country' - Horror in France at croissant and fromage faux pas

The Local France
The Local France - [email protected]
Published: 30 Oct, 2019 CET. Updated: Wed 30 Oct 2019 13:02 CET
'An insult to my country' - Horror in France at croissant and fromage faux pas
Illustration photo: David Jackmanson/Flickr

Shock, horror, disgust and even fainting - just some of the reactions on Twitter in France to Instagram foodie faux pas such as eating a croissant with a knife and fork and leaving the edges of the French cheese.

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One of the things tourists love to do when they visit Paris is try out the classics of the French cuisine, and these days many of their experiences end up on Instagram.

But one French-Swiss woman noticed a few bizarre photos cropping up of eating in the French capital, and made a little compilation.

 

Among the pictures were of a woman using a knife and fork to eat her croissant, someone who had eaten only the centre of the cheese on their assiette de fromage and left the rind or the edge (aka the best bit) and a woman sporting a handbag designed to look like a baguette.

Entitled 'Starter pack for the Instagram tourist in Paris' her photo montage has been shared thousands of times on Twitter and the reaction in France has been amusingly (and understandably perhaps) appalled.

READ MORE: Things you should never do when DINING in France

Jainy herself described the pictures as simply "an insult to France" and thousands of Twitter users agreed with her.

Laureen described herself as "on the verge of fainting" when confronted with the picture of the uneaten cheese and concluded "respect my country, for God's sake"

 

Chochois Arthur solemnly concluded: "Eating a croissant with cutlery and not eating the crust of the cheese is a very serious insult."

 

While Rocco simply demands to know "Who eats a croissant with cutlery?"

 

This Twitter user obviously takes their cheese extremely seriously, adding the comment "Fuck, she left the rind" to this jokey gif.

 

Here Laulau concludes "Thank you for denouncing this crime against humanity and cheese".

 

While one Twitter user simply described the four photos as "the four horsemen of the apocalypse".

 

(And if you're wondering what's wrong with the second photo, she will be waiting a long time for an answer as that's not a doorbell she is pressing. It's the Vigik swipe pad that allows entry to the building for the postman, Edf employees, firefighters etc).

It's not the first time a food faux pas has caused outrage in France. The photo below of neat a pile of crepes cut like a cake prompted "declarations of war" after going viral in France.

READ MORE: Best briehaviour: A guide to French cheese etiquette

 

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Anonymous 2019/10/30 17:34
They're insulted about how one eats the cheese? Every day in France native English speakers must listen to the French pepper their sentences with far too many English words, thinking they're cool, yet butchering and mispronouncing so many of the words, never using contractions and creating bizarre, some might say stupid, English like "relooking". <br />Lighten up France.
Anonymous 2019/10/30 16:28
Typically French. I often use a knife and fork on a croissant or one of their cousins as dentures don't always cut it. As for cheese, there are some cheeses where the rind should be left and some where it can be eaten. It's a personal preference though it's true, as in all etiquette, if the food is to be shared then one should consider others.
Anonymous 2019/10/30 15:51
.........using a knife and fork for a croissant ?..............bon chagrin mine never last that long.........can't wait to eat more with cheese rinds !!
Anonymous 2019/10/30 15:12
Get a life. How and what people eat or drink is entirely their own business. My French grandmother always cut up her croissant then ate it with a fork. It depends on what social class one comes from.
Anonymous 2019/10/30 14:48
Lighten up, Francis.

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