In one of the more entertaining political implosions of our time, French President Jacques Chirac continues to shorten the distance between foot and mouth to microscopic lengths, this time assuring a fascinated world that the French are “better than the British,” according to the Torygraph.
Le President has issued a denial, however, of his previous pronouncement on English food. “No, no, I did not say that,” said Chirac. The Torygraph agrees: “a factually correct answer as far as it went, as he had put British cooking second from bottom, above Finland.”
he did concede that unemployment was lower in Britain than in France, where it is running at more than 10 per cent. But in public health and tackling poverty the French were “much better placed than the British”, he said.
In public health, French doctors (GPs) get paid $25/per house call, and needing a raise because their liability coverage went up and the governemnt doesn’t help on that, have gone on strike to England to make a point.
In tackling poverty, there’s nothing like 11% unemployment to make the poor feel tackled.
(PS. I like English food: Roast beef, Yorkshire puddings and two vegs with a nice fresh cup of warm ale is my idea of a nice meal. I also like French food, too. Can’t say about Finland since I’ve never been there . . . yet)
French doctors get $25.00 for house calls? No self-respecting high school kid would cut my postage-stamp sized lawn for less than that.
Chirac shares the same fatal flaw as his staunchest American supporter, John Kerry. He doesn’t realize that he has become irrelevant, but keeps running his big mouth.
Roger:
Chirac has tried the America as the enemy routine to deflect attention from his flacid performance and it has become a little old to the French Public so he is changing tactics by making Blair and the U.K. as the new boogeyman to distract his people. And since the French love nothing better then to be told how superior they are in comparison to other countries this new gambit should give Chirac another two years.
Kevin Peters
I may prefer Tony Blair to Jacques Chirac by a pretty big margin, but I also prefer French food to English food by a pretty big margin. I mean, come on. Spotted dick? Or steak au poive?
Chirac was right for once. And my family is from England.
Actually, Michael, you may not have been to London lately, which has become much more of a “foodie” center than Paris. Of course much of the cuisine there is French derived or, even better, Italian. (And you can get a helluva an Indian meal in London too.)
Mr Chirac’s response was not only a rebuff to Mr Sarkozy but also part of a concerted campaign to restore French pride at a time of national soul-searching and gloom.
“National soul-searching”–a previously unplumbed shallows.
BTW, (native) English food is not the worst in the world. Irish food is.
If Chirac had ever sampled lutefisk (aka the piece of cod that passeth understanding), he’d have put the Norwegians on the bottom.
“National soul-searching”–a previously unplumbed shallows.
I just choked on my lutefisk!
The myth a bout English food derives from WWII when the choice was Spam,powdered egg of eating ones shoes.An examination of Victorian and especially Georgian recipes reveals some wonderous dishes,most too expensive to reproduce today.
Interestingly it wasn’t so much beef thgat was consumed but mutton,we ate sheep like they were becoming extinct.
As for Chirac, he is aware that Napleon’s old room on Saint Helena is vacant.
Kyda ó If there WAS any Irish food, my great granpa might not have left, even with the Brits trying to hang him.
English cookery gets a bad rap. We distribute a book of Essex cookery and the recipes look delicious. Straight to the arteries, but delicious.
Roger:
Since half of my ancestoral makeup is Norwegian I feel I must stand up for Lutefisk. I will admit it is an aquired taste but it has a certain, er, charm. But then I love BBQ sweetbreads too. Kevin Peters
Kevin P ó Ah, you were one of the rioting hordes, eh?
Richard:
Unfortunetly after a long night of Lutefisk and Aquavit celebrating the birthday of Harald Harfagri I missed the call on the Uff Da hotline.But the insult will be avenged.My Norwegian half is slow to anger but my Irish 50% takes over once the flame is ignited. It will get ugly!
Kevin Peters
The French, they are a funny race.
They fight with their feet, and, speaking of races and feet,
No French rider has won the Tour de France since 1985.
Through Saturday’s stage, the highest-ranked French rider, Christophe Moreau, was tenth, 8:37 behind Lance.
As for the worst food in the world, I’m torn between the Irish and the English. My mother is American, but her maiden name is McArdle, and she’s the worst cook in the central time zone. On the other hand, when I lived in London, I weighed a fit 137 lbs when I arrived and an emaciated 126 lbs two weeks later.
SVJ:
But that is the brilliance of anglo-saxon thinking. Since they can’t cook, import those who do and make them feel part of your country.Don’t eat at the pubs, drink there and then go to the local Indian or Thai restaurant. Probably wiser to reverse the order of instructions I just wrote.
Kevin Peters
“English food is not the worst in the world. Irish food is.”
Really? There’s an Irish pub in this little midwestern town here in the States, and stuff like the Mutton pie, the Coddle, and the Celtic stews are pretty damn tasty.
Then again, patronizing one spot outside the native country does not make me an expert. All I’m saying is that with my limited experience with it, I’ve found it to be rather good.