Delia Smith has given her brutal verdict on French food, declaring that it is now “very difficult” to find good food there.
Speaking to Noble Rot magazine, the famous chef said modern French dishes were “not even made to be eaten” and were simply an “elegant speck” on a plate with “towers, foams, drizzles and powders.”
Smith, 83, blamed chef Michel Guerard’s ‘minceur cuisine’ – a cooking style developed in the 1970s in which cooks recreated lighter versions of traditional French dishes – for attracting ‘food-loving snobs’. the food’ that they were ‘taking care of their waistlines’.
This, Smith said, has seen some of France’s top chefs discard the three “absolutely essential ingredients: butter, cream and flour”, he said.
“Sadly, all of that is a distant memory and it’s very difficult to find that kind of food in France now,” Smith said.
Delia Smith has given her brutal verdict on French food, declaring that it is now “very difficult” to find good food there.
The famous chef said that modern French dishes were nothing more than an “elegant stain” on a plate with “towers, foams, drizzles and powders.”
Smith also said French cuisine lacks “absolutely essential” ingredients: flour, butter and cream.
It is not the first time that the former chef has spoken out against the rise of modern cuisine.
The cookbook author’s comments about the decline of French food come after she recently expressed concern about the future of the UK culinary scene and the decline of the TV chef in an interview with The Sunday Times.
In 2017, when Smith was awarded the Order of the Companions of Honor at Buckingham Palace, he gave a speech in which he revealed that he found modern food “poncey” and “chefy”.
The famous foodie said food was now just “theater on a plate”, exclaiming that she “didn’t like it at all”.
“If they put another plate in front of me with six points of sauce, I will go crazy,” she declared.
Delia Smith photographed at age 32 in 1973
Delia previously had a column for the Evening Standard, pictured. In addition to drastically cutting back on modern French food, he previously swore off vegan diets.
Delia pictured with a freshly baked cake. Smith has offered his culinary wisdom to generations since the 1970s.
The no-nonsense cook also previously swore off vegan diets, telling the Financial Times that something in her believed was “wrong”.
‘If people only want to eat vegetables (and some people do), that’s fine. But don’t say you’re helping the planet, because you’re not. Final point.’
Smith has offered his culinary wisdom to generations since his first television appearance in the early ’70s.
TV chef Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course has been the third best-selling book on the Times and Sunday Times bestseller lists for the past five years.
Delia Smith’s cooking course, which is available on iPlayer, has attracted a new generation of viewers intrigued by how much things have changed in the last 50 years, as well as picking up tips that have stood the test of time.