It’s a tradition that encourages you to always eat more. The end of the meal, in most American restaurants, is punctuated by the traditional “doggy bag” ceremony. As the portions are much too large (nearly twice as much as in France), consumers can, with a box provided for this purpose that the waiter systematically offers, take the leftovers home. Theoretically, because hypocrisy is part of the game, “for the dog”! Unfortunately, the tradition invites itself in France…
In the past, when you arrived in the United States, two things amazed European tourists: the size of the buildings and the cars. The reference to the buildings of Defense and the inflation of the price of gasoline ended up, in about thirty years, by erasing these differences. It is now difficult, when leaving an airport, to know which continent you are on. On the other hand, past the door of any restaurant, no possible confusion.
Already, the Gaul doesn’t really like the servers who welcome you, in the United States, with a: “How are you, my friend”? Firstly, we’re not their friend, and secondly, they never listen to the answer… Follows a rave description of the mash they’re going to serve us. It’s crazy how the more the chef’s imagination is at half mast, the more the waitress is logorrheic.
It is only in the three French stars that we witness lyrical flights of this style, but perfectly justified.
After this delicate moment of gastronomic sputtering, arrive – quite quickly, which does not help the case of the big eater who will be able to have a field day – the main course and a whole series of small cups of accompanying products which, in an instant, cover the entire table. The expression “triple XL”, blessed by the big guys at Ralph Lauren where it is extremely rare, is however on all the cards. And if you have a moment of suffocation, no problem, the waitress is attentive to “refuel” you – this is the expression she uses – free for sodas, per half liter for beer or wine !
A kitchen of mass destruction
Terrorists can rest easy. The Americans, with their gastronomic culture, have invented weapons of mass destruction which they are offering to the whole world. If we want to understand why this country has gone from “Jurassic Park” to “Mammoth Park” in fifty years, portion size is one of the main reasons. Probably the most important on a daily basis, but above all the most perverse. Because everyone is happy: the consumer, who feels like he really got his money’s worth, and the restaurateur, who took advantage of these “super size” promotions to gradually increase his prices. Moreover, he shares his satisfaction with the customer: in case the “friend” is temporarily satiated, the “Doggy bag” is there to allow him to continue the feast at home, adding in passing the little note of canine hypocrisy, which suits the transient guilt of the devourer so well.
A complete sensory experience
Additional details: a typical American restaurant is 100 decibels continuously – the Concorde on takeoff displayed a small 120 punctually, which killed it in the United States – and lighting so weak that one risks every moment of biting their fingers. Thank you to all those lovely places to which America owes a sizable portion of its excess pounds! But pity! We must refuse to see this hypocritical ceremony taking hold among us.
Doctor Jean-Francois Lemoine
Subscribe to the chronicles of Dr Lemoine
@DrLemoine
.
