Delia Smith sticks the knife into French food

British chef Delia Smith, who made a name for herself in the 1970s with her accessible, no-nonsense approach to cooking, has caused a stir by slating French cuisine. 

In an interview with Noble Rot magazine, Smith declared it was “very hard” to find a decent meal in France these days, adding that modern French food was “not even meant to be eaten” and was nothing more than a “fancy smear” on a plate.  

The 83-year-old laid the blame at the feet of three-Michlin-starred chef Michel Guérard, whose invention of cuisine minceur in the 1970s prompted a culinary revolution, with chefs opting for healthier versions of classic French dishes. 

“Portions got much smaller, and blissful unctuousness was replaced by strange visuals as we entered an era of towers, foams, drizzles and dusts,” opined Smith. Butter, cream and flour were “utterly essential ingredients”, she said, declaring it “very hard to find that kind of food in France now”.  

It is not the first time the former chef has spoken out against innovations in the world of cooking. She has previously criticised vegan food, too, telling the Financial Times that it did not help the environment in any significant way, while she dismissed ingredients such as kimchi, sriracha, and chipotle as “faddish”.  

In a statement following Michel Guérard’s death in August at the age of 91, President Emmanuel Macron said the chef had “single-handedly redefined the grammar of taste”. He added: “Michel Guérard’s cuisine was a permanent ode to creativity, the perfect embodiment of the balance between tradition and modernity, rigour and fantasy, which is still perpetuated today by a constellation of chefs trained alongside him. A troublemaker in the kitchen, an inexhaustible creative, he enchanted generations of gourmets.”