Macron and the fine art of gastro-diplomacy

There is stomach-rumbling and grumbling in the food court of the Olympic Village in Paris. The British swimmer and six-time Olympic medallist Adam Peaty said that worms had been found in the fish. America’s champion gymnast Simone Biles complained: “I don’t think we’re having proper French cuisine.”

The menu laid on by France is long on political messaging — eco-friendly, 60 per cent meatless and a third plant-based — but short on the simple, high-calorific fare required in quantity by the world’s top athletes. “I want meat,” said Peaty. “I need meat to perform.”

French gastro-diplomacy is a game of two halves. While France may fall short in the task of mass catering for fussy, super-fit eaters from across the globe, there is still no