Baylen Linnekin On France’s Absurd New ‘Homemade’ Law

France’s restaurants and French cooking are under
attack. The enemy comes from within—and wears a white hat.

This week, a French food blogger was issued an absurd
fine of more than $2,000 for publishing a negative review
of a restaurant there.

But it’s the country’s controversial “fait mason” law, which
also debuted this week, that best demonstrates the troubled state
of the country’s restaurants, writes Baylen Linnekin.

The fait maison law, passed earlier this year, requires all
restaurants throughout the country to put the word homemade—“fait
maison”—on menus.

So just what constitutes “homemade” under the law? Food may
be labeled as
fait maison “only when it’s made in-house from fresh
ingredients.”

That sounds simple—if costly and pointless. But it’s an
annoyingly complex law, according to Linnekin.

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