Gourmet Scientist

Earlier this week, I read in the French newspaper that France is currently the second highest consumer of pizza in the world, right behind the United States!  Both countries far surpass Italy, the country that we typically associate with pizza.  I guess that explains why there are so many places selling pizza here, whether as a sit-down restaurant or a take-away street side stop.

This year, the fourth annual Pizza & Pasta Expo was held in Paris from the 29th to 30th of March. The exhibitors have been increasing by ~20% every year. Its growing popularity and success has made it into a well-regarded expo across Europe.  Apparently, last year, the French were crowned as the best pizza makers in the world.  The objectivity of the results remain somewhat debatable, but all these facts clearly show the growing status of pizza in France.

Some statistics about France (I have included some US data for comparison, although one must keep in mind the difference in population (FR: 65.8 million, US: 308.7 million) and land area (FR: 0.67 million km2, US: 9.8 million km2):

• France consumes 1.2 billion pizzas per year out of the 30 billion consumed worldwide (3 billion in the US)
  
• An average of 10 kg of pizza per person are consumed per year, double that of the Italians (the US consumes ~10.5 kg per person per year)
• For each hamburger, 9 sandwiches and 16 pizzas are sold
• There are currently 16,000 pizzerias listed and 3,000 mobile pizza vendors (61,296 pizzerias in the US)
  
• Reine (ham, white button mushrooms, and mozzarella), margherita, and calzone comprise 75% of the pizza flavours sold.  Four cheese follows closely.

What traditional French food products would you typically associate with France?  Most certainly cheeses: Camembert, Roquefort, Brie.  Wines.  The blue-feet chicken from Bresse.  Maybe even Dijon mustard.  There actually exists a special certification system designed to protect traditional or signature products originating from France (like those mentioned above).  It should be noted that Dijon mustard is actually NOT one of them.

This week, I gave a presentation in my French class on the French certification "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée" (AOC)--translated as "controlled designation of origin"--given to certain wines, cheeses, and various agricultural products.  Products must be made and processed in the specified region to obtain the certification.  Similar products that do not satisfy the criteria for the AOC cannot use any part of the name of AOC-protected products. 

Other European countries have their own certification system and labels, but the EU has tried to create a unification system with the "Protected Geographical Status" (PGS).  Three labels fall under it: "Protected Designation of Origin" (PDO), "Protected Geographical Indication" (PGI), and "Traditional Specialty Guaranteed" (TSG).  PDO is essentially the EU equivalent for the AOC, so all parts of the products must be made and processed within the specified region.  Wines, however, are excluded.  PGI is less restrictive than PDO: the product must be fully made, but not necessarily fully processed, within the specified region.  Wines are included in this category.  TSG is least restrictive in that it only protects the traditional ingredients or traditional mode of production without a designated region.

Nearly 3000 products in France are AOC certified.  They can roughly be divided into three categories: alcoholic beverages, dairy, and various agricultural products.

• Alcoholic beverages comprise 364 appellations", including wines, brandy, cider, and rum.  Wines make up 48.9% of France's grape harvest (this excludes cognac and armagnac).
• Dairy encompasses 46 cheeses, 2 butters, and 1 cream.  If divided by the type of milk, 85% comes from cow, 12% from sheep, and 3% from goat.  The 4 largest cheese productions are Comté, Roquefort, Cantal, and Reblochon.
• The remaining 42 appellations include: 14 fruits and vegetables (walnut, apple, coco bean, chestnut, Puy lentil, muscat grape, onion, fig, potato), 13 varieties of olives and olive oil, 7 types of meat (beef and sheep), 2 poultry (from Bresse), 2 honeys (Corsican honey and Vosges pine honey), mussels from the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, lavander oil from Haute-Provence, Espelette pepper, and Crau hay.
  

• Politics:  How does one product become certified while another does not?  Does AOC necessarily mean that it is the best?
• Problems with region delineation:  1) My teacher's father knows of a winery where the AOC delineation cuts through the owner's land.  The produced wine is exactly the same, but the price is markedly different.  2)  There was a conflict between Switzerland and France for PDO status for Guyere cheese, although ultimately, France ceded to Switzerland.  3) For many of the AOC products, the region is becoming unable to produce enough of the product to meet growing demand.  How does the specified region delineated and how, if even possible, can the region become "enlarged"?