McDonald's introduces the McBaguette - In France

The French branch of McDonald’s is introducing the “McBaguette” sandwich.

The sandwich will offer local ingredients like goat’s cheese and pepper sauce, along with their traditional burgers and fries.

“It’s a crispy baguette, served hot, with beef, a slightly strong whole grain mustard sauce and ripe Emmental cheese,” a McDonald's spokesperson said, adding that the product was of “symbolic importance” and part of the company’s efforts at local “integration”.

French consumers have increasingly turned to chain restaurants in recent years, with the fast food market growing from about 20 billion euros ($26 billion) in 2004 to nearly 33 billion euros last year.

McDonald’s has done really well, growing to 63,000 employees since opening its first French branch in 1979.

The French Fat Tax

France is next on the list to impose fat tax on sugary sodas such as Coca-Cola...

This new tax will add just over 1p to a can of sodas such as Coca-Cola.


French officials want to impose a 'fat tax' on sugary soft drinks because they believe this will somehow stop child obesity.

The diet, zero-calorie 'diet' drinks will be exempt from the charges.

It's interesting, the revenue isn't for any nutritional programs, instead to fund lower social security charges for farm workers.

The move comes days after France also announced it would be rationing tomato ketchup and salt in school cafeterias.



Under the rules, tomato sauce and mayonnaise will only be on dinner tables once a week when fries are served and would be removed when traditional French dishes are being served.



So, the French government is now obsessed with what they determine to be excessive weight gain and are targeting sugary drinks, and the evil mayonnaise and ketchup.

Vegan parents charged in child's death

Some of our readers insist on repeating the mantra, "Go Vegan" in hopes to inspire the Vegan lifestyle.

Well, two vegans who fed their 11-month-old daughter only mother's milk went on trial in northern France charged with neglect after their baby died suffering from vitamin deficiency.

Sergine and Joel Le Moaligou, (Sergine in the photo above) whose vegan diet forbids consuming any animal product including eggs and cow's milk, called the emergency services in March 2008 after becoming worried about their baby Louise's lack of energy.

When the ambulance arrived at their home the baby was already dead.

The ambulance workers called the police because the child was pale and thin, weighing 5.7 kilos (12.5 pounds) compared to an average eight kilos for her age.

The baby was fed only her milk from her mother, and the autopsy showed that Louise was suffering from a vitamin A and B12 deficiency which experts say increases a child's sensitivity to infection and can be due to an unbalanced diet.

"The problem of vitamin B12 deficiency could be linked to the mother's diet," said Anne-Laure Sandretto, deputy prosecutor in the city of Amiens where the trial is taking place.

The parents became vegan after seeing "a television program about how cattle were taken to abattoirs," said the mother's lawyer.

 It seems they distrust traditional medicine and prefer to treat their children using their own methods, which they read in books.

"The couple did not follow the doctor's advice to hospitalize the baby who was suffering from bronchitis and was losing weight when they went for the nine-month check-up,"

"They preferred applying clay or cabbage poultices whose recipes they found in their books. These are people who read the wrong thing at the wrong time," the lawyer said..

The parents are still vegan and "are completely aware of the mistake they made," said the father's lawyer.

The couple has been charged with "neglect or food deprivation followed by death" and face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Four Tons of Goodness, a Chocolate Christmas Tree

It's four tons of a festive, chocolate Christmas tree, created by chocolate artist Patrick Roger. 

(seen in photo below)

It is being crafted in his kitchen just outside Paris and will be auctioned off to raise money for neuromuscular diseases.

Those participating in the auction will receive pieces of the tree in exchange for their donations.

Roger and his team team have been working on the tree for one month now, and it will be part of France's Telethon, a nationwide charity event.

The auction will be broadcast on French television on December 3 and 4.

The Giant 30 Pound Goldfish

This is not just a fish tale about the one that got away.

Fisherman Raphael Biagini fought for ten minutes to bring this giant fish out of a lake in the south of France.

The orange koi carp weighs a whopping 30lb and is believed to be one of the largest of its kind ever caught.

Other fishermen knew about this fish and told him they had spent six years trying to catch the legendary 'giant goldfish'. 

Mr Biagini, said: 'To begin with, we couldn't tell what was at the end of the line, but we knew it was big.

'The fish was a good fighter, but not enough to win.'

After a quick photo the goldfish was returned, not to the fryer, but back into the lake.

But if he had wanted fry it, here's a simple recipe:

Deep Fried Carp Fillets Recipe

Serves/Makes: 6 Ingredients:

• 2 pound fresh carp fillets
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup biscuit mix or pancake mix
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Oil (for deep frying)
• Lemon wedges

How to cook Fried Carp Fillets:

• Remove the skin of the carp and take out all the brownish-redish-colored part of the meat, the "mud vein" discard.
• Chunk up the rest of the carp fillets. Place carp fillet pieces in a shallow dish. Pour the milk over them and let it stand for half an hour, turning the fillets over once during that time. Stir the salt into the biscuit mix.
• Take carp fillets out of the milk and pat them into the biscuit mix, covering both sides.
• Fry carp fillets in deep fryer or in medium hot oil in fry-pan for 5 - 10 minutes until cooked through and browned on both sides. Use tongs or slotted spoon to turn them.
• Drain on paper towels. Serve with lemon wedges. 

ENJOY!

Paris police ban pork street party in Muslim neighborhood

French police have banned a street pork party.
Organizers were going to serve cocktails and pork sausages in a neighborhood heavily populated with Muslims.
Police said the party, called "Sausage and Booze," could have been seen as a provocation in the neighborhood  where many Muslims pray on the streets.
Both alcohol and pork are forbidden by Islam and the party had been scheduled right after Friday's main Muslim weekly prayers.
Organizers admitted the party was in protest of Islam's encroachment on traditional French values in the neighborhood.
The woman who organized the party on Facebook said that she had organized the party as a way to "express exasperation."
She complained that the "Islamization" of her working-class neighborhood was "more and more ostentatious," and complained that Muslims now block several streets during Friday prayers.
"It offends my concept of the republic's secularism, I feel increasingly excluded in the neighborhood," she said.

Mayor Bertrand Delanoe said "Everything seems planned to create trouble, scandal or even violence."   Several Facebook groups announced they planned "Sausage and Booze" cocktails in other French towns and in Belgium after the Paris protest was banned.