Analysis | Why ‘Nutella riots’ erupted in France, gastronomic capital of the world
Fighting in the aisles over discounted chocolate spread reveals France’s dirty secret: it’s in love with fast food
The service was attended by chefs dressed in their working whites who had travelled from as far afield as Japan to pay their respects to France’s most globally celebrated and influential chef, the man who in 1975 created black truffle soup, named after President Valerie Giscard d’Estaing.
The scion of a family that had been producing professional chefs since the 17th century, Bocuse was the very embodiment of a certain type of Frenchness: a cultured, cultivated perfectionist who elevated the production of food to an art form.
At the same time as his funeral was taking place, in branches of the Intermarché supermarket across France shoppers were fighting to get hold of 1kg jars of Nutella, on special offer at just €1.41 (US$1.75), down from about €4.50.
In Brittany, one branch shifted 400 jars in 21 minutes, according to local reports.
Police had to intervene in a brawl in the northern town of Ostricourt, Le Parisien newspaper reported. An employee at one store in Forbach, near the border with Germany, likened the scenes to an orgy, telling Le Monde newspaper that shoppers had broken items in their rush for the treat.
