Those Wacky French

All my life I have heard how Europeans, particularly the French, scorned American food preferences. Everything from Velveeta to baloney to Jello was a subject of merriment to our Gallic amis.

Worst of all, of course, was the hot dog, an abomination washed down with Blitz beer at baseball games, sauced with ketchup in elementary school cafeterias and smothered with canned chili at greasy diners.

So it was with some surprise that I read a recent culinary report in the New York Times:

"From restaurants to bicycle-pushed cars, purveyors all over Paris are embracing the humble hot dog, elevating it to something original and unexpectedly stylish."

Apparently the French have varied things up a bit with chicken and vegetarian varieties and different onion and mustard sauces.

But still.  The French are eating tube steaks.

Who'da thunk it?