Often Périco Lagasse, the gastronomic critic of Mariannewritten in gold: “ Although they are very different contexts, Halloween, Black Friday and Dry January demonstrate the growing influence of Anglo-Saxon societal codes on our morals. » In short, our man would be more like “ Wet January », to read his fiery chronicles where he tirelessly defends local cuisine and the rich bottle, not hesitating to appeal to Catholicism, “Christ having made wine the symbol of the Eucharist”.
For good measure, he could have added the Wedding at Cana, the miracle during which Jesus transformed water into wine and not into tofu juice.
The “People’s Parliament” by Michel Audiard
Fortunately, it is in this puritanical context that the very drinkable Coffee lovers dictionary (Plon). A true celebration of what Michel Audiard once nicknamed “the people’s parliament”this book to consume without moderation is a true ode to zinc. About it, the chefs speak of “ place of socialization » ; the determination of these people to ruin everything, both the French language and our small pleasures can definitely only command admiration. Because at the bar, we don’t “ socialise » not, sir. We talk about sports or politics, we exchange more or less good jokes, we remake the world, even if no one generally takes into account the informed verdicts of the customers on the question; we drink there, too. And above all, at the bistro, we obviously hear less bullshit than at Sciences-Po.
Racist, the bistro?
Those who frequent the soup and quinoa decoction bars on Place de la Bastille tend to think that frequenting the counter would make one racist, the place being known to be a den of lepénistes. No, answers Jean-Marie Gourio: “ Nothing but bar words that bind people as much as a long speech. […] That’s how life goes in the little market café. Hopefully it lasts! Riton and René are going fishing. As long as it bites! It is agreed that they share the fish with Abdel. »
Indeed, the caboulots experts know well that each client grumbles against immigration by licking his little white one, who his good Black, who his good Arab; sometimes even both. Moreover, it is well known: “ Abdel, he’s not a real Arab, since he’s a friend. » And the same Abdel retorted: “ Yes, but Jamel is not a real Arab, since he is scum. » Which shows that the sociology of the bistro is likely to often go over the head of a Sandrine Rousseau.
Jean-Marie Gourio and the wisdom of the counter
It should be noted that in this matter, Jean-Marie Gourio, formerly of Hara-Kirihad Professor Choron as a mentor, knowing that one thing – and not the least – brought them both together: Choron had fought in Indochina and Gourio’s father had died there. It was therefore the whimsical bald professor who introduced the young man to frequenting bars; which later allowed him to publish his magnificent Briefs from the counterpublished in four volumes, in the prestigious Bouquins collection, by Robert Laffont. Jean-Michel Ribes will also make a flamboyant film of the same name in 2014, to be recommended to all victims of the famous sloping slab syndrome.
We will therefore not be able to resist the pleasure of delivering this menu anthology.
Women?
« I remained in love with the same woman for 49 years. If my wife knew, she would kill me. »
« My wife can’t leave me, I’m never there! »
The drink?
« On a motorbike, you can drink more than in the car, the wind sobers you up. »
« He lost his taxi because he drank too much, now he is a bus driver in Brittany. »
Politics?
« Don’t piss me off with the American dream! If they are dreaming, it is because they are sleeping! »
« At the North Pole, at the South Pole, at the equator, man acclimatizes everywhere, it is only in the suburbs that he does not acclimatize. »
And God in all this?
« It’s normal, the mass in Latin. It’s like the Beatles in English. »
« It is better not to be a believer and that God exists than to be a believer and that God does not exist. ? »
Who will save our bistros?
If we sum it up, in terms of deep reflections, aphorisms that are both delicate and unstoppable, an Annie Ernaux would not last two seconds in the bistro, even if she were given a Cinzano. For lovers of the thing – the last ones, knowing that a café closes almost every day in France – please refer, in order to find out more, to these two other wonderful books:
Travel on zincs, in its own juice(Elytis) by Cendrine Bonami-Redler, nostalgic evocation of the last Parisian estaminets and its immediate surroundings, accompanied by magnificent sketches.
And the best for last, so as not to leave on one leg: La Micheline, bar crawl in France (Ecuador), by Philibert Humm and Pierre Adrian, two fine sleuths who gave a lot of themselves to go in search of the last bars of deep France, the ultimate surviving witnesses of a certain idea of our art of living. The one before, it goes without saying.
Cheers!
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