French Food News — March 2026

Every month the French food world delivers stories that stop you in your tracks — and March 2026 is no exception. We're opening with the sweeping new trade deal between Australia and the European Union, which after eight years of negotiations has finally been signed — and buried inside the headlines about beef quotas and defence partnerships is a fascinating food story about naming rights, geographical indications and what it means when a country built on migrants claims the names of European cheeses and wines as its own.

From there we move into the Michelin Guide France and Monaco 2026 — the big one. 62 new stars awarded at a ceremony in Monaco, a brand new three-star restaurant in Savoie, and a guide that is clearly rewarding a new generation of chefs opening deeply personal, sustainability-focused establishments throughout France. We also cover the Bocuse d'Or Europe coming to Marseille for the very first time, with Denmark taking the top spot and France finishing fifth on home soil — with all eyes now on the grand final in Lyon in January 2027.

The second half of the episode gets into the stories that show just how politically charged food is in France right now. The government's long-awaited National Strategy for Food, Nutrition and Climate — and the extraordinary row that erupted over whether to use the word "reduction" or "limitation" when talking about meat. France's new ban on foods containing EU-prohibited pesticides, and what it says about the ongoing tension with South American agricultural imports. And a new Ipsos poll that found 97 percent of people in France have a good opinion of French food — but placed Burgundy at a somewhat controversial 28 percent in the most gastronomic region rankings. The people of Dijon will have something to say about that.

We also cover the BBC Eye investigation into the illegal trafficking of European glass eels — a trade worth more per kilogram than cocaine that criminal networks have nicknamed the cocaine of the sea — and finish with festivals and events, including the Fest'Oie goose festival in Sarlat, the Merci Chef French culinary week in Athens, and the French Cultures Festival running across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas throughout April. Everything you need to know about

Transcript

Speaker: 0:04

Every month, the French food world produces stories that generally stop you in your tracks. A government that spent weeks arguing over a single word in a nutrition document. A criminal network smuggling kilo than cocaine. The world's most prestigious culinary competition, coming to Marseille for the very first time. And a trade deal between that came down in the end to an This is fabulously delicious. The French food podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Prior, and for March twenty twenty six. Right. Let's get into it. Yeah, this one caught my eye something that's very close to And if you're a regular why Australia and the European sweeping free trade deal. After eight years of negotiations and buried inside, the headlines about beef quotas and defence partnerships are some genuinely interesting food stories. Under the deal, almost all EU Australian agricultural products barley even while Australian European wine, spirits, coming their way. For Australian wine producers The saving is estimated at around thirty seven million Australian dollars, which is not nothing but the detail that really made me smile and that I suspect will resonate with a few of you, is the naming rights conversation. Australian producers will be parmesan feta and get a being phased out. Australia is now the only secured EU permission to domestically, though it will exports over ten years. The Australian Prime Minister he noted that Australia's modern Greeks bringing feta, Eastern sausages, which is a genuinely underneath it all a very negotiation about cheese names. Pharaoh twenty twenty six. Now. Last month, we covered the big Parisian restaurant announcements. So this week, let's talk about the rest of France, because the Michelin guide, France and Monaco of twenty twenty six had plenty more to say beyond the capital. In total, sixty two new stars at Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Fifty four new one star restaurants, seven new two star and one new three star establishment. That sole new three star recipient is Les Marinat, run by chef Mickael Arnaud in Jeanj in Sainte-Foy, a region that has been quietly producing extraordinary food for years and absolutely deserves this kind of recognition. If you don't know Savoie food, It is so much more than fondue As wonderful as both of those are, what I found particularly interesting about this year's guide was the language used around new generations of chefs being recognized. They specifically noted a pronounced spirit of audacity deeply personal establishments, many of them husband and wife teams, cooking food that reflects who they are rather than what a certain kind of French restaurant is supposed to look like, which feels like a genuinely exciting direction for French gastronomy. Sustainability was also a strong theme, with fourteen restaurants newly recognized for responsible practices, bringing the total across the guide to over one hundred French fine dining, taking environmental responsibility seriously and Michelin choosing to reward it publicly. Both of those things feel like Speaking of extraordinary places your horizon or even just on you about something. My book, Paris A Fabulous Food Guide to the World's Most Delicious City. It has been newly updated, and I'm most proud of. I'd say over one hundred additional pages on the history of food in Paris, because I've always believed you need to understand why a city eats the way it does, not just where to go, which, if you've been listening for a while, will surprise nobody. All my favorite Boulangeries bars, markets, hidden gems. They're all in there and the new for vegan and vegetarian dining, options and yes, a section on You can go and sit or sip. Exactly where Emily said Absolutely no judgement from me It's the guide I wish I'd had Order it directly from my fabulously dot com. And you. It makes a perfect, gorgeous gift for food lovers in your life. It's also on Amazon. Or you can ask your local independent bookstore to order it in. Because supporting local bookshops is always a fabulous idea. Now back to the news. And now, a story that sits right at the intersection of French food culture and something a bit more darker. A new BBC investigation called light on the illegal trafficking that BBC I describes as worth drugs, and which criminal cocaine of the sea. Once abundant in rivers across France and the rest of Europe, the European eel is now critically endangered, with its population having collapsed by ninety five percent since the nineteen eighties. It's impossible to breed eels in entire trade relies on wild And with Asian demand at an all export ban in place, a vast filled the gap. The BBC investigation gained extraordinary access to a Hong Kong triad conducting live smuggling operations, and the picture it paints is genuinely alarming. For France, this matters in a The eel has been part of French culinary culture for centuries, and the collapse of the European eel population is a third heritage story as much as an environmental one. The documentary is available now on BBC iPlayer and the BBC World Service YouTube channel, and it's absolutely worth your time to watch. Now this one is close to my The Bocuse d'Or, the most in the world, Marseille hosted first time, held as part of the And what a setting for it. The competition theme celebrated the culinary heritage of Marseille and the Mediterranean, with the platter centered around red gurnard, chickpeas, small purple artichokes and sea urchins ingredients that well feel completely and utterly of that place, which is exactly what Buku store does at its best. Denmark took the top spot with chef Christian Wallendorf and his team delivering what, by all accounts, was an extraordinary performance. France. It finished fifth, which on home a bit of a sting, but the eyes twenty twenty seven, where the And if you know anything about competition on home turf, you preparation has already begun. Right now, a quick pause here. If you are enjoying the show and thing in your life, come and Same name, fabulously delicious. And it's where all the things episode end up. French food finds. I'm excited about restaurants currently testing in my kitchen the scenes stories from life in honestly, and just the kind of living this life every day. It's a little more personal than the podcast and a little bit more detailed and very, very French. For those of you who are new I was a contestant on MasterChef thirteen, which set off a chain me packing up and moving to living for more than ten years. These days, I host cooking classes and culinary experiences from my home in the French countryside, and the podcast is very much an extension of all of that. Sharing the food, the history, the stories, and the people that make this country's food culture so extraordinary. You can subscribe to the If you'd like to support the podcast and help me keep making it. Every paid subscription The link is in the show notes, or you can visit Andrew Pryor fabulously dot com for more details. Come for the croissants. Stay because you're fabulous. The French government has national strategy for food, Known as S n a n C, which sets out targets for the French food sector to achieve by twenty thirty. It calls for increased consumption of pulses, fruits, vegetables and whole grains and sets out plans to limit the consumption of red meat and processed meats, particularly imports. The numbers behind it are Thirty two percent of French adults eat too much red meat, apparently, and sixty three percent eat too many processed meats, which, when you consider how central meat is to the French culinary culture and identity, is a genuinely significant public health finding. But the detail that tells you this conversation is in France. The government's original draft talking about meat consumption. After considerable pushback from and from people who felt that meat was somewhere between an They changed it to limitation. One word, an enormous row, which Honestly, a country that can verb in a government nutrition around food feel that high. The strategy is there, the thirty is not far away. So watch this space. Francis also announced that foods containing substances banned by the EU will no longer be allowed to enter the country, including certain pesticide residuals. The affected products include mangoes, avocados, grapes, citrus fruits and apples, particularly those imported from South America. On the surface, it's a food safety measure, and in many ways it is the logic being that if a substance is considered too dangerous to use on French or European soil, it shouldn't be allowed in through the back door on imported produce, which is the position that is hard to argue with from a public health perspective. But the timing and the context matter here, this announcement sits right in the middle of the ongoing and extremely fraud debate around the EU Mercosur trade deal. The proposed agreement between American trading bloc that fighting against loudly and The argument from French farmers They are held to strict environmental and food safety standards that their South American counterparts are just not, which creates an uneven playing field. This pesticide ban is, in many argument into policy. Whether it survives legal challenges at the European level. Well, that's another question But as a statement of intent protection of its agricultural could not be clearer. A new Ipsos poll for France the Michelin guide announcement, of people in France have a good That doesn't surprise me, which is either a reassuring sign of national pride or the least surprising statistic that was ever recorded. Depending on how you look at it, Bourguignon as the dish that feels right, and which regular We covered in considerable depth But the finding that will I say this as someone who has time eating in Burgundy, is that voted the most gastronomic Burgundy came in at twenty eight percent, and I have enormous respect for the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and everything that comes out of its kitchens. But Burgundy, at twenty eight percent, feels a little like that. The people of Dijon will have loudly, probably over a glass of MM. Let's finish this month with Because March and April at a French food and culture, both in studying closer to home. The festival festival took place March in Sarlat in the Dordogne, one, put it firmly on your list. Every year at the beginning of goose, the animal that has beautiful medieval town with demonstrations and workshops. The centrepiece is a magnificent banquet with all you can eat foie gras attended by over eight hundred guests. The Périgord cuisine is one of the great regional food traditions of France, and this festival celebrates it beautifully. Further afield, French food culture has been making its presence felt on two continents this month. The Mercy Chef twenty twenty six a hub of French culinary week of March. Brunches, masterclasses, wine tastings and collaborative dinners across the city with MOF, pastry chefs, bread makers and cheese experts pairing their craft with Greek producers and genuinely wonderful culinary cultural exchange. And running from March the twentieth through to April the twentieth. The French culture's festival, Houston, is currently cultures across Texas, Oklahoma I think that's saying it right. With more than forty events across Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Dallas, French food culture travelling well as it does always. If you'd like a little more fabulously delicious between episodes, come and join me on Instagram. I'm at Andrew Pryor fabulously. That's where I share Bite-sized French food history, fun facts, behind the scenes moments, and plenty of everyday life in France. It's the perfect little snack between, well, the podcast courses. And if you prefer to watch the you can find full video episodes The same stories, same deliciousness, just with my face attached. Some people say I have a face More food, more stories, more Come join the party. It's Trey. Scrollable. Apparently that's what the Voila! That's your French food news for If you enjoyed it, leave a food lover and come say bonjour. I always love hearing from you. And if you want more, the back stories waiting for you. Just search fabulously delicious Until next time, eat well, stay curious and whatever you do, do it fabulously. That's my motto. Merci beaucoup Bon app a.