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I think our Christmas dinner is also 80% vegetarian comprising roast potatoes, sprouts, carrots, roast parsnips, stuffing, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, plenty of gravy, sloe (from garden in France) gin aperitif, top quality (at least 6€ from Super U) wine, Christmas pudding flaming with best cognac(from Cognac via Super U), maybe finished off with a small glass of something very strong together with freshly ground and percolated coffee. Oh, I forgot the other 20%…….a carefully carved (my contribution), generous helping of fresh, free range turkey. Only a week to go! NB Our vegetarian daughter will join us substituting my wife’s special recipe veggie roast for the turkey.

Chickens, rabbits, ducks, and turkeys. Raised, slaughtered and eaten them all. Lambs too, but the butcher came to the house and we did them together in the courtyard. Limited stress compared to shipping them in lorries. Now we live in a town, its surprising how many "french townies" are either shocked or fascinated by such a way of life. If people cannot kill them, perhaps people should not eat them?

I think the reputation for fine food arose when many skilled cooks in the grand chateaux lost their jobs after the revolution and opened restaurants to make a living. Many restaurants still seem to be run by people who lost their jobs.