Abstract | A collective cultural memory is established through the evolving interactions and interpretations that a group has with socially contextualized knowledge and experiences. Three elements are necessary: shared history, shared values, and shared language. The cultural construct of French cuisine has been central to its national identity since the early nineteenth century. Yet it has experienced an "assault" from a differing model of production and consumption called la restauration rapide. How has France's patrimoine culinaire (re-)interpreted this assault in its collective cultural memory? Reactions include a forged culinary (anti-)identity and a (re-)appropriation of the most offending foodstuff -- the hamburger.
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