With the war in Ukraine, Putin creates misunderstandings in Europe

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, poutine has been a miniature Quebec dish that has caused some backlash at Strasbourg restaurant Les Boutinistes, experts on the inspired dish, who some consider an inappropriate play on the Russian name. President.

“It’s amazing what’s happening to us,” says AFP Christophe Fliegans, manager of the case opened in 2019, who estimates that its revenue has fallen “between 30 and 50%” since the start of the conflict.

While take-out sales performed well on delivery platforms based on price, cheese and brown sauce, particularly among students, Vladimir Putin’s Russia “quickly changed” on February 24, 2022, after the invasion of Ukraine began. , he recalled.

Elsewhere in France, other restaurants serving the same food, particularly in Toulouse and Paris, began to “heckle,” Mr. Fliegens explains.

“We are insulted”

At first, the Strasbourg poutinists “were only entitled to a few comments on social networks, and nothing more,” the restaurant continues.

The establishment decided to add a “Canadian flag emoticon” next to the word “poutine” on delivery platforms.

But things turned sour later that year, during events where they served the famous Quebec dish: “We were insulted many times,” says Mr. Fliegans.

“One guy told us: ‘You should put Hitler on the side'”, recalls the manager, who recognizes that these people are “a minority”.

The pout’s fall in sales, fueled by an inflationary environment that encourages consumers to be “more focused” on their spending, has prompted the restaurant to look for other solutions.

“We introduced bowls of fries with different sauces two months ago,” in short, “poutine without poutine” derivatives, Mr. Fliegens explains.

“For now, it’s going well, but it won’t have the same impact as poutine,” admits the restaurant owner from Strasbourg, who tries to console himself: poutine was there before Vladimir Putin, and there will be after him, “that’s for sure” .

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