In seeking to understand the contested framing of halal hamburgers
in the French media, this study contributes in threeways to
the existing literature devoted to food and nationality. First, this
study provides a window into theways that media coverage of food
is deployed to construct and reinforce national boundaries. Second,
this analysis reveals three competing frames of halal hamburgers
demonstrating the contested cultural politics of French food legitimacy
via issues of republican ideals, the free market, and cultural
diversity. Third, we show that gastronationalism does not reside
solely in the domain of high cuisine, such as DeSoucey’s case of foie
gras, but can be constructed to encompass and protect more
quotidian foods, like the everyday fast-food hamburger. This is
particularly salient given that the hamburger has not been a part of
the traditional French culinary repertoire; a discourse of disdain for
fast-food simultaneously exists in the country. The contested
discourse over the role of fast-food halal hamburgers suggests that
French gastronomy is not as unified and exceptional as is often
claimed by the popular press and gastronomes. We conclude by
discussing the utility of gastronationalism as a conceptual tool to
improve our understanding of the ways in which food is used to
discipline and control.