If there’s one thing destined to fill me with frissons of gastronomic excitement, it’s the way the French present their food. It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s in a market or a supermarket or a bakery window, the presentation of food is creative and often so decorative that you might think twice about ruining the artistry by eating it.

To exemplify what I’ve said above, here’s a very special Salmon en Croute that my Belle-Mère (mother-in-law) served to us at Christmas:

Now let’s compare it to the version we get at Mark’s and Spencer:

Both versions taste great, but the pastry fish wins it in the presentation stakes for me. So on this occasion the score is France 1 – England 0.