The merdenelei dispute reaches the French press as “a symbol of the fight against gentrification in Bucharest”

A dispute over merdenele, a Romanian cheese pastry, has reached France’s national press. Le Monde presented the Bucharest controversy as more than a culinary argument, calling the pastry “a symbol of the fight against gentrification in Bucharest.”

The dispute began on Aug. 21, when Edmond Niculușcă posted a video promoting butter croissants sold at his French brasserie, Mita Biciclista, in Amzei Square. In the video, he spoke about a “species” of people who considered the margarine used in merdenele made by “Uncle Mihai” at Patiseria Amzei to be delicious, and who had supposedly never tasted the “refined” flavor of a French butter croissant. He also quoted the French gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin: “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.”

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Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.

The remarks quickly triggered criticism, memes and messages of solidarity with merdenele. Although the video was deleted and Niculușcă apologized, the reaction continued. Le Monde reported that, in the following days, hundreds of people waited for more than an hour at the small Amzei bakery. Some took photographs outside Mita Biciclista while eating freshly baked merdenele. The French newspaper also mentioned singer Loredana Groza handing out merdenele during a concert at the National Arena.

Le Monde cited anthropologist Monica Stroe, who studies food, to explain the intensity of the response. “Food and the act of eating represent much more than a physiological need,” Stroe said, arguing that food can activate emotions and relationships and help build identities. In the French publication’s interpretation, the episode exposed resentment toward a form of condescension and social classification, rather than simply pitting a croissant against a merdenea.

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Food and the act of eating represent much more than a physiological need.