Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva complained about the food he was served by his counterparts in Italy and France last week, criticizing the quality and size of the portions.
“I had lunch with [Emmanuel] Macron and with [Sergio] Mattarella,” Lula said Tuesday, referring to recent meetings with his French and Italian counterparts in Paris and Rome. “Two palace foods that were not that great.”
The former union leader added that, when traveling, he always misses having a big tray from which one can grab as much food as they want. “In any case, we’ve survived,” he said during a webcast from his official residence in Brasilia.
The French and the Italian government didn’t respond to requests for comment and didn’t give details on the menu served to Lula.
His comments — whether serious or light-heartedly said in jest — will never land well in two culinary capitals of the world that take an inordinate amount of pride in their cuisine. The remarks also add to the controversial rhetoric the leftist leader has employed since returning to the global stage, including his assertion that Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskiy share part of the blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
--With assistance from Chiara Albanese.
