Britain is gorging on French cuisine

London: French food has become the fastest growing cuisine in Britain, new figures show.

In the past year, sales of French ready meals and desserts have grown by 16 percent, according to independent retail analysts Kantar Worldpanel, reports a website. There has been 27 percent growth in sales of French food year-on-year. Chicken chasseur is up in popularity by a whopping 226 percent, steak au poivre is up 37 percent and salmon en croute up 73 percent. Retail analysts say the trend is down to people treating themselves at home with more "upmarket" ready meals rather than dining out at posh French restaurants. Chinese cuisine is still one of Britons` favourites, with sales of oriental ready meals up 15 percent. And Tex-Mex food from the Americas has finally made it into our Top 5, up 3.2 percent in a year. Only Indian food does not figure, with Britons perhaps preferring take-aways. Food developer Stephanie Bacon said: "With less money to eat out, shoppers have been treating themselves to upmarket dishes at home." IANS