16th century, but succumbed to the military might of great britain in the mid-18th. thus began a gradual but steady persecution of all things french. the québécois have struggled mightily to hang on to their french heritage and language. the issue of seceding entirely, a notion that persists to some extent even today. journalist patrick lagacé meets me for lunch at bistro m sur masson to help me understand a little bit of what many québécois feel is at stake. so, i was going to talk about the whole history of french québécois identity, the separatist movement, all this, but i have to get right to the pressing matter of the day: pastagate. [ laughter ] >> patrick: pastagate. what do you want to know about pastagate? >> anthony: for those not up on current quebec politics, pastagate refers to an incident where local authorities notified an italian restaurant that they were in violation of french laws because they used the word "pasta," which is italian.