By David Chazan BBC News
Immigrant working in a Paris restaurant Some unions back the campaign by kitchen staff to be legalised.
The French cherish their culinary tradition and it's a big attraction for foreign visitors to France, the world's most popular tourist destination.
But few tourists realise that these days, many chefs and most kitchen staff in Paris and other big cities are immigrants from Africa and Asia.
Trade unions say a lot of these under-chefs of French cuisine are working illegally in France - but many are paying taxes and social charges.
Despite high unemployment and France's difficulties in integrating immigrant communities, the unions are backing a campaign by illegal immigrant workers to gain the right to live in France legally.
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“Start Quote
We're not hooligans, we're workers”
End Quote Diaby Gandega Kitchen worker from Mali
"We're doing the jobs the French don't want," says Diaby Gandega, an illegal immigrant from Mali in west Africa who slipped into France four years ago and works as a dishwasher.
Following clashes with police in mainly immigrant suburbs, President Sarkozy has proposed that foreign-born French nationals be stripped of their citizenship if they commit crimes or are found to be polygamists.
But Mr Gandega says he and many like him are paying into the social security system in France without gaining the rights or benefits enjoyed by other workers.
Kitchen worker Diaby Gandega gets advice from a union representative at a protest camp in Paris. Many illegal workers pay taxes but have to put up with low pay and have no job security
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