Meh. I'm from balkans and there are 100 things that you'd say are "our culture" that neither I nor my friends care about. If I couldn't invite friends to play board games without they expecting me to cook, I'd find better friends.
I'd say that if I invite friends to do "anything", it is because I am prepared to feed them if needed. I don't have to cook per se, I can just heat premade (by me or bought) stuff. I also expect them to bring something to drink if they like beers or wine. It is not like one necessarily need to spend hours in the kitchen.
Grabbing a bag crisps and a pizza ready to go to the oven beats having to fire up an app and decide/argue for minutes wether we want sushi, poké, noodles, pastas or a pizza.
> I'd say that if I invite friends to do "anything", it is because I am prepared to feed them if needed
Agreed! Though I think ordering is also perfectly fine, as are the other options you mentioned.
But what prompted me to respond in the first place was:
> but here in France if you invite some friends over, you are expected to cook. The only time its okay to order food its when people came for something else in the first place (moving, doing some handywork...)
I think the poster narrowed that to the typical invitation to meet and have lunch.
I wouldn't "invite" people to help me move or do some handywork, it would rather be called "asking for help". And I know there are other kinds of invitations: playing board games, video games or music, making arts, group sex or whatever other activities one can think of that can be done in groups and yes in that case you might not expect the host to cook necessarily. My experience is that in France people would generally bring something anyway or at the very least ask what they should bring, even if it is just a bag of crisps and a few beers when meeting someone at their place.
