00:00May we introduce the fast food pride of France, French Tacos.
00:06Excuse me, that's no taco.
00:09This is a taco.
00:11Nope, not in France.
00:13Here, a taco, or in French, a tacos, is a flour tortilla stuffed with various meats, sauces, and french fries,
00:22all put together to make a favorite fast food.
00:26My favorite taco is made up of cordon bleu, nuggets, mayonnaise sausage, and Algerian sauce.
00:32You can choose what you want in it, and young people most of all appreciate this freedom.
00:39It tastes good, and it's something different. A taco is not a burger.
00:44How did this fairly recent form of junk food come about, and what's behind the hype?
00:50Young people are devouring this fast food and giving the U.S. chains a run for their money.
00:56The O Tacos franchise was launched in 2015, and already has 70 locations in the greater Paris area alone.
01:04It offers French tacos in a range of sizes and variations, from 5 euros upwards.
01:10The perfect meal for violating every rule of healthy eating.
01:15We think it's delicious. It might not exactly be healthy, but it's tasty.
01:21But how did it get this odd name, French tacos?
01:26Whenever people came into my diner, I'd explain, these are not Mexican tacos, they're French tacos.
01:32They're a little bit French, a little oriental, but they're French tacos.
01:37And yet, French tacos didn't originate in Paris, but in Lyon.
01:43Nasser Nemili did his bit for them.
01:47I'm Nasser Nemili, and I was one of the first to start making French tacos 20 years ago.
01:53French tacos are thought to have first appeared in the banlieue of Grenoble and Lyon.
01:58Here in this snack bar near Lyon, Nasser Nemili perfected his recipe.
02:04He's been working together with his wife from the start.
02:09A few people started making the tacos here, in more or less the same style.
02:14But I tried to do it differently from the others. And all at once, we had success with them.
02:22I got a mini size, and that's enough for me. Did you see how big the mini size is?
02:27They also call it a baby taco.
02:31The unique selling point of French tacos is the freedom to put together your own creation
02:37from a wide range of meats and sauces.
02:42I think it's a product that appeals to people of all different ethnicities.
02:46The shakshouka is a Tunisian recipe. The cheese is a typical French variety.
02:51The French love cheese. There's something for everyone.
02:55The falafel is Lebanese.
03:00For us, Nasser makes the classic version in a flour tortilla with cheese, chicken, French fries,
03:06shakshouka, Algerian sauce, plus a cream cheese sauce.
03:11The sweet and spicy Algerian sauce goes into the tortilla first.
03:16I spread the sauce around. That sticks everything together when you close the tortilla.
03:22Then comes the shakshouka.
03:26It's made of onions, peppers, and garlic, all fried in oil.
03:31And then I add tomato paste to all that.
03:35On top of that come two slices of cheddar and a sprinkling of grated cheese.
03:41Then I saute the chicken.
03:46I season this meat with curry, turmeric, and a pinch of fennel.
03:52Aye, this is a boy. I got the recipe from my mother.
03:58There you have it. It's still nice and hot.
04:04A handful of fries, some like less, some like more.
04:09And on top of them comes the homemade cream sauce made of gruyere cheese.
04:15And we fold everything up together.
04:19The average French taco from here weighs about 550 grams.
04:25That's a lot of cheese.
04:31That's our classic size.
04:36To make sure the taco is golden brown, I do the same as with croissant and brush it with an egg mixture.
04:41Then I add a little more cheese.
04:46Then the French taco goes into the oven for two to three minutes.
04:52It tastes best when eaten piping hot.
05:00But even though Nasser was one of the first,
05:03Nasser Nemi Lee is proud of the original and his own unique creation that, so far, nobody has copied.
05:10French tacos with feta cheese, honey, and cashews.
