French tacos tempt taste buds in France

DW (English)

French tacos are the latest street food to tempt taste buds in France. What do they look like, what goes into them and why do so many people find them so delectable?

Transcript

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.

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