“In surimi, I still find that there are a lot of things that pass themselves off as fish flesh.
"Contacted by Skype from a supermarket, dietitian Pauline Beriot is categorical:" Whatever the brand, we are dealing with an ultra-processed product.
"
To be sure, we went to the Traiteur de la mer factory in Fleury Michon, in Chantonnay, Vendée.
Site manager Fabien Epaud has agreed to deliver the recipe for his bestseller, “Le Moelleux”.
In Fleury Michon surimi we find 43% of fish that arrive in frozen bricks from the ports of the North Pacific.
“To the fish, 2.8% sugar has been added for preservation,” explains Fabien Epaud.
This surimi base is then broken into pieces and mixed with rapeseed oil (4%), natural shellfish flavor (he did not want to indicate the quantity), starch and starch. (8 to 9%), salt (1.5%) and above all, a lot of water: 39%.
The dough thus obtained is spread on a roller with a strip of dough tinted with paprika extract, cooked, then rolled up and cut into sticks.
On the French surimi market, this product sold for 11.02 euros per kilo is one of the most virtuous.
“There is a lot of fish,” comments dietitian Pauline Beriot.
Competitors sometimes less rich in fish
We then took one of the cheapest products on the shelf, the Auchan brand “crab flavored fish meat sticks”, at € 3.82 per kilo.
There are 13 ingredients and surprises ... Water is the main component of the recipe.
Fish meat only comes in second, with 27% hake and hake in the private label product.
“We first eat water, a little fish and additives.
In particular diphosphates and triphosphates, classified among the additives at risk.
Obviously, if the product is on sale, it is acceptable.
You just don't have to eat it every day, ”analyzes our food specialist.
And level of taste, what does that give?
Having said that, from a taste point of view, are there any surimis better than others?
“I really have a taste of gray shrimp,” comments the aptly named Thierry Breton, Breton chef at the head of the Parisian restaurants La Pointe du Grouin and Chez Casimir.
Blindfolded, he has just eaten a Coraya "supreme" at € 13.21 per kilo and 38% fish flesh.
"We find the texture of crab meat and crab coral mixed together, but without the power."
And after having tasted “the Moelleux” of Fleury Michon: “It's less aromatic.
I could work it as an accompaniment to a fish.
"As for the Auchan brand:" It's the one I like the least.
It's compact.
"
A product that has been improved
When we started this survey, we didn't expect much about the taste qualities of surimi and yet we were surprised.
This industrial product is no longer as bad as it is rumored.
And the reason is simple, because the product had bad press, manufacturers have worked a lot in recent years to improve revenue.
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It remains to be understood that to obtain, in Fleury Michon surimi, the equivalent of 1 kg of fish, you have to pay 25.60 €.
Not a very good deal because if you opt for the Auchan Alaska pollock sold in the frozen section, the price drops to € 8.12 per kilo.
Three times cheaper.