Marie-Victorine Manoa does not hide her disgust.
"We can observe that there are kinds of pieces of meat and that could be fries", comments the young chef, showing, in her hand, the inside of a tacos from the restaurant chain. quick O'Tacos.
To find out what was really in these successful sandwiches, we first contacted the management of O'Tacos: end of disqualification.
The former Top Chef candidate, who worked in the greatest kitchens in the world (Noma in Copenhagen and Eleven Madison Park in New York), agreed to reproduce the recipe as faithfully as possible.
And thanks to a discreet O'Tacos employee, we were able to source the necessary ingredients from wholesalers, then we calculated the calories corresponding to each ingredient.
Marie-Victorine first places the wheat tortilla on her work plan: 267 calories.
Squeeze the mayonnaise bottle, and presto: 39 more calories on the bottom of the pancake.
Ditto for the Algerian sauce (a spicy harissa mayo): 68 calories.
Minced meat, one ladle: 230 calories.
The two pieces of tenders, in other words breaded and fried chicken aiguillettes: 252 calories.
"What we saw in our taco is that the fries were white," the chef remarks as she opens the package of frozen fries.
Sips of oil but white.
»After a quick tour in the fryer, here they are placed on the meats.
100 g: 312 calories!
The famous “cheese sauce” is sold in a blue plastic bag under the name “special premium tacos sauce”.
"We realize all the same, by following the recipe, that we have more sauce than anything else," the cook is surprised by coating the meats and the fries with a 1 ladle and 1/6 (let's be precise) of the white preparation.
Number of calories: 280.
Almost 1,500 calories for the taco!
After grilling, Marie-Victorine Manoa's copy almost looks like the original O'Tacos.
And his calorie balance?
“It is alarming,” says the chef, who took nutrition courses when she was training at the Institut Paul Bocuse.
1448 total calories.
For comparison, an average Big Mac and French Fries at McDonald's displays 844 calories (a woman needs, on average, 1,800 calories per day).
In the additives department, hang in there: 36 in the O'Tacos product against “only” 17 in a BigMac-frites.
McDonald's isn't really famous for its healthy food.
But O'Tacos greatly explodes the score of the American firm.
The recipe reproduced was presented to us by a salesman from the O'Tacos brand as one of the most ordered.
The same combination of ingredients - minced meat, chicken tenders, mayonnaise and Algerian sauce - is also available at most other taco stores!
To find out if there was a real difference, we asked a dietitian nutritionist to compare the products of the two chains O'Tacos and Tacos Avenue and French Tacos, a brand that operates only in delivery.
It should be noted here that the name “French tacos” is sometimes used to designate this junk food dish and to avoid confusion with the original Mexican recipe.
"It doesn't sell me dreams," says Adélaïde d'Aboville as she opens the wheat pancakes to discover compact clusters of fries and sauce.
" That's crazy !
she exclaims, dissecting the last one, signed French Tacos.
Look !
There are almost only fries!
It's a fried sandwich seasoned with meat.
»What about the chicken tenders?
She struggles to discover two small pieces.
"We are almost only on fries and pancakes," continues the nutrition expert, showing the product French tacos.
These are starches that are assimilated quite quickly, so we will be more hungry after eating this taco.
And the other two, Tacos Avenue and O'Tacos, are identical to me.
»Exit, then, French Tacos?
We still wanted to ask a Mexican chef what she thought of it… “At home in Mexico, a taco is a stuffed corn tortilla, it doesn't matter if it is with meat, fish, vegetable, explains Beatriz Gonzalez, excellent chef of Neva and Coretta, in Paris, which has just launched deliveries of authentic tacos under the name Taco Mesa.
But it should always be accompanied by onion, salad and cilantro.
»And fries?
we ask him out of challenge.
"We have never done it", replies the chef, diplomat.
For her, this tasting of "French tacos" will be a first.
"This one is quite tasty, not dry at all," comments the cook, blindfolded, after having taken a bite of the French Tacos item.
Surprise: this time, the chicken pieces are there, and in abundance! “I don't smell the Algerian sauce,” she continues of the Tacos Avenue model. And the last one, signed O'Tacos? “There is more flavor in the sauce. It hides a bit the minced meat, the chicken. »His ranking: O'Tacos (€ 10.50) finished first, followed by French Tacos (€ 9.50) and Tacos Avenue (€ 10.50). "A little vegetables in the three, that would be divine," observes the expert. Why put on fries when it's sweet potato, cauliflower and broccoli season? A broccoli taco, really? “Yes, totally! Enthuses Beatriz Gonzalez. While waiting for the fast-food chains to launch this new creation, we can remember that the French tacos have one big flaw and two great qualities: they are caloric bombs even worse than the BigMac-frites duo, of course, but it has l advantage of being cheap and stalling the stomach. But that's a bit like that, the danger: for fans of tacos, it is very tempting to make it a daily meal, whereas if you want to stay in shape, it should be seen as an occasional pleasure.
