To reproduce McDonald's “potatoes”, Victor Astorino Garnier has a precious document: the list of ingredients on the boxes delivered to restaurants, which an employee of the fast-food brand has discreetly sent us.
This restaurateur, owner of the Blend burger restaurants, begins to read: “Potatoes.
So far, so good ".
He grabs small potatoes, cuts them into eighths and cooks them in a pot of water.
“Potatoes are actually potato fritters,” he explains.
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Then, consulting the rest of the ingredients, he brings together the coating of the potatoes in a bowl: corn flour, rice flour, starch.
"Now, we are going to work on their mixture: disodium diphosphate, dextrose, sodium bicarbonate, xanthan gum… I was not able to recover modified starch, however".
Then he adds: garlic powder, onion powder, a mixture of spices… “Spices and spice extracts are marked in the plural on the list.
In all, there must be 25 to 30 ingredients!
"
He wets these powders with sparkling water and then coats his potatoes in them.
Two passes in the fryer later, we obtain large potato sticks golden like potatoes.
Victor Astorino Garnier tastes them: “Phew!
They really look like potatoes.
"And he adds:" Me, it's really what I prefer when I go to McDonald's.
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Our experimenter would therefore be part of the 51% of foodies (a very small majority) who, according to our “survey” posted on Instagram, prefer potatoes to fries.
When it comes to choosing the side dish for their burgers, it is an understatement to say that the French are divided.
In order to decide and find out who is really right, we sought advice from a nutritionist.
"If you pay attention to your health, it is better not to take either, warns the dietitian nutritionist Coralie Costi.
But if we really want to, I'll be able to decide because McDonald's displays nutritional information on the packaging ”.
After reviewing the amounts of sugar, salt, fat, and ingredients for fries and potatoes, the health expert leans towards potatoes.
“But if we love potatoes so much, it's because they go with their deluxe Creamy sauce,” says Coralie Costi.
She reads the list of ingredients on the plastic container: "there are still a lot of them, including additives".
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Then it is the turn of the French fries sauce, generally sold with the fries, to be analyzed: "There are also too many ingredients".
In this case, it is the ketchup that finds favor in his eyes: "It has the shortest list of ingredients and, let's say, the most 'real'.
“French fries therefore win the health game, provided they are eaten with ketchup.
All that remains is to taste them.
Since most people who have eaten at McDonald's have a preference, we did a blind test with a chef without telling her what she was going to eat, but… “These are fries!
»Exclaims Khánh-Ly Huynh, feeling the contents of the first plate that has been placed in front of her.
The chef of The Hood and Nonette restaurants in Paris is blindfolded.
His fingers come in contact with the potato and chips sauce: "And there is mayo!"
She guesses.
“They taste like oil and are very pasty.
There is no taste of potato ”.
The second plate contains fries and ketchup: "The mayo is much more vinegar than the previous one", she says (we will taste it ourselves after her and find that the flavor is indeed very sour and sweet).
We invite him to taste again: “It's ketchup!
There is just a tiny taste of concentrated tomato ”.
By bringing her fingers to the last plate, she recognizes the potatoes.
"It's better, but only thanks to the taste of the spices".
It is therefore the potatoes that he likes the most, followed by fries-ketchup then fries-apple-fries sauce.
All are sold at the same price, € 3.40 per large portion.
The fries are therefore better for the health, but the potatoes would outweigh the taste.
Decidedly, on the crucial question of the choice between fries and potatoes, the French have not finished being divided!