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The Unlikely Rise of French Tacos
- prepend 6y agoThese sound great. I’m trying to find the first good good that can be made automatically in a machine the size of a coke vending machine. This seems like a good candidate. Ideally, I’d want a burrito machine that just spit out a perfect burrito without any human involvement (besides stocking it once a day or something). But cooking the meats seems like too much of an issue. French tacos seems good because the meat can be cooked as it is Panini pressed.
- calvano915 6y agoUtilizing sous vide may solve the meat issue.
- prepend 6y agoGood point, I’ll try that out in burritos. The burritos I like have a bit of char, but maybe can get around that.
- BugsJustFindMe 6y agoJust add bags of char to the machine and sprinkle some in during assembly. > French tacos seems good because the meat can be cooked as it is Panini pressed. I don't think I've ever seen a panini press capable of cooking raw meat inside of a panino without basically destroying everything else. Tacos is made with already cooked meat.
- mycall 6y agoPerhaps something like liquid smoke will do the trick.
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- pomian 6y agoI have heard that there are burrito vending machines at Warsaw Polytechnic University. You select the ingredients, the machine wraps it and delivers- in a soft drink dispensing sized machine. Not sure if the burrito is heated, prior to delivery.
- itronitron 6y agoI think you would need to pre-cook and freeze the meat in individual servings beforehand (in glass jars) When an order is placed the meat gets microwaved in the jar, then emptied out onto the tortilla and the jar is stored by the machine for collection and reuse.
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- spaceflunky 6y agoWTF?
- 1996 6y agoIt seems tasty. Can you get that in the US?
- BugsJustFindMe 6y agoGet a meat and cheese burrito with fries. Then unwrap the burrito and put the fries inside.
- baud147258 6y agoAdd some more cheese sauce too.
- simtel20 6y agoIn the LA area, isn't that just a potato burrito?
- selimthegrim 6y agoThe California burrito called?
- 0xffff2 6y agoAre "California burrito"s only a thing in California? They're quite common there and are exactly this. Since moving to southern Oregon I've only found one place with it on the menu and they don't get the details quite right.
- itronitron 6y ago
- BugsJustFindMe 6y agoI lived in France for a long time, and tacos is my definitely favorite French food. You have to understand that the fantasy of food in France being all fancy shit is extremely wrong. In accord with the vast European street food tradition, the most French of French foods is a ham and butter sandwich on white bread with nothing else on it. And French people go nuts for stuff like that, because the other thing that France is exceptionally good at is saying "Get the fuck outta here. We're closed because it's 3pm and humans don't eat between 2pm and 6. Bye, good afternoon, see you later." So when you can get a meat, cheese, and french fries (on the inside!) burrito by a wrong-but-hilariously-adjacent name that's as big as your face for a few euros, it's a real blessing that instills one with great national pride.
- inglor_cz 6y ago""Get the fuck outta here. We're closed because it's 3pm and humans don't eat between 2pm and 6. Bye, good afternoon, see you later."" So true! As a tourist in France, it was a great time to practise some intermittent fasting skills.
- julienchastang 6y agoExcept for the "quatre-heures", of course -- a small snack enjoyed at 4PM. My grandmother would have a brioche, and I would have a croissant or something. If hungry, go inside a boulangerie and get yourself a baguette bien cuite (well cooked) -- nothing is as divine as that.
- sheepdestroyer 6y agoI respectfully disagree, bread is best enjoyed "pas trop cuit"
- baud147258 6y agowell, currently most option for fancy food in France are closed because of Covid-19. Though having tried French tacos once, I think I'll still choose McDo/Burger King if I'm hungry and on the move at an odd hour
- rozab 6y agoThis seems a lot like the hoagie from Glasgow, a kebab shop staple. Chips, cheese, sauce and doner meat (or chicken), all wrapped up like a burrito.
- zwieback 6y agoWhat?? A hoagie is a sub! You can't just appropriate that.
- froggysnail 6y agoJust to balance the article, I'm french, living in Paris, working near Champs Elysées and never heard about tacos. It seems to be very specific to teenagers or ghettos.
- BugsJustFindMe 6y ago> It seems to be very specific to teenagers or ghettos. You know, this kind of attitude is what makes people dislike Parisians.
- bsaul 6y agohe is right though. Just look at people queuing for oTacos inside paris and i doubt you'll find anyone older than 18 yo.
- BugsJustFindMe 6y agoAnd here I am a world traveler at 40 loving French tacos. I guess perspective is everything. Maybe one just has to break out of their protective shell and not be a snob about "lower class" things.
- conradfr 6y agoI think the rent are insane, and the fast-food chains there have a broader clientele and international recognition.
- BugsJustFindMe 6y agoRent has been insane for a long time relative to median income in practically every major city across the world. I actually don't think that the rent in Paris is any worse than in Boston, and Paris is nicer to live in.
- conradfr 6y ago
- titoasty 6y agoYMMV very vastly, and it's only my experience, but here is my opinion on this food (I'm french). Having tried a lot of french tacos in Paris, Lille & Lyon (approximately one per week), famous brands and local ones, I can definitely tell you that: I found that most taste like sht. By most, I mean 95%. Most taste like bricks of "food", without any distinctive taste, are very dry (the different sauces are sucked by french fries) BUT you will feel completely full. Not fast-food full, I used the word brick and it's the most appropriate IMHO. I tried a lot of restaurants, a lot of combinations, and I just gave up of this kind of food. And if you really like this kind of food, please try the best burrito of Lyon from Taco Taco. Das good sht. I hope you'll prove me wrong and you'll point me to good french tacos. I'm fed up trying to find a good one :)
- BugsJustFindMe 6y agoI mean if you're in Lyon you should just eat pied de porc and quenelles 24/7.
- titoasty 6y agoYou're a man of culture. This is the way now.
- BugsJustFindMe 6y agoI feel strongly also about eating cassoulet 24/7 in the south. It makes one feel like they are sitting next to a tavern fireplace in a fantasy novel about to go on an epic adventure. It's weird though because I do _not_ feel the same way about regional sweets. Marrons glacés (disgusting), calissons (yuck), and macarons d'amiens (not even macarons!) can light themselves on fire. If they were any good, they wouldn't be only regional!
- carpedimebagjoe 6y agoThey sound absolutely horrid. I'll try almost anything once, but freeganing in a Whole Foods' dumpster sounds better. I'm half-French ancestry living in Austin (ATX), arguably the taco capital of the US except maybe East LA. Apparently, KCK is now an upstart rival. Mexico city is probably the capital of the world. PS: What's up with French disdain for peanut butter? Is it just something else to feel artificially-superior about?
- zem 6y ago> First of all, through some mistranslation or misapprehension of its Mexican namesake, the French tacos is always plural, even when there’s only one, pronounced with a voiced “S.” reminds me of indian patties, a popular snack of meat or vegetables in a puff pastry shell, which through a similar loss-in-translation often get called "pattice" in the singular, "pattices" plural.
- edhelas 6y agoYou have plenty of nice places to eat cheap and good in France, better than those "French tacos" places. Just go to a decent boulangerie, you'll find good sandwiches, quiches or other things for a few euros, healthier and with decent ingredients :)
- benjohnson 6y agoIf you don’t speak French and are introverted, a boulangerie can seem intimidating. Here’s how to go for it: Upon entering, say “Bonjour” - that will alert them that you a polite and also don’t speak French. Point to what you want that looks tasty as say “Un (Un)” for one “Deux (Duh)” for two and put a “Merci (Mer-si)” after each order. Pay and say “Merci Bien! (Mer-si Bee-en” at the end. Presto, it will go smoothly and the proprietor will actually like you because you made an attempt. Don’t worry if the proprietor switches to darn-good-English - they’re happy you made the attempt and are just trying to hurry the order along so they can get to the next customer.
- bitwize 6y agoShowing a modicum of effort gets you far abroad. The Japanese gave me full marks for effort when I spoke to them in my very rusty Japanese language I'd mainly acquired by university classes and college-age weeabooism. Getting drunk and proactively looking up unfamiliar words/phrases in Aedict helped matters -- and I think I'd learned more Japanese in those two weeks than I did in three semesters of college. I can confirm: swallowing your introversion, just for a bit, and engaging the locals in their local tongue, pays dividends, regardless of how shitty you think your skill in the language is.
- baud147258 6y agointeresting, when searching for mukhala’a, which is supposed to be a North African dish, I only get pictures of muskets. Though for the rest, for an article written in an American publication, it's not too off-base (surely helped by how the author is living in France).
- ragazzina 5y agoThe writer is talking about مخلعة, also called كسرة شحمة.
- twobitshifter 6y agoWait until they try a Crunchwrap supreme.
- dariusj18 6y agoIt is a crime against humanity if they don't have access to Cheesy Gordita Crunches.
- nonamenoslogan 6y agoAgreed, this is Taco Bell's crowning achievement of the last decade.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- BugsJustFindMe 6y agoThere are sadly no Taco Bells in France. They do have a couple of Chipotles though.
- DoreenMichele 6y agoHilarious article, though perhaps overly long: Eventually, he joined up with a pair of childhood friends to create O’Tacos, which now has two hundred and thirty locations in France. Pelonero had never been to Mexico, still hasn’t. “But I’ve watched a lot of series about tacos on Netflix,” he said, speaking from Dubai, where he currently lives.
- chihuahua 6y agoBy the standards of The New Yorker, this was mercifully short. Usually they go on and on about the childhood experiences of the main subject's parents, both biological and adopted. Sometimes it feels as if the writers are paid by the word, with no upper limit. Some people treasure this "long-form" writing, but not everyone does.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- legerdemain 6y agoUgh, print magazines can't die fast enough. Gimme Axios style, French tacos, five bullet points, no polysyllabic words, bam-bam-bam, done!
- galettesaucisse 6y ago>Technically, the French tacos is a sandwich: a flour tortilla, slathered with condiments, piled with meat (usually halal) "Usually halal". Yes, so it's as much stereotypical French food as a kebab then /s Typical French street food is jambon-beurre (ham and butter sandwich, in a baguette) or in Brittany a galette saucisse (pork sausage in a galette, which is a savory type of crepe).
- carpedimebagjoe 6y agoAll I want in France is a steady mainline IV of pain au chocolat warmed-up so the chocolate is just melting without making the croissantness soggy or oily from the butter melting.
- morsch 6y agoI doubt anybody claims that it's the most traditional snack in France, but how many portions of galette saucisse are sold vs French tacos? I have no idea, but I'm sure in Germany doner kebab is sold more often than the more hereditary Bratwurst (in terms of street food). The word typical has the connotation of traditional, but it's hardly a stretch to call kebab a -- and possibly even the -- typical German street food. And it's usually halal!
- dragonwriter 6y ago> Technically, the French tacos is a sandwich: a flour tortilla, slathered with condiments, That is either a taco, as the name suggests, or possibly sushi, but it's not, in any case, a sandwich. EDIT: Actually, given the packet description from the article, its a calzone. https://cuberule.com/ https://cuberule.com/
- carpedimebagjoe 6y agoThat makes Totino's pizza rolls "mini tacos" too rather than "mini calzones."
- BugsJustFindMe 6y agoIt's actually a burrito. I guess _some_ might call a burrito a sandwich, but only if they've never had a burrito before. It's weird that the article uses the word sandwich at all because it really doesn't communicate the right idea at all.
- quattrofan 6y agoTldr;
- cassepipe 6y agoAs someone who has tried tacos in Mexico and what we call Tacos in France, I find the latter to be an insult to the former. One offers a burst of flavors while the other is just "regressive" food in the sense where it's mostly unsavory carbs and low quality meat that have the gross taste of any of the industrial sweet sauce that it contains. Mexico is good at street food, France just isn't. Also real tacos are "scalable" : Not really hungry? Get one or two. Really hungry? Get four or five. (I call it regressive food because it is generally the type of food that your body craves after a stressor and generally bad for your health in the long term. Massive energy intakes and sedentary lives don't go well together)
- ASalazarMX 6y ago> real tacos are "scalable" : Not really hungry? Get one or two. Really hungry? Get four or five. I'm Mexican, and this is a new way of thinking about tacos for me. It's very true for street tacos, you pay by the taco, so you order exactly how many you want. There are places where you ask for one, eat it, then ask for another, and so on until you're full. JIT tacos.
- jasonwatkinspdx 6y agoYeah, another thing I loved about the better carnitas places in Mexico City is you can pick your exact cut of meat. I forget the name of the place but my favorite was near where I was staying in Condesa. It's been in some movies and stuff over the years. No seating at all. You just stand around holding your plate and getting JIT tacos lol. Very convenient to just grab a bite on the way somewhere quick.
- rjsw 6y ago> Mexico is good at street food, France just isn't. Do pancakes (Breton galettes and crêpes) count as street food ?
- kergonath 6y agoThe crêpes eaten as street food have nothing Breton about them. But yes, that counts as street food. Waffles as well. Breton galettes are meant to be eaten sitting with a bowl of cider, though, completely different beasts. You need a plate to eat a complète or a decent dessert crêpe.
- microtherion 6y agoA few years ago, I saw my first "Original French Tacos" place in Valence, France, and thought it was a hilarious concept (A restaurant in France, with English signage, advertising a Mexican dish and claiming it as French). But I learned a lot from this article. One interesting aspect of these tacos is that they are essentially "laundering" the food of a minority treated with suspicion (North African / Arab immigrants) by disguising it as a different kind of exotic food. In the US, incentives might be the opposite: In some places, Mexicans might find success selling Burritos as "Döner Kebab".
- vladvasiliu 6y ago> One interesting aspect of these tacos is that they are essentially "laundering" the food of a minority treated with suspicion (North African / Arab immigrants) by disguising it as a different kind of exotic food. In the US, incentives might be the opposite: In some places, Mexicans might find success selling Burritos as "Döner Kebab". I'm not sure I agree with this point, or even understand it actually. There are plenty of fast-food joints selling "the food of a minority treated with suspicion". They're usually called "grec" (greek) for some reason, though they're what the non-French usually call a Kebab. The only "stigma" I can think of applied to those places is that it's "too fatty" / "not very healthy," etc[0]. There also are the "Lebanese" joints that sell wrapped sandwiches. Those are usually called "Lebanese", and don't have any stigma that I'm aware of either. Also, the "tacos" I've had around Paris have absolutely nothing in common with the kebabs or event the Lebanese wraps. They're usually drenched in some liquid, sugar-laden sauce that makes eating them a pain and come in all kinds of... surprising combinations. Usually a kebab is pretty straightforward. Some joints may get fancy with the sauce options; some joints are clearly very good while others are... less so; but you always know what kind of sandwich you'll get. The taco places seem more like the salad bars that have popped up all over the place. You can pick and choose among a bunch of ingredients, and it's usually up to you if you want your combination to "make sense" or not. --- [0] The "health" related skepticism around French kebabs is about their fat content mostly. The "sanitary" skepticism also exists, but it's usually targeted at "Chinese" joints.
- dr_dshiv 6y agoThe best french tacos are served at a place in the upper upper west side NYC called "Bombay Frankies." They have the best Americanized french-mex rotirolls. Can't be beat. http://bombayfrankie.com/ http://bombayfrankie.com/
- lhenault 6y agoAs a French person who's been lucky enough to visit Mexico and taste amazing tacos there, I just want to apologize to every Mexican for this. "French" "tacos" are closer to the cursed child of a burrito and a kebab than a taco. It doesn't have much in common with Mexican culture (nor French gastronomy) and is borderline cultural appropriation. If you want a taco-shaped kebab, rather try an Al Pastor. > Pelonero had never been to Mexico, still hasn’t. “But I’ve watched a lot of series about tacos on Netflix,” I guess he hasn't watched this one, or he wouldn't dare naming his things "tacos" : https://www.netflix.com/title/81040704 https://www.netflix.com/title/81040704 And the "GigaTacos challenge" is just disgusting.
- lprd 6y agoMy thoughts exactly! Have you seen what french kebabs are doing to Indian food now? You can get 'naan wraps'. Seriously, a cheese naan that's layered with mayo/lettuce and whatever meat you want inside. I don't mean to come off as a food snob, but what kebabs are doing now is pure bastardization of indian, french, moroccan, and greek gastronomy. I miss my Mexican tacos...
- adolph 6y agoThe result of food bastardization is often delicious. In Houston the M&M Grill is an Arabic and Mexican fusion restaurant. . . . We hope you'll stop by soon to try our Hamburgers, Kabobs, Enchiladas or Chimichangas. https://www.yelp.com/biz/m-and-m-grill-houston https://www.yelp.com/biz/m-and-m-grill-houston
- jayd16 6y ago>child of a burrito and a kebab than a taco Isn't that a gyro?
- lhenault 6y agoSorry, in France, we usually just say "kebab" rather than "döner kebab" / "gyro" (so if you go to Turkey and ask for a kebab expecting a gyro, you'll be surprised the first time). But they usually come with pita bread, while "French tacos" are wrapped in wheat tortillas instead, use any kind of meat(s), have cheese, sauces, ...
- lprd 6y agoI don’t know how I feel about calling tacos “French”. I mean, yah you can only find them in France, but the dish itself is anything but French. Kebab joints have them and their cuisine is typically halal. I’m not sure how/when kebabs grew in popularity here in France, but they are everywhere now! I’ve been living in France for the past 8 years and I first noticed the word “taco” about 4 years ago. My first thought was: “Sweet, Mexican food it’s making its debut in France!”...nope, it wasn’t anything like a the tacos I’m familiar with! Tacos themselves are pretty interesting, and highly customizable. Want a taco with sausage and cordon bleu? You got it. Want to stuff it with more meat? How about donor kebab with a hamburger patty and nuggets? Your options are endless. Its standard to have fries inside them (with some sort of white sauce). I have had some that are quite tasty. But make no mistake, it’s pure junk food. I’d love to know why they call them “tacos”. One thing I will note, kebabs are always open. I equate them to your typical Mexican joint you go to with your friends for a midnight snack. Seriously, I have never seen a kebab restaurant closed. You gotta be careful, though. There’s little to no health inspection at these places and I’ve heard some bad kebab stories.
- notdang 6y agoThe funny thing is that in Mexico the kebab is called "taco árabe"
- javier10e6 6y agoWell, In the US a taco salad comes housed on a crunchy flour shell that looks like coffee filter so let us not judge.
- HeyLaughingBoy 6y agoAnd is often pretty damned delicious :-)
- zwieback 6y agoI read that article and I thought it sounded absolutely delicious. All those customization options, some of the cheese sauces sound incredible. And putting fries inside a sandwich has been proven a good idea by our English friends already. Not only do I want to try one, I think Taco Bell should immediately adopt it. People who can't get over that it's called Tacos: chill out. Plus apparently it's always spelled with an s, whether it's singular or not. So it's not like anyone is going to mistake it for a Taco Al Pastor or whatever.
- alcover 6y agoThey're an abomination. Especially the 'sauce' they put in it, which will decrement your life expectancy by a full month.
- sjg007 6y agoThis is awesome, they look like the grilled cheese burrito. French fries inside the burrito is definitely an improvement to rice. First time I ever had one was in Los Angeles. I wonder if the French are into guacamole and sour cream. I also like Banh Mi as an improvement over ham a cheese on a baguette.
- Taylor_OD 6y agoThis has to be one of the most new yorkerie articles of all time. It's an interesting article but man this could be an Onion article.
- mothinx 6y agoI lived in Lyon (France) for a long time, where the french tacos is born. Mister Tacos is one of the famous place to try it. I don't know why people get mad about it, because guys, trust me it's only fat, french fries with sugar . You can mix 4 kind of meat, 4 kind of sauces in one piece of tortilla full of french fries. I'm so sad because Lyon is one of the most important french city for gastronomy
- snug 6y agoHad to look up what these French Tacos look like, for those that live in SF, and especially lived or worked in SoMa, these look just like the Zapatos at Garaje! https://www.garaje475.com/ https://www.garaje475.com/ https://www.instagram.com/p/Bly9VpelW4B/ https://www.instagram.com/p/Bly9VpelW4B/
- Nihilartikel 6y agoGaraje in San Francisco's SOMA neighborhood has very similar looking (and delicious, IMHO) things they called zapatos.
- krlx 6y agoIt is really funny to see so many people disagreeing in the comments over the suitability of this meal. Are you sure you're not talking about spaces and tabs? Jokes asides, if you get the chance to taste some French Tacos, the "Gratiné" option, if available, adds grilled cheese on top and that's amazing. Until today, my fav is the "Indy" option from Hamamet in Lyon (Charpennes) , that comes with additional slices of goat cheese and black olives. The absolute best to ruin the benefits of the running you did just before.
- ElijahLynn 6y agoNo pictures of what an actual French Taco looks like in the entire article. There is a drawing at the top, is that what it actually looks like? Can't believe there are no pics
- panda888888 6y agoFor reference, a typical French taco involves french fries, chopped up chicken cordon bleu, and a melted white cheese sauce, all wrapped in bread that's more like pita bread than a tortilla. It's tasty but not exactly a taco; it's more similar to the British sandwich called a chip butty than to a Mexican taco. Or if you really want to compare it to a Mexican dish, it'd be a large burrito.