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HEALTH

The delicious French foods that are also surprisingly healthy

Have you ever wondered how the French stay so slim and live for a long time despite their love of wine and pastries? Catherine Edwards discovers the health benefits behind some classic Gallic grub.

Published: 1 January 2020 13:00 CET
The delicious French foods that are also surprisingly healthy
Photo: AFP

While scoffing crepes and croissants is clearly not a good idea if you want to stay in fine fettle, it is a good idea to chomp on French gastronomy, given that so much of it contains some surprising health benefits (if eaten in moderation of course).

Here's a list of ten classic Gallic dishes or ingredients that you don't need to avoid.

Choucroute


Photo: stu_spivack/Flickr

This Alsace specialty, usually prepared with salted meats and potatoes, has plenty of health benefits. It has long been used to treat stomach ulcers and canker sores and soothes the digestive tract. It’s also packed with vitamins, fibre, calcium, iron and magnesium. But not all choucroute is created equal; canned or pre-packaged options are less likely to preserve the vitamins and antioxidants.

Escargot


Photo: Wilson Hui/Flickr

Many foreigners balk at the idea of eating snails, but it’s time to get over the fear of the slimy gastropods, because they are a healthy alternative to other meats. They’re a low-calorie, high-protein choice, with omega-3 fatty acids thought to reduce heart disease risk.

They’re packed with extra nutrients and minerals, and usually enjoyed with garlic butter (see the final item of the list). In fact, they’re so good for you that snail slime is increasingly being used in beauty products too, as it is thought to make skin softer and more elastic.

Frogs’ legs


Photo: Sonny Abesamis/Flickr

Like snails, this traditional French delicacy is higher in protein but lower in fat than other meats including chicken. And frogs' legs are packed with the same omega-3 fatty acids, as well as potassium and vitamin A. Just be careful what you cook them in, as some sauces contain more salt than you might think.

Mirabelle plums


Photo: See-ming Lee/Flickr

Small but mighty, Mirabelle plums contain antioxidants which lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Their name comes from the Latin mirabilis, meaning ‘wondrous’, and they live up to their name with a large dose of nutrients and minerals including iron, potassium and vitamins A and C which help skin, eyes and are even thought to protect against lung cancer.

Dijon mustard


Photo: Patrick Gaudin/Flickr

Attempts at healthy eating are often thwarted by high-fat condiments, which often have a much higher salt and sugar content than we realize. Dijon mustard, however, is extremely low in both fat and sugar, making it a low-calorie option compared to ketchup, mayonnaise or other sauces.

Red wine

Photo:
 Lori Branham/Flickr

Moderate consumption of red wine is said to reduce the risk of depression, breast and colon cancer, heart disease and obesity, all thanks to a compound called resveratrol. We’ll drink to that.

Oysters


Photo: Tim Evanson/Flickr

Here's yet another food that’s worth getting over your squeamishness for; oysters are rich in vitamins (C and B-12) and minerals (zinc, selenium and iron) as well as being high in protein and low in fat. They have been linked to weight loss, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure – and that’s not to mention their supposed aphrodisiac properties.

French cheese


Photo: MilStan/Flickr

Mouldy cheeses, particularly southern French specialty Roquefort, have anti-inflammatory properties which could help guard against obesity and cardiovascular problems, making them a healthy choice for your heart – despite the high fat content of cheese.

Champagne


Photo: dpotera/Flickr

No need to save it for a special occasion any more – champagne contains antioxidants which are linked to lowering blood pressure, helping your skin, boosting memory and could even stave off dementia. It has fewer calories than wine as well, but experts say one glass a week is all you need to get the benefits. Still, cheers!

Garlic


Photo: Hafiz Issadeen/Flickr

It’s well worth risking bad breath for the long-term health benefits of garlic – did you know it was used for medicine before chefs began adding it to food? It’s incredibly nutritious thanks to a compound called allicin, which is responsible for the distinctive smell and could help fight illnesses from common colds to heart disease. It could also stave off dementia and even improve athletic performance.
 

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FOOD & DRINK

France’s national fast food: What exactly are ‘French tacos’?

If you're from the north American continent, you are probably familiar with the (traditionally Mexican) taco - but in France you will meet 'French tacos', a different beast entirely.

Published: 25 May 2023 13:42 CEST
France's national fast food: What exactly are 'French tacos'?

If you walk the streets of any French city or large town, you will likely stumble upon a fast-food restaurant called O’Tacos. But if you are expecting to be able to order a delicious Mexican al pastor taco with salsa verde, you will find yourself sorely disappointed.

As staff writer for the New Yorker, Lauren Collins wrote in 2021, “French tacos are tacos like chicken fingers are fingers”. In fact, one Mexican chef in Paris told Collins that she once had a customer “throw his order in the trash, saying it wasn’t a taco”.

French tacos (always spelled in the plural sense) are a popular and distinct fast food in France, often decried by health experts as highly caloric – an average French tacos clocks in at about 1,348 calories, and an XXL can run up to 2,300, above the recommended daily total caloric intake for an adult woman.

What many imagine when thinking of a taco is the traditional Mexican food, eaten by hand, which consists of a small corn or wheat tortilla filled with meat, beans and/or vegetables, topped with condiments like salsa or guacamole.

In contrast, the French taco is a flour tortilla filled with meat, sauce, and French fries, folded together and grilled to build a panini-burrito-kebab mélange. You can add plenty of other ingredients inside too – from cheese to turkey bacon. Most French tacos are halal-certified to accommodate Muslim customers – so do not contain pork.

The biggest chain is the strangely named O’Tacos – France is home to 300 O’Tacos restaurants – an amount that has doubled in the last five years, as French tacos continue to pick up popularity among the youth.

And you are not limited to O’Tacos for your French taco needs – plenty of smaller fast-food shops and chains across the country, particularly those selling kebabs and those that remain open late into the night – offer French tacos too.

The origins of French tacos

There are various claims regarding the origins of French tacos – or whether there is a single inventor of the fast food at all – but many point to the diverse suburbs of France’s gastronomy capital, Lyon. 

In a documentary by Bastien Gens, titled ‘Tacos Origins’, claimed that French fast food was created toward the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s in Lyon suburbs of Villeurbanne and Vaulx-en-Velin. 

According to Collins, the “earliest innovators of the French tacos were probably snack proprietors of North African descent in the Lyonnais suburbs.

However, some claim that the concept originated in Grenoble first, which is also the site of the first O’Tacos restaurant, opened in 2007 by a former construction worker, Patrick Pelonero, who told Collins he had never visited Mexico but simply enjoyed eating French tacos on his lunch breaks.

Tacos’ popularity 

One thing is certain – French tacos, typically priced around €5.50 are distinctly French.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Loïc Bienassis, a member of the European Institute of Food History and Cultures, said that: “For decades, France has been an inherently urban, industrial, and culturally diverse country. The French taco is a mutant product of this country. It is its own national junk food.”

In the past few years, French tacos’ popularity has spread beyond the l’Hexagone – to Morocco, Belgium and even the United States.

The sandwich has become so trendy in France that some even refer to traditional Mexican tacos as a “taco mexicain” to differentiate between the two.

In 2021, over 80 million French tacos were consumed in France, making it more popular than the hamburger and the kebab.

In the same year, French youth also took to social media, joining in an O’Tacos challenge #Gigatacos. The goal was to consume a giant French tacos, weighing in at 2kg. Anyone who succeeded would be automatically refunded. Videos of the challenge coursed through French social media networks, with several million views.

While France is known for its classic cuisine, which relies heavily on fresh ingredients, the country also has a history of loving fast food, so it may come as little surprise that it would invent its own highly caloric dish.

As of 2019, France was home to the second biggest market for McDonald’s per head of population after the United States. 

READ MORE: Krispy Kreme, Popeyes, Five Guys: the American fast-food chains taking on France

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