French fried potatoes Totally Explained

Everything about French Fried Potatoes totally explained

French fries (North America; sometimes also uncapitalized as "french fries" or simply fries), or chips (United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, and some Commonwealth nations), are pieces of potato that have been deep-fried.

Culinary origin of the term

The straightforward explanation of the term is that it means potatoes fried in the French sense of the verb "to cook," which can mean either sautéing or deep-fat frying, while its French origin, frire, unambiguously means deep-frying : frites being its past participle used with a plural feminine substantive, as in pommes de terre frites ("deep-fried potatoes"). Thomas Jefferson, famous for serving French dishes, wrote exactly the latter French expression. In the early 20th century, the term "French fried" was being used for foods such as onion rings or chicken, apart from potatoes.
The verb "to french," though not attested until after "French fried potatoes" had appeared, can refer to "julienning" of vegetables as is acknowledged by some dictionaries, while others only refer to trimming the meat off the shanks of chops. In the UK, "French-trimmed" lamb chops (particularly for serving as a 'rack of lamb') have the majority of the fat removed together with a small piece of fatty meat from between the ends of the chop bones, leaving mainly only the meat forming the "eye" of the chop attached.

Belgium

Belgians claim that "French" fries are in fact Belgian, but definitive evidence for the origin hasn't been presented. Belgian historian Jo Gerard recounts that potatoes were already fried in 1680 in the Spanish Netherlands, in the area of "the Meuse valley between Dinant and Liège, Belgium. The poor inhabitants of this region allegedly had the custom of accompanying their meals with small fried fish, but when the river was frozen and they were unable to fish, they cut potatoes lengthwise and fried them in oil to accompany their meals."
The Dutch concur with a Southern Netherlandish or Belgian origin when referring to Vlaamse frieten ('Flemish fries'). In 1857, the newspaper Courrier de Verviers devotes an article to Fritz (assumed pun with 'frites'), a Belgian entrepreneur selling French fries at fairs, calling them "le roi des pommes de terre frites". In 1862, a stall selling French fried potatoes (see frietkot) called "Max en Fritz" was established near Het Steen in Antwerp. In addition, from 1813 on, recipes for what can be described as French fries, occur in popular American cookbooks. By the late 1850s, one of these mentions the term "French fried potatoes."
Recipes for fried potatoes (not clearly specified how) in French cookbooks date back at least to Menon's Les soupers de la cour (1755). It is true that eating potatoes was promoted in France by Parmentier, but he didn't mention fried potatoes in particular. And the name of the dish in languages other than English doesn't refer to France; in French, they're simply called "pommes de terres frites" or, more commonly, simply "pommes frites" or 'frites'.

Poland

In Poland chips (fries) are a popular fast-food, with the Poles calling them "frytki". The usual elongated baton shape is now popular, but isn't the original shape. The national recipe mandated slicing the potatoes into rings, and then frying them, usually accompanied by onions. Fries are served with ketchup, mustard or garlic sauce.

Spain

Some claim that the dish was invented in Spain, the first European country in which the potato appeared via the New World colonies, and assumes the first appearance to have been as an accompaniment to fish dishes in Galicia, from which it spread to the rest of the country and further to the Spanish Netherlands, more than a century before Belgium was created there.
Professor Paul Ilegems, curator of the Friet-museum in Antwerp, Belgium, believes that Saint Teresa of Ávila fried the first chips, referring also to the tradition of frying in Mediterranean cuisine.

United States' world-wide influence

Although the thicker cut English style of fried potato was already a popular dish in most Commonwealth countries, the thin style of french fries has been popularized worldwide in part by U.S.-based fast-food chains like McDonald's and Burger King. This came about through the introduction of the frozen French fry invented by the J.R. Simplot Company of Idaho in the early 1950s. Before the handshake deal between Ray Kroc of McDonald's and Jack Simplot, potatoes were hand-cut and peeled in the restaurants, but Simplot's frozen product reduced preparation time and aided the expansion of the McDonald's franchise. One of the few fast-food chains that still prepares fresh potatoes on the premises is In-N-Out Burger. Others are Nathan's Famous, Five Guys, Harvey's in Canada, and Penn Station.

Philippines

On September 22, 2007, Benguet State University (BSU) announced that 4 potato varieties -- Igorota, Solibao, Ganza and a 4th one yet to be given an official tag -- possess more than 18% dry matter content required by fast-food chains to make crispy and sturdy French fries.

Recent developments

Frozen French fries most often have been pre-fried — it isn't unheard of for these to be baked instead of fried — and are widely available in supermarkets.
By the start of the 21st century, frozen fries for home-cooking had become available, battered and breaded, and many U.S. fast-food and casual food chains had turned to dusting with kashi, dextrin and flavors coating for crispier fries with particular tastes. The food service sector is challenged to create time-saving "fries" that consumers find acceptable. Results with new batterings and breadings, followed by microwaving, remain sub-standard, though oven frying may deliver reasonable fries, be it different from the traditionally fried item.

Food pairings

Besides being a popular snack in themselves, French fried potatoes as a side dish to specific food or an integral part of a named dish often typify a country:

In Belgium, steamed mussels: mosselen-friet or moules-frites. After missing the popular dish for a few months, in summer, the Belgians rush to restaurants and fishmongers when the mussels arrive, typically from Zeeland. Another national dish is their biefstuk-friet in Dutch or bifteck-frites in French, which may disregard these terms' English language origin as beefsteak and — for aficionados — be horse steak; the steak fries are plainly seasoned or served with one of the sauces the Belgians are praised for, and usually a simple salad, in restaurants or at home. A time and cost efficient traditional puts a deep fried egg on top of a plate of chips.
In France, grilled steak: steak-frites.
In Spain, fried eggs: huevos con patatas.
In the United Kingdom, chips are a massively popular staple dish, eaten 3 or more times a week on average. Chip shops (aka "chippies") commonly serve various delicacies alongside chips such as cod (fish and chips) and battered sausage (battered sausage and chips). British cafes, on the other hand, serve more traditional greasy spoon fare, such as fried eggs (for example, double egg and chips).
In the United States, hamburgers: Burger and fries.
In Germany, sausage with curry-flavored ketchup: Currywurst.
In Norway, Finland and Sweden, kebab, hamburgers and sausages.

Variants

French fries have numerous variants, from "thick-cut" to "shoestring", "joe joes", "crinkle", "curly" and many other names. They can also be coated with breading and spices, which include garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, paprika and salt to create "seasoned fries", or cut thickly with the skin left on to create potato wedges, or without the skin to create "steak fries", essentially the American equivalent of the British "chip". Sometimes, French fries are cooked in the oven as a final step in the preparation (having been coated with oil during preparation at the factory): these are often sold frozen and are called "oven fries" or "oven chips".
   In France, the thick-cut fries are called 'pommes Pont-Neuf' or simply 'pommes frites', about 10 mm; thinner variants are 'pommes allumettes' (matchstick potatoes), ±7 mm, and 'pommes pailles' (potato straws), 3-4 mm (roughly ⅜, ¼ and ⅛ inch respectively). The two-bath technique is standard (Bocuse). 'Pommes gaufrettes' or "waffle-cut potatoes" are not typical French fried potatoes, but actually crisps obtained by quarter turning the potato before each next slide over a grater and deep-frying just once.
   A Belgian chef patented "steppegras" ('prairie grass'), his variety of extremely thin-cut French fried potatoes developed in 1968 while working in Germany. The name refers to a dish including its particular sauce, and to his restaurant.
   In the British Isles, Australia and elsewhere, the term "French fries" is only used by fast-food restaurants serving narrow-cut (shoestring) fries. Traditional "chips" in the United Kingdom are usually cut much thicker, typically between ⅜ and ½ inches (9.5-13 mm) square in cross-section and cooked twice, making them less crunchy on the outside and fluffier on the inside. Since the surface-to-volume ratio is lower, they've a lower fat content. Chips are part of the popular British take-away dish fish and chips. In Australia, the UK, Ireland, and New Zealand, few towns are without a chip shop (colloquially, a chippie/chippy).

Cooking

Joël Robuchon for the home cook, is to put the sliced potatoes into a saucepan with just enough cold oil in it to cover the potatoes, then cook them over high heat until golden, stirring occasionally. This chef mainly uses a more traditional style after blanching (boiling, but not over cooking in water) the cut potatoes in boiling water. The Belgian way of cooking 'frites' is generally in two stages. � First the peeled and lengthwise crisscross cut potatoes are 'pre-fried' ('voorgebakken' in Dutch) for about 7 to 12 minutes in oil or – traditionally – beef dripping preheated to about 130 to 186 °C (medium-low to medium-high heat power dial settings depending on the amount of fries to oil and moisture removed by previous cooking time to allow the oil to cool), to cook the inner part without burning the outside, while some of the moisture is driven out and where the fragrance starts to develop. When the fries are added to the oil, the oil at first cools quickly (cooling dependng on amount of fries and previous cooking time) and is quickly kept at secret values (98 °C to 122 °C for relatively long cooking times) to prevent the potatoes from burning. The fries stay a pale beige to yellow color and not too dry when finished at this stage. The fries wouldn't be burned with brown patches at this stage. Then they're taken out, tossed to avoid clumping, and generally allowed to cool down and dry for at least 30 minutes to make the fries more crispy and less greasy later. This intermediate product can be either frozen for 'instant' deep-frying later, or as several batches of 'pre-fried' fries prepared (for example, when fries stands are opened for the day, or at home ahead of a company of guests) for rapid frying and almost simultaneously serving later.

The second stage where the cooked flavor is achieved involves frying for about two to five minutes in oil or beef fat preheated to 175 to 195 °C (as high as the oil or fat can safely stand, but without burning the fries before this time period: a too high temperature breaks it down to rather poisonous compounds) depending on the initial temperature of the fries. The (cool) batches must be small enough relative to the quantity of oil or fat for its preheated temperature to stay sufficiently high (125 °C to 160 °C depending on moisture cooked out from previous cooking time) already during the first half minute of the frying process. Generally the cook is guided more by the color of the product than by timing; and by experience with the particular variety of potato. As a rule-of-the-thumb, one might wait until the fries start to float near the surface. The oil temperature must reach specific values (115 °C to 125 °C for long cooking times, or 155 °C to 165 °C for short cooking times) for a specific amount of time after the fries has been precooked. The cooking task is to get sufficient cooking time (9 to 16 minutes) without allowing the fries to become too greasy. Can avoid the fries from becoming too greasy by cooking it at high oil temperatures at the start of the pre-cooking; once this stage has been achieved, the fries won't get much greasier when cooking for longer times later. Once more the fries are sturdily tossed and preferably also kind of centrifuged (vigorously swerving the batch around in a wide recipient, in the shape of the base of a cone upside down, held in front of the cook's belly – common for professional batch frying), and shortly tossed again – thus removing excessive fattiness and preventing loss of the outer crispness. � Ideally, the fries have a golden to golden-brown appearance and a bite through the crispy outside reveals a soft inside. For a given depth of the crispy crust, the balance with the soft cooked potato inside is determined by the thickness; no less than 13 mm traditionally to 10 mm towards the end of the 20th century, before frying, are typical for Belgium. Some restaurants may cut as thin as 5 mm. In a good professional friterie stand, the cut is done in a single action by driving the whole peeled potato standing vertically, through a horizontal raster of crosswise sharp blades. This easily removable (for cleaning) and exchangeable set of blades defines the thickness of the frites. Some potatoes like Bintjes or Russet potatoes can produce a fried fish, beefy and pastry like fragrance after being fried for a specific amount of time (over 10 minutes) above a specific temperature (118 °C).

Typically for U.S. fast-food restaurants, is a preparation prior to cooking: � In an interview, Burger King president Donald Smith said that his chain's fries are sprayed with a sugar solution shortly before being packaged and shipped to individual outlets. The sugar carmelizes in the cooking fat, producing the golden color customers expect. Without it, the fries would be nearly the same color outside as inside: pasty yellow. Smith believes that McDonald's also sugar-coats its fries. McDonalds was assumed to fry their fries for a total time of about 15 to 20 minutes, and with fries fried at least twice. The cooking time could be estimated be seeing the hollowness of the fries stick after breaking it. The secret oil temperature(s) was assumed to be such that the color of the fries would still be a pale beige before the final frying. The final frying time seems to be less than a four minutes at higher oil tempratures. The fries appear to contain beef lard, or shortening.

Accompaniments

French fries are almost always salted just after cooking. They are then served with a variety of condiments, notably ketchup, curry, curry ketchup (mildly hot mix of the former), hot or chili sauce, mustard, mayonnaise, bearnaise sauce, tartar sauce, tzatziki, feta cheese, garlic sauce, fry sauce, ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, gravy, brown sauce, vinegar (especially malt vinegar), lemon, piccalilli, pickled cucumber, gherkins, very small pickled onions, or honey.

Australia

Chips are sometimes eaten with tomato sauce (ketchup), but most often with salt and most shops offer a choice of plain or chicken salt (seasoned salt). When served at a Fish and Chip shop, where a thicker cut of chip is traditionally served, vinegar is also offered as a traditional accompaniment. Many shops may also offer gravy. Potato wedges are also popular which consist of a quartered, often with the skin left on, seasoned fried potato. Potato wedges are commonly eaten with sweet chilli sauce and sour cream.

Belgium

Even the smallest Belgian town has a frietkot (literally 'fries shack'). This Dutch language term also became adopted by the French speaking part of the country in addition to the French friterie; an equivalent though slightly less colloquial Dutch form for such vending stall is frietkraam, while a frituur — from French friture — can as well be in a proper shop possibly furnished with tables. Traditionally, take-away chips were picked by the fingers out of a tip bag wrapped from a square paper, while walking on the streets. By the 1970s and 80s with several meat accompaniments gaining popularity, more practical open carton boxes became standard and tiny plastic forks available. One can order a small or large portion, often three or four sizes are priced.
Fries with mayonnaise is a fastfood classic in Belgium, often eaten without any side orders. The limited choice around 1960 between a pickled herring, a cold large meatball boulet or red coloured garlic sausage cervela (both often served deep-fried later on), or a beef or (now rarely) horsemeat stew, became expanded by stoofvlees or stoofkarbonade and a wide variety of deep-fried meats as chicken legs, beef or pork sticks, minced beef and/or pork and/or chicken and/or turkey in all shapes (balls, sticks, sausages) mixed with a dosage of fat and condiments to one's preference, usually factory made. An example of an additional on-the-spot preparation is sometimes in Flanders called mammoet speciaal (mammoth special), a large frikandel (curryworst in the Antwerp and Flemish Brabant) deep-fried and cut so as to put chopped onion in the V-shaped length and dressed with mayonnaise (as real as factory made can be, not frietsaus--see below) and (curry-)ketchup. The earliest of the current wide array of sauces, are mayonnaise, frietsaus or sauce pommes-frites ("fry sauce" in English--see the sections on France and the Netherlands) and one called pickles which is actually piccalilly. and New York Fries as well as Canadian outlets of international franchises such as A&W and Burger King. (A similar variant, 'disco fries' is found in several New England cities.) In Newfoundland, "chips, dressing and gravy" (sometimes referred to by outsiders as "Newfie fries") comprise French fries topped with "dressing" (turkey stuffing made with summer savoury) and gravy. Another variation consists of topping the French Fries with either ground beef, hot dogs, dressing and cheese and topped with gravy.

Denmark

In Denmark the traditional accompaniment to French fries is remoulade sauce.

France

In France a common dish is fries and a steak called a «steak-frites» (steak-fries). French fries are also popular alongside the sandwich grec, roasted or fried chicken, and hamburgers. The fries are often accompagnied by ketchup, mayonnaise, "ketchup-mayo" (a mixture of the two), and sometimes a vaguely béarnaise-like sauce called "sauce pommes frites" (found also under the same name and with a similar form in French-speaking Belgium, and in Dutch-speaking Belgium and the Netherlands as frietsaus), which is available at local McDonald's restaurants and in bottled form in supermarkets.

Germany

In Germany, accompaniments are usually limited to ketchup and mayonnaise. The two are often offered together, commonly called Pommes rot-weiß ("fries, red and white"). Although mustard may also be available at the same fast food stand to serve with Bratwurst, it isn't considered a French fry condiment. Curry ketchup is a common condiment when the French fries are served with a Currywurst. Larger currywurst outlets offer a variety of atypical sauces, such as aioli, wasabi mayonnaise, and honey mustard.

New Zealand

In New Zealand, hot chips are usually served salted, and tomato sauce is a popular accompaniment. At fish & chip shops, where the chips are of a thicker cut, they're usually served with fried fish fillets, and without tomato sauce, though this is frequently available at an additional cost. United States-style takeaway outlets (such as McDonald's, Burger King) usually serve thin-cut chips (KFC is a notable exception), salted, with tomato sauce as an option. Pie carts and hot-food outlets at fairgrounds, stadiums and other events usually serve thick-cut chips in a large paper cup, invariably with tomato sauce drizzled over the chips.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, vending points are often very similar to the ones in Belgium but called snackbars. Peanut sauce is popular (also called satay sauce, after the Indonesian meat sate on which the same sauce is used). The Dutch also use the word mayonnaise to refer to frietsaus (fries-sauce) a thicker, less acidic sauce made specially to accompany French fries (as made famous in the film Pulp Fiction). Another interesting combination is Patat Oorlog (Dutch for: French Fries War), which is French fries with a variety of sauces, a variety that differs from region to region, and even from one snackbar to another. While it sometimes means mayonnaise (or rather, frietsaus), peanut sauce and chopped raw onions, in other places it means the fries are accompanied with all condiments available. Dutch snackbars typically offer at least 8 condiments or combinations of them (the condiments are never free in Dutch snackbars), but some serve up to 40 different styles. The Dutch usually eat their fries with other popular deep-fried fast foods such as the kroket and frikandel. A well made fries recipe would give the fries a fried fish and pastry like fragrance. The texture of this fries indicates that it may have first been blanched before frying.

Philippines

In the Philippines, they're often served with a sprinkling of powdered flavors, primarily cheese, sour cream or barbecue. In some fast food chains, these are topped with cheese sauce and minced bacon.

United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland

In the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, traditionally chips are usually accompanied by salt and malt vinegar, and in some areas onion vinegar. The fondness for vinegar on chips has led to some outlets using spray misters, such as used for misting plants or spraying cleaning products, for the even distribution of vinegar to chips; this ensures an even coating of vinegar, meaning there are no "pools" where vinegar and salt form a small clump. In most of the UK, chicken nuggets and chips are popular with young children. In England and Wales, gravy and curry sauce are available from some chip shops. In Northern England, Scotland and South Wales, 'chips and gravy' is a popular dish, while in the South 'cheesy chips' (chips with grated cheddar thickly sprinkled on) are popular. In Britain and Ireland, the term french fries refers exclusively to the long thin version served in fast food establishments. The most common accompaniment for chips in England is tomato ketchup; other sauces used include barbecue sauce, burger sauce, mayonnaise, mustard and brown sauce or a combination thereof. When chips are served with other fried foods such as fish or battered sausage, mushy peas or baked beans are a popular addition. In the Midlands and some Northern regions of England a takeaway of chips with either mushy peas or baked beans is called a "pea mix" or "bean mix" respectively.
   In Scotland salt and vinegar tends to be served in most places, with salt and sauce (a mixture of brown sauce and vinegar) a local specialty served in Edinburgh and parts of Fife. Often the 'vinegar' is actually non-brewed condiment, a solution of acetic acid coloured with caramel. Fish and chips in parts of Scotland is more commonly called "a fish supper".
   In Ireland, chips are served with salt and vinegar, with gravy, mayonnaise, pepper sauce, curry sauce and mushy peas being common accompaniments. Fish and chips or kebab are common. Chips are also commonly served with any combination of coleslaw, curry sauce, garlic sauce and grated cheese which is known as a "garlic and cheese chip". "Burger sauce" is also very a popular accompaniment.
   In the Isle of Man, chips are traditionally served with cheese and gravy.

United States

In the United States, by far the most popular condiment for fries is ketchup, so much so that consumption of restaurant fries drives ketchup sales. Occasionally mustard is used, and malt vinegar mainly available at restaurants which serve fish and chips. Fries are sometimes coated with melted cheese, called cheese fries. This can be in combination with chili, making chili cheese fries.

Variations of cheese fries include fries covered with Cheez Whiz, mozzarella, Swiss cheese, or garlic and cheese fries (cheese with garlic mayonnaise).

Disco fries – (with brown gravy and mozzarella) are a staple of New Jersey diners.

The American fast-food restaurant Checkers/Rally's serve "fully loaded fries": seasoned fries covered in melted American cheese, ranch dressing and bacon bits.

In the Pittsburgh area, Primanti Brothers Restaurant offers a deli-style sandwich topped with fries and coleslaw.

Mid-Atlantic States often put Old Bay Seasoning on fries. These are sometimes referred to as "beach fries".

In Rhode Island, both vinegar and ketchup are standards on the table in local restaurants.

In Utah and surrounding areas, French fries are often served with fry sauce, a mixture of spices, mayonnaise, and ketchup.

In some parts of California and Arizona, french fries are covered with cheese, carne asada, sour cream, and guacamole. These are called carne asada fries and are served almost exclusively in taco shops.

In the Midsouth, fries are often served with white, or country gravy.

In Northern Virginia, eating french fries dipped in chocolate has recently become popular and are called "choco-fries". Steak fries are thicker-cut fries, often with the skins intact. They are often coated with spices or marinaded before cooking. They may be fried or baked in the oven.

Vietnam

In Vietnam, restaurants are usually found serving fries with sugar over a dollop of soft butter.

Health aspects

French fries can contain a large amount of fat (usually saturated) or oils from frying. Some researchers have suggested that the high temperatures used for frying such dishes may have results harmful to health (see acrylamides). In the United States about ¼ of vegetables consumed are prepared as French fries and are proposed to contribute to widespread obesity. Frying French fries in beef tallow, recently discarded from the McDonald's recipe, adds saturated fat to the diet. Replacing tallow with tropical oils such as palm oil simply substitutes one saturated fat for another. Replacing tallow with partially hydrogenated oil reduces cholesterol but adds trans fat, which has been shown to both raise LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol. Many restaurants now advertise their use of unsaturated oils. Five Guys, for example, advertises their fries are prepared in peanut oil.

Legal issues

In 1994, the well-known owner of Stringfellows nightclub in London, Peter Stringfellow, took exception to McCain Foods' use of the name "Stringfellows" for a brand of long thin French fries and took them to court. He lost the case (Stringfellows v McCain Food (GB) Ltd (1994)) on the basis that there was no connection in the public mind between the two uses of the name, and therefore McCain's product wouldn't have caused the nightclub to lose any sales.
In June 2004, the United States Department of Agriculture, with the advisement of a federal district judge from Beaumont, Texas, classified batter-coated French fries as a vegetable under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. Although this move was mostly for trade reasons (French fries don't meet the standard to be listed as a "processed food"), this received significant media attention partially due to the documentary Super Size Me.

Further Information

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