French fries
Encyclopedia
French fries chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried
potato
. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom
, Australia
, Ireland
and New Zealand
, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes (especially from fast-food outlets) are often called fries to distinguish them from chips (which are traditionally fatter and less elongated). French fries are known as frites, patates frites or pommes frites in French, a name which is also used in many non-French-speaking areas, while others may have names that mean "fried potatoes" or "French potatoes". "Steak-frites" is widely considered the most typical French national meal, as are a "burger and fries" in America, and frites on their own are a Belgian culinary specialty.
Thomas Jefferson
had "potatoes served in the French manner" at a White House dinner in 1802.
The expression "French Fried Potatoes" first occurs in print in English in the 1856 work Cookery for Maids of All Work by E. Warren: "French Fried Potatoes. – Cut new potatoes in thin slices, put them in boiling fat, and a little salt; fry both sides of a light golden brown colour; drain." In the early 20th century, the term "French fried" was being used in the sense of "deep-fried", for other foods such as onion rings or chicken
.
It is unlikely that 'French fried' refers to 'frenching' in the sense of "julienning
", which is not attested until after 'French fried potatoes'; previously, Frenching referred only to trimming the meat off the shank
s of chops.
(present-day Belgium), in the Meuse
valley: "The inhabitants of Namur, Andenne, had the custom of fishing in the Meuse for small fish
and frying, especially among the poor, but when the river
was frozen and fishing became hazardous, they cut potatoes in the form of small fish and put them in a fryer like those here".
Gérard has not produced the manuscript supporting this claim which, even if true, is unrelated to the later history of the French fry, as the potato did not arrive in the region until around 1735; also, given the economic conditions of the 18th century: "it is absolutely unthinkable that a peasant could have consecrated large quantities of fat for cooking potatoes. At most they were sautéed in a pan...." Some Belgians believe that the term "French" was introduced when American soldiers arrived in Belgium during World War I
, and consequently tasted Belgian fries. They supposedly called them "French", as it was the official language of the Belgian Army at that time. At this time French fries were growing popular. However, in the south of Netherlands, bordering Belgium, they are called Vlaamse Frieten or "Flemish fries".
"Pommes frites", "frites"(French) or "frieten" (Dutch
) became the national snack
and a substantial part of several national dishes.
Shortly after the May 1940 invasion of Belgium by the Wehrmacht, Hitler attempted to ban "french fries" because they were the central nutritional source of the Belgian resistance due to their simplicity and availability.
Eating potatoes was promoted in France by Parmentier
, but he did not mention fried potatoes in particular.
Many Americans attribute the dish to France
and offer as evidence a notation by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. "Pommes de terre frites à cru, en petites tranches" ("Potatoes deep-fried while raw, in small cuttings") in a manuscript in Thomas Jefferson's hand (circa 1801-1809) and the recipe
almost certainly comes from his French chef
, Honoré Julien.
In addition, from 1813 on, recipes for what can be described as French fries occur in popular American cookbook
s. By the late 1850s, one of these mentions the term "French fried potatoes".
Frites are the main ingredient in the Québécois dish known as poutine
, comprising fried potatoes covered with cheese curds and brown gravy, a dish with a growing number of variations.
The first chips fried in Britain
were on the site of Oldham
's Tommyfield Market in 1860. A blue plaque in Oldham marks the origin of the fish and chip shop and fast food industries in Britain. In Scotland
, chips were first sold in Dundee
, "...in the 1870s, that glory of British gastronomy
– the chip – was first sold by Belgian immigrant
Edward De Gernier in the city’s Greenmarket."
Traditionally, "chips" in the British Isles
(and Australia and New Zealand), are cut much thicker, typically between 9.5 and 13 mm (3/8–1/2 inches) wide. Since the surface-to-volume ratio
is lower, they have a lower fat content. Thick-cut, or beefsteak, British chips are occasionally made from unpeeled
potatoes to enhance their flavor and nutritional value and are not necessarily served as crisp as the European French fry due to their relatively high water content.
As with all members of the deep-fried chip family, they are cooked twice, once at a relatively low temperature (blanching) to cook the potato, and then at a higher temperature to crisp the surface, making them crunchy on the outside and fluffier on the inside.
Chips are part of the popular take-out
dish fish and chips
. In the United Kingdom
, Australia
, Ireland
, and New Zealand
, few towns are without a fish and chip shop. In these countries, the term "Fries" usually refers to the narrow-cut (shoestring) items that are served by American-style fast-food shops.
".
Some speculate that the dish may have been 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, which became Belgium more than a century later.
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.
of McDonald's contracted the Simplot company to supply them with frozen fries replacing fresh cut potatoes.
In 2004, 29% of the United States' potato crop were used to make frozen fries – 90% consumed by the food services sector and 10% by retail. It is estimated that 80% of households in the UK buy frozen fries each year.
Canada's McCain Foods is the world's leading producer of frozen fries. In addition to household products, they supply frozen fries to fast food companies such as McDonald's and KFC.
and the Netherlands
. In Belgium you can buy fries in special places called "friteries" (Wallonia and Brussels) or "frietkot"/ "fritkot" (Brussels and Flanders). They are served with a large variety of sauces and eaten either on their own or in the company of other snacks as fricandelle or burgers. Traditionally, they are served in a "cornet de frites" (French) or "frietzak"/"fritzak" (Dutch), a conic white piece of cardboard then wrapped in a piece of paper, with a good spoonful of sauce on the top. With the fries they serve many traditional fastfood products, such as frikandel
, gehaktbal or kroket.
In the Netherlands, you can find them in a snack bar
. They are served mostly with mayonnaise
or curry
.
In most of the Netherlands, French Fries are called 'patat', whereas in the southern Netherlands and in Belgium, they are named friet. In the Netherlands 'Flemish Fries' (Vlaamse friet) is sometimes used for thick fries of good quality.
Friteries and other fast-food establishments tend to offer a number of different sauces for the fries and meats. In addition to ketchup
and mayonnaise, it is common to offer many others, with popular options including:
These sauces are generally also available in supermarkets.
Occasionally hot sauces are offered by friteries, including hollandaise sauce
, sauce provençale, Béarnaise sauce
or even a splash carbonade flamande stew from an ever-bubbling pot, in the spirit of British "Chips and Gravy
".
-based fast food
chains such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and Arby's.
Pre-made French fries have been available for home cooking since the 1960s, usually having been pre-fried (or sometimes baked), frozen and placed in a sealed plastic bag.
Later varieties of French fries include those which have been battered and breaded, and many U.S. fast food and casual-food chains have turned to dusting with kashi
, dextrin
, and other flavor coatings, for crispier fries with particular tastes. Results with batterings and breadings, followed by microwaving
, have not achieved widespread critical acceptance. Oven
frying delivers a dish different from its traditionally fried counterpart.
, and fries without the potato skin are called "steak fries", essentially the American equivalent of the British "chip". They can also be coated with breading
, spice
s, or other ingredients, which include garlic powder
, onion powder, black pepper, paprika
, and salt to create "seasoned fries", cheese to create "cheese fries", or chili to create "chili fries". 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". Some restaurants and groceries in North America offer French fries made from sweet potato
es instead of traditional white potatoes. Crinkle fries maintain their flavor due to their shape, which creates small air pockets that trap the flavoring.
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 fries
" 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.
Jean Ceustermans, a Belgian chef patent
ed "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 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 caramelize
s 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. McDonald's was assumed to fry their fries for a total time of about 15 to 20 minutes, and with fries fried at least twice. The fries appear to contain beef tallow, or shortening.
-like shape. They are generally made from whole potatoes that are cut using a specialized spiral slicer. They are also typically characterized by the presence of additional seasonings (which give the fries a more orange appearance when compared to the more yellow appearance of standard fries), although this is not always the case.
Sometimes they are packaged for preparation at home, often in frozen packs. In the US they can also be found at a number of restaurants and fast food
outlets like Arby's
and Hardee's
, where they are served with condiments such as ketchup
, cheese
, fry sauce
, or sweet chili sauce and sour cream
.
ing the whole potato, and then cutting with a specialized spiral slicer. The potato is spread evenly along the skewer and deep fried. The cooking process fuses the potato to the skewer and holds it in place. It is then sprinkled with dry seasonings or served with dipping sauce. The Tornado Fry gets its name from the tornado
-like shape that the potato has on the skewer. Tornado fries were created in South Korea
around 2001 and introduced to North America
in 2005.
and vinegar
(malt, balsamic or white), pepper
, grated cheese
, melted cheese, mushy peas
, heated curry
sauce, curry ketchup (mildly spiced 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
, aioli
, brown sauce
, tomato ketchup, lemon
-juice, piccalilli
, pickled cucumber
, pickled gherkin
s, pickled onion
s or pickled egg
s.
French fries can contain a large amount of fat
from frying. A 13 year long observation performed by the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, on 120,000 subjects between 55 and 70, has shown that increased intake of acrylamide (formed when potatoes are baked or fried) is correlated with a 60% higher rate of kidney cancer. (see acrylamide
s). However, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, found no association between the consumption of foods high in acrylamide and increased risk of three forms of cancer: bladder, large bowel and kidney.
Frying French fries in beef tallow
, lard
, or other animal fats adds saturated fat to the diet. Replacing animal fats with tropical vegetable-oils, such as palm oil
, simply substitutes one saturated fat for another. Replacing animal fats with partially hydrogenated oil reduces cholesterol
but adds trans fat
, which has been shown to both raise LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol. Canola
/Rapeseed
oil, or sunflower-seed oil are also used, as are mixes of vegetable oils, but beef tallow is generally more popular, especially amongst fast food outlets that use communal oil baths.
Many restaurants now advertise their use of unsaturated oils. Five Guys
, for example, advertises their fries are prepared in peanut oil, while Chick-fil-A
advertises that they use canola oil.
, the owner of Stringfellows nightclub in London
, took exception to McCain Foods'
use of the name "Stringfellows" for a brand of long thin chips 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 would not 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
. This was primarily done for trade reasons – French fries do not meet the standard to be listed as a "processed food".
In 2002, the McDonald's Corporation agreed to donate $10 million to Hindu
and other groups to settle lawsuits filed against the chain for mislabeling French fries and hash browns as vegetarian, because their French fries and hash browns were found to contain beef extract added during production.
Deep frying
Deep frying is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot oil or fat. This is normally performed with a deep fryer or chip pan; industrially, a pressure fryer or vacuum fryer may be used....
potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes (especially from fast-food outlets) are often called fries to distinguish them from chips (which are traditionally fatter and less elongated). French fries are known as frites, patates frites or pommes frites in French, a name which is also used in many non-French-speaking areas, while others may have names that mean "fried potatoes" or "French potatoes". "Steak-frites" is widely considered the most typical French national meal, as are a "burger and fries" in America, and frites on their own are a Belgian culinary specialty.
Etymology
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
had "potatoes served in the French manner" at a White House dinner in 1802.
The expression "French Fried Potatoes" first occurs in print in English in the 1856 work Cookery for Maids of All Work by E. Warren: "French Fried Potatoes. – Cut new potatoes in thin slices, put them in boiling fat, and a little salt; fry both sides of a light golden brown colour; drain." In the early 20th century, the term "French fried" was being used in the sense of "deep-fried", for other foods such as onion rings or chicken
Chicken (food)
Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world, and is prepared as food in a wide variety of ways, varying by region and culture.- History :...
.
It is unlikely that 'French fried' refers to 'frenching' in the sense of "julienning
Julienning
Julienne is a culinary knife cut in which the food item is cut into long thin strips, not unlike matchsticks. Sometimes called 'shoe string', e.g. 'shoestring fries'...
", which is not attested until after 'French fried potatoes'; previously, Frenching referred only to trimming the meat off the shank
Shank (meat)
A meat shank or shin is the portion of meat around the tibia of the animal, the leg bone beneath the knee.Lamb shanks are often braised whole; veal shanks are typically cross-cut.Some dishes made using shank include:...
s of chops.
Belgium
Belgian journalist Jo Gérard has claimed that a family manuscript dated 1781 recounts that potatoes were fried prior to 1680 in what was then the Spanish NetherlandsSouthern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and annexed by France...
(present-day Belgium), in the Meuse
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
valley: "The inhabitants of Namur, Andenne, had the custom of fishing in the Meuse for small fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
and frying, especially among the poor, but when the river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
was frozen and fishing became hazardous, they cut potatoes in the form of small fish and put them in a fryer like those here".
Gérard has not produced the manuscript supporting this claim which, even if true, is unrelated to the later history of the French fry, as the potato did not arrive in the region until around 1735; also, given the economic conditions of the 18th century: "it is absolutely unthinkable that a peasant could have consecrated large quantities of fat for cooking potatoes. At most they were sautéed in a pan...." Some Belgians believe that the term "French" was introduced when American soldiers arrived in Belgium during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and consequently tasted Belgian fries. They supposedly called them "French", as it was the official language of the Belgian Army at that time. At this time French fries were growing popular. However, in the south of Netherlands, bordering Belgium, they are called Vlaamse Frieten or "Flemish fries".
"Pommes frites", "frites"(French) or "frieten" (Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
) became the national snack
Snack food
A snack is a portion of food oftentimes smaller than that of a regular meal, that is generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged and processed foods and items made from fresh ingredients at home....
and a substantial part of several national dishes.
Shortly after the May 1940 invasion of Belgium by the Wehrmacht, Hitler attempted to ban "french fries" because they were the central nutritional source of the Belgian resistance due to their simplicity and availability.
France and French-speaking Canada
In France and French-speaking Canada, fried potatoes are formally "pommes de terre frites", but more commonly "pommes frites", "patates frites", or simply "frites". The word "aiguillettes" or "allumettes" is used when the chips are very small and thin.Eating potatoes was promoted in France by Parmentier
Antoine-Augustin Parmentier
Antoine-Augustin Parmentier is remembered as a vocal promoter of the potato as a food source in France and throughout Europe...
, but he did not mention fried potatoes in particular.
Many Americans attribute the dish to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and offer as evidence a notation by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson. "Pommes de terre frites à cru, en petites tranches" ("Potatoes deep-fried while raw, in small cuttings") in a manuscript in Thomas Jefferson's hand (circa 1801-1809) and the recipe
Recipe
A recipe is a set of instructions that describe how to prepare or make something, especially a culinary dish.-Components:Modern culinary recipes normally consist of several components*The name of the dish...
almost certainly comes from his French chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
, Honoré Julien.
In addition, from 1813 on, recipes for what can be described as French fries occur in popular American cookbook
Cookbook
A cookbook is a kitchen reference that typically contains a collection of recipes. Modern versions may also include colorful illustrations and advice on purchasing quality ingredients or making substitutions...
s. By the late 1850s, one of these mentions the term "French fried potatoes".
Frites are the main ingredient in the Québécois dish known as poutine
Poutine
Poutine is a Canadian dish of French fries and fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy or sauce. Sometimes additional ingredients are added.Poutine is a fast food dish that originated in Quebec and can now be found across Canada...
, comprising fried potatoes covered with cheese curds and brown gravy, a dish with a growing number of variations.
Chips
The first chips fried in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
were on the site of Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
's Tommyfield Market in 1860. A blue plaque in Oldham marks the origin of the fish and chip shop and fast food industries in Britain. In Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, chips were first sold in Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, "...in the 1870s, that glory of British gastronomy
Gastronomy
Gastronomy is the art or science of food eating. Also, it can be defined as the study of food and culture, with a particular focus on gourmet cuisine...
– the chip – was first sold by Belgian immigrant
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
Edward De Gernier in the city’s Greenmarket."
Traditionally, "chips" in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
(and Australia and New Zealand), are cut much thicker, typically between 9.5 and 13 mm (3/8–1/2 inches) wide. Since the surface-to-volume ratio
Ratio
In mathematics, a ratio is a relationship between two numbers of the same kind , usually expressed as "a to b" or a:b, sometimes expressed arithmetically as a dimensionless quotient of the two which explicitly indicates how many times the first number contains the second In mathematics, a ratio is...
is lower, they have a lower fat content. Thick-cut, or beefsteak, British chips are occasionally made from unpeeled
Peel (fruit)
Peel, also known as rind or skin, is the outer protective layer of a fruit or vegetable which could be peeled off. The rind is usually the botanical exocarp, but the term exocarp does also include the hard cases of nuts, which are not named peels since they are not peeled off by hand or peeler, but...
potatoes to enhance their flavor and nutritional value and are not necessarily served as crisp as the European French fry due to their relatively high water content.
As with all members of the deep-fried chip family, they are cooked twice, once at a relatively low temperature (blanching) to cook the potato, and then at a higher temperature to crisp the surface, making them crunchy on the outside and fluffier on the inside.
Chips are part of the popular take-out
Take-out
Take-out or takeout , carry-out , take-away , parcel , or tapau , is food purchased at a...
dish fish and chips
Fish and chips
Fish and chips is a popular take-away food in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada...
. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, few towns are without a fish and chip shop. In these countries, the term "Fries" usually refers to the narrow-cut (shoestring) items that are served by American-style fast-food shops.
Spain
In Spain, fried potatoes are called "patatas fritas". Another common form, in which the potatoes are cut into irregular shapes and seasoned with a spicy tomato sauce, is called "patatas bravasPatatas bravas
Patatas bravas is a dish native to the cuisine of Spain, often served as a tapa in bars. It typically consists of white potatoes that have been cut into about 2 centimeter irregular shapes and then fried in oil and served warm with a spicy tomato sauce...
".
Some speculate that the dish may have been invented in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, the first European country in which the potato appeared via the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
colonies
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
, 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, which became Belgium more than a century later.
Professor Paul Ilegems, curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
of the Friet-museum in Antwerp, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, believes that Saint Teresa of Ávila
Teresa of Ávila
Saint Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, was a prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, and writer of the Counter Reformation, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer...
fried the first chips, referring also to the tradition
Tradition
A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
of frying in Mediterranean cuisine.
Spreading popularity
Frozen fries
The J. R. Simplot Company is credited with successfully commercializing French fries in frozen form during the 1940s. Subsequently, in 1967, Ray KrocRay Kroc
Raymond Albert "Ray" Kroc was an American fast food businessman who joined McDonald's in 1954 and built it into the most successful fast food operation in the world. Kroc was included in Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century, and amassed a fortune during his lifetime...
of McDonald's contracted the Simplot company to supply them with frozen fries replacing fresh cut potatoes.
In 2004, 29% of the United States' potato crop were used to make frozen fries – 90% consumed by the food services sector and 10% by retail. It is estimated that 80% of households in the UK buy frozen fries each year.
Canada's McCain Foods is the world's leading producer of frozen fries. In addition to household products, they supply frozen fries to fast food companies such as McDonald's and KFC.
Belgium and the Netherlands
Fries are very popular in BelgiumBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. In Belgium you can buy fries in special places called "friteries" (Wallonia and Brussels) or "frietkot"/ "fritkot" (Brussels and Flanders). They are served with a large variety of sauces and eaten either on their own or in the company of other snacks as fricandelle or burgers. Traditionally, they are served in a "cornet de frites" (French) or "frietzak"/"fritzak" (Dutch), a conic white piece of cardboard then wrapped in a piece of paper, with a good spoonful of sauce on the top. With the fries they serve many traditional fastfood products, such as frikandel
Frikandel
A frikandel is a Dutch snack, a sort of minced-meat hot dog,developed either in 1954 or in 1958/1959 in the Netherlands, depending on the source.-Overview:...
, gehaktbal or kroket.
In the Netherlands, you can find them in a snack bar
Snack bar
thumb|A snack bar in AmsterdamA snack bar usually refers to an inexpensive food counter that is part of a permanent structure where snack foods and light meals are sold. A beach snack bar is often a small building situated high on the sand. Besides soft drinks, candies and chewing gum, some snack...
. They are served mostly with mayonnaise
Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise, , often abbreviated as mayo, is a sauce. It is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices. Lecithin in the egg yolk is the emulsifier. Mayonnaise varies in color but is often white, cream, or pale...
or curry
Curry
Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...
.
In most of the Netherlands, French Fries are called 'patat', whereas in the southern Netherlands and in Belgium, they are named friet. In the Netherlands 'Flemish Fries' (Vlaamse friet) is sometimes used for thick fries of good quality.
Friteries and other fast-food establishments tend to offer a number of different sauces for the fries and meats. In addition to ketchup
Ketchup
Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...
and mayonnaise, it is common to offer many others, with popular options including:
- AioliAioliAioli ) is a traditional sauce made of garlic, olive oil, and egg. There are many variations, such as the addition of mustard or, in Catalonia, pears. It is usually served at room temperature. The name aioli comes from Provençal alh 'garlic' is a traditional sauce made of garlic, olive oil,...
, garlic mayonnaise. - Sauce AndalouseAndalusiaAndalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
– mayonnaise with tomato paste and peppers. - Sauce AmericaineSauce AmericaineSauce Américaine is a recipe from classic French cookery. In the Repertoire Louis Saulnier gives the following recipe:Américaine - Treat as for Lobster Américaine...
– mayonnaise with tomato chervil onions, capers and celery. - "Bicky" Dressing (Gele Bicky-sauce), a commercial brand made from mayonnaise, white cabbage, tarragon, cucumber, onion, mustard and dextrose.
- Curry mayonnaise.
- Look-sauce – mayonnaise with garlic.
- Mammoet-sauce – mayonnaise, tomato, onion, glucose, garlic, soy sauceSoy sauceSoy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...
. - Sauce "PicklesPicklesPickles may refer to:* A pickled cucumber, the food most commonly referred to as a pickle in the U.S. and Canada* A pickled onion, the food most commonly referred to as a pickle in the UK* Other vegetables that have been pickled...
" – a yellow mayonnaise-based sauce with turmericTurmericTurmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20 °C and 30 °C and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive...
, mustard and crunchy vegetable chunks, similar to PiccalilliPiccalilliPiccalilli is a British relish of chopped pickled vegetables and spices; regional recipes vary considerably. A more finely chopped variety "sandwich piccalilli" is also available from major British supermarkets.-Etymology:...
. - Samurai-sauce – mayonnaise with sambal oelek.
- Pepper-sauce – mayonnaise with green pepper, garlic, glucose.
- Tartar SauceTartar sauceTartare sauce is a creamy white sauce frequently used to season fried seafood dishes.-Composition:...
. - Zigeuner sauce – A "gypsy" sauce of tomatoes, paprika and chopped bell peppers, borrowed from GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
These sauces are generally also available in supermarkets.
Occasionally hot sauces are offered by friteries, including hollandaise sauce
Hollandaise sauce
Hollandaise sauce is an emulsion of egg yolk and butter, usually seasoned with lemon juice. In appearance it is light yellow and opaque, smooth and creamy. The flavor is rich and buttery, with a mild tang added by the lemon juice, yet not so strong as to overpower mildly-flavored foods.Hollandaise...
, sauce provençale, Béarnaise sauce
Bearnaise sauce
Béarnaise sauce is a sauce made of clarified butter emulsified in egg yolks and flavored with herbs. It is considered to be a 'child' of the mother Hollandaise sauce, one of the five sauces in the French haute cuisine mother sauce repertoire...
or even a splash carbonade flamande stew from an ever-bubbling pot, in the spirit of British "Chips and Gravy
Gravy
Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. In North America the term can refer to a wider variety of sauces and gravy is often thicker than in Britain...
".
United States influence
Although chips were already a popular dish in most Commonwealth countries, the thin style of French fries has been popularized worldwide in part by U.S.United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-based fast food
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
chains such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and Arby's.
Pre-made French fries have been available for home cooking since the 1960s, usually having been pre-fried (or sometimes baked), frozen and placed in a sealed plastic bag.
Later varieties of French fries include those which have been battered and breaded, and many U.S. fast food and casual-food chains have turned to dusting with kashi
Kasha
Kasha is a cereal commonly eaten in Eastern Europe. In English, kasha generally refers to buckwheat groats, but in Slavic countries, kasha refers to porridge in general and can be made from any cereal, especially buckwheat, wheat, barley, oats, millet, and rye...
, dextrin
Dextrin
Dextrins are a group of low-molecular-weight carbohydrates produced by the hydrolysis of starch or glycogen. Dextrins are mixtures of polymers of D-glucose units linked by α- or α- glycosidic bonds....
, and other flavor coatings, for crispier fries with particular tastes. Results with batterings and breadings, followed by microwaving
Microwave oven
A microwave oven is a kitchen appliance that heats food by dielectric heating, using microwave radiation to heat polarized molecules within the food...
, have not achieved widespread critical acceptance. Oven
Oven
An oven is a thermally insulated chamber used for the heating, baking or drying of a substance. It is most commonly used for cooking. Kilns, and furnaces are special-purpose ovens...
frying delivers a dish different from its traditionally fried counterpart.
Variants
There are variants of French fries, including "thick-cut fries", "steak fries", "shoestring fries", "jojos", "crinkle fries", "curly fries", "hand-cut fries" and "tornado fries". Fries cut thickly with the skin left on are called potato wedgesPotato wedges
Potato wedges, also called jojos in some parts of the United States, are a variation of french fries. As its name suggests, they are large, often unpeeled wedges of potatoes that are either baked or fried....
, and fries without the potato skin are called "steak fries", essentially the American equivalent of the British "chip". They can also be coated with breading
Breading
Breading is a dry grain-derived food coating for a piece of food such as meat, vegetable, poultry, fish, shellfish, crustacean, seitan, or textured soy, made from breadcrumbs or a breading mixture with seasonings. Breading can also refer to the process of applying a bread-like coating to a food...
, spice
Spice
A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...
s, or other ingredients, which include garlic powder
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
, onion powder, black pepper, paprika
Paprika
Paprika is a spice made from the grinding of dried fruits of Capsicum annuum . In many European languages, the word paprika refers to bell peppers themselves. The seasoning is used in many cuisines to add color and flavor to dishes. Paprika can range from mild to hot...
, and salt to create "seasoned fries", cheese to create "cheese fries", or chili to create "chili fries". 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
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
): these are often sold frozen and are called "oven fries" or "oven chips". Some restaurants and groceries in North America offer French fries made from sweet potato
Sweet potato
The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...
es instead of traditional white potatoes. Crinkle fries maintain their flavor due to their shape, which creates small air pockets that trap the flavoring.
Waffle fries
Waffle fries are thick slices of potato that are cut into a criss-cross pattern by quarter turning the potato before each slide over a grater. The waffle cut potatoes are then deep fried, and often seasoned . Apart from their shape, unseasoned waffle fries are similar to French fries....
" are not typical French fried potatoes, but actually crisps
Potato chip
Potato chips are thin slices of potato that are deep fried...
obtained by quarter turning the potato before each next slide over a grater
Grater
A grater is a kitchen utensil used to grate foods into fine pieces. It was invented by François Boullier in the 1540s.-Uses:...
and deep-frying just once.
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
ed "Steppegras" ("prairie grass"), his variety of extremely thin-cut French fried potatoes developed in 1968 while working in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The name refers to a dish including its particular sauce, and to his restaurant.
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 caramelize
Caramelization
Caramelization is the browning of sugar, a process used extensively in cooking for the resulting nutty flavor and brown color. As the process occurs, volatile chemicals are released, producing the characteristic caramel flavor....
s 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. McDonald's was assumed to fry their fries for a total time of about 15 to 20 minutes, and with fries fried at least twice. The fries appear to contain beef tallow, or shortening.
Curly fries
Curly fries are characterized by their springSpring (device)
A spring is an elastic object used to store mechanical energy. Springs are usually made out of spring steel. Small springs can be wound from pre-hardened stock, while larger ones are made from annealed steel and hardened after fabrication...
-like shape. They are generally made from whole potatoes that are cut using a specialized spiral slicer. They are also typically characterized by the presence of additional seasonings (which give the fries a more orange appearance when compared to the more yellow appearance of standard fries), although this is not always the case.
Sometimes they are packaged for preparation at home, often in frozen packs. In the US they can also be found at a number of restaurants and fast food
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
outlets like Arby's
Arby's
Arby's is a fast food restaurant chain in the United States and Canada. Roark Capital Group owns 81.5% of the company, with Wendy's Company owning the other 18.5%. It is primarily known for selling roast beef sandwiches and curly fries. The Arby's menu also includes chicken sandwiches, appetizers,...
and Hardee's
Hardee's
Hardee's is a restaurant chain, located mostly in the Southeast and Midwestern regions of the United States. It has evolved through several corporate ownerships since its establishment in 1960. It is currently owned and operated by CKE Restaurants. Along with its sibling restaurant chain, Carl's...
, where they are served with condiments such as ketchup
Ketchup
Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...
, cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
, fry sauce
Fry sauce
Fry sauce is a regional condiment served with French fries. It is usually a simple combination of one part ketchup and two parts mayonnaise. When spices and other flavorings are added, it is similar to—but thicker and smoother than—traditional Russian dressing and Thousand Island dressing...
, or sweet chili sauce and sour cream
Sour cream
Sour cream is a dairy product rich in fats obtained by fermenting a regular cream by certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, which is introduced either deliberately or naturally, sours and thickens the cream. Its name stems from the production of lactic acid by bacterial...
.
Tornado Fries
Tornado Fries are made by skewerSkewer
A skewer is a thin metal or wood stick used to hold pieces of food together. They are used while grilling or roasting meats, and in other culinary applications....
ing the whole potato, and then cutting with a specialized spiral slicer. The potato is spread evenly along the skewer and deep fried. The cooking process fuses the potato to the skewer and holds it in place. It is then sprinkled with dry seasonings or served with dipping sauce. The Tornado Fry gets its name from the tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
-like shape that the potato has on the skewer. Tornado fries were created in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
around 2001 and introduced to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in 2005.
Accompaniments
Fries can be served with a variety of accompaniments, e.g. saltSalt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
and vinegar
Vinegar
Vinegar is a liquid substance consisting mainly of acetic acid and water, the acetic acid being produced through the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria. Commercial vinegar is produced either by fast or slow fermentation processes. Slow methods generally are used with traditional...
(malt, balsamic or white), pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
, grated cheese
Grated cheese
Grated cheese is a type of cheese that has gone through the process of being grated. Typically, aged hard cheeses are used for this purpose. A hand grater can be used to manually grate the cheese, or cheese can be bought already grated...
, melted cheese, mushy peas
Mushy peas
Mushy peas are dried marrowfat peas which are first soaked overnight in water and then simmered with a little sugar and salt until they form a thick green lumpy soup. They are a traditional British accompaniment to fish and chips and sometimes mint is used as a flavouring...
, heated curry
Curry
Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...
sauce, curry ketchup (mildly spiced mix of the former), hot or chili sauce
Hot sauce
Hot sauce, chili sauce or pepper sauce refers to any spicy sauce made from chili peppers and other ingredients.-Ingredients:There are many recipes for hot sauces - the common ingredient being any kind of peppers. A group of chemicals called capsaicinoids are responsible for the heat in chili peppers...
, mustard
Mustard (condiment)
Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant...
, mayonnaise
Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise, , often abbreviated as mayo, is a sauce. It is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices. Lecithin in the egg yolk is the emulsifier. Mayonnaise varies in color but is often white, cream, or pale...
, bearnaise sauce
Bearnaise sauce
Béarnaise sauce is a sauce made of clarified butter emulsified in egg yolks and flavored with herbs. It is considered to be a 'child' of the mother Hollandaise sauce, one of the five sauces in the French haute cuisine mother sauce repertoire...
, tartar sauce
Tartar sauce
Tartare sauce is a creamy white sauce frequently used to season fried seafood dishes.-Composition:...
, tzatziki
Tzatziki
Tzatziki, tzadziki, or tsatsiki is a Greek meze or appetizer, also used as a sauce for souvlaki and gyros. Tzatziki is made of strained yoghurt mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, usually olive oil, pepper, sometimes lemon juice, and parsley. Tzatziki is always served cold...
, feta cheese
Feta
Feta is a brined curd cheese traditionally made in Greece. Feta is an aged crumbly cheese, commonly produced in blocks, and has a slightly grainy texture. It is used as a table cheese, as well as in salads Feta is a brined curd cheese traditionally made in Greece. Feta is an aged crumbly cheese,...
, garlic
Garlic
Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
sauce, fry sauce
Fry sauce
Fry sauce is a regional condiment served with French fries. It is usually a simple combination of one part ketchup and two parts mayonnaise. When spices and other flavorings are added, it is similar to—but thicker and smoother than—traditional Russian dressing and Thousand Island dressing...
, ranch dressing
Ranch dressing
Ranch dressing is a condiment made of some combination of buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise, minced green onion, garlic powder, and other seasonings mixed into a sauce. Ranch dressing has been the best-selling salad dressing in the United States since 1992, when it overtook Italian dressing...
, barbecue sauce
Barbecue sauce
Barbecue sauce is a flavoring sauce or condiment ranging from watery to very thick consistency. As the name implies, it was created as an accompaniment to barbecued foods. While it can be applied to any food, it usually tops meat after cooking or during barbecuing, grilling, or baking...
, gravy
Gravy
Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. In North America the term can refer to a wider variety of sauces and gravy is often thicker than in Britain...
, aioli
Aioli
Aioli ) is a traditional sauce made of garlic, olive oil, and egg. There are many variations, such as the addition of mustard or, in Catalonia, pears. It is usually served at room temperature. The name aioli comes from Provençal alh 'garlic' is a traditional sauce made of garlic, olive oil,...
, brown sauce
Steak sauce
Steak sauce —brown sauce —is a generic term for a dark brown sauce commonly served as a condiment for meat.The two terms are similar but not identical...
, tomato ketchup, lemon
Lemon
The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...
-juice, piccalilli
Piccalilli
Piccalilli is a British relish of chopped pickled vegetables and spices; regional recipes vary considerably. A more finely chopped variety "sandwich piccalilli" is also available from major British supermarkets.-Etymology:...
, pickled cucumber
Cucumber
The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...
, pickled gherkin
Gherkin
The gherkin is a fruit similar in form and nutritional value to a cucumber. Gherkins and cucumbers belong to the same species , but are from different cultivar groups....
s, pickled onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
s or pickled egg
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
s.
Health aspects
Fat
Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...
from frying. A 13 year long observation performed by the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, on 120,000 subjects between 55 and 70, has shown that increased intake of acrylamide (formed when potatoes are baked or fried) is correlated with a 60% higher rate of kidney cancer. (see acrylamide
Acrylamide
Acrylamide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula C3H5NO. Its IUPAC name is prop-2-enamide. It is a white odourless crystalline solid, soluble in water, ethanol, ether, and chloroform. Acrylamide is incompatible with acids, bases, oxidizing agents, iron, and iron salts...
s). However, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, found no association between the consumption of foods high in acrylamide and increased risk of three forms of cancer: bladder, large bowel and kidney.
Frying French fries in beef tallow
Tallow
Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton fat, processed from suet. It is solid at room temperature. Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended periods without the need for refrigeration to prevent decomposition, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation.In industry,...
, lard
Lard
Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a spread similar to butter. Its use in contemporary cuisine has diminished because of health concerns posed by its saturated-fat content and its often negative...
, or other animal fats adds saturated fat to the diet. Replacing animal fats with tropical vegetable-oils, such as palm oil
Palm oil
Palm oil, coconut oil and palm kernel oil are edible plant oils derived from the fruits of palm trees. Palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis; palm kernel oil is derived from the kernel of the oil palm and coconut oil is derived from the kernel of the...
, simply substitutes one saturated fat for another. Replacing animal fats with partially hydrogenated oil reduces cholesterol
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a complex isoprenoid. Specifically, it is a waxy steroid of fat that is produced in the liver or intestines. It is used to produce hormones and cell membranes and is transported in the blood plasma of all mammals. It is an essential structural component of mammalian cell membranes...
but adds trans fat
Trans fat
Trans fat is the common name for unsaturated fat with trans-isomer fatty acid. Because the term refers to the configuration of a double carbon-carbon bond, trans fats are sometimes monounsaturated or polyunsaturated, but never saturated....
, which has been shown to both raise LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol. Canola
Canola
Canola refers to a cultivar of either Rapeseed or Field Mustard . Its seeds are used to produce edible oil suitable for consumption by humans and livestock. The oil is also suitable for use as biodiesel.Originally, Canola was bred naturally from rapeseed in Canada by Keith Downey and Baldur R...
/Rapeseed
Rapeseed
Rapeseed , also known as rape, oilseed rape, rapa, rappi, rapaseed is a bright yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae...
oil, or sunflower-seed oil are also used, as are mixes of vegetable oils, but beef tallow is generally more popular, especially amongst fast food outlets that use communal oil baths.
Many restaurants now advertise their use of unsaturated oils. Five Guys
Five Guys
Five Guys is a fast casual restaurant chain focused on hamburgers, hot dogs, and French fries. Originating in Arlington, Virginia, the company's headquarters are now in Lorton, Virginia.-Food:...
, for example, advertises their fries are prepared in peanut oil, while Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A |"fillet"]]) is a quick service restaurant chain headquartered in College Park, Georgia, United States, specializing in chicken entrées and is known for promoting the company founder's claims of Christian values. Long associated with the southern United States, where it has been a...
advertises that they use canola oil.
Legal issues
In 1994 Peter StringfellowPeter Stringfellow
Peter James Stringfellow is an English nightclub owner.-Early life:Stringfellow was born on 17 October 1940 to Elsie and James William Stringfellow , a steelworker...
, the owner of Stringfellows nightclub in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, took exception to McCain Foods'
McCain Foods Limited
McCain Foods Limited is a privately owned company established in 1957 by four brothers—Harrison McCain, Wallace McCain, Robert McCain, and Andrew McCain—in Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada...
use of the name "Stringfellows" for a brand of long thin chips 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 would not have caused the nightclub to lose any sales.
In June 2004, the United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
, with the advisement of a federal district judge from Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont, Texas
Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 118,296 at the 2010 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the...
, classified batter-coated French fries as a vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act
Agricultural Marketing Service
The Agricultural Marketing Service is a division of the United States Department of Agriculture, and has programs in five commodity areas: cotton and tobacco; dairy; fruit and vegetable; livestock and seed; and poultry...
. This was primarily done for trade reasons – French fries do not meet the standard to be listed as a "processed food".
In 2002, the McDonald's Corporation agreed to donate $10 million to Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
and other groups to settle lawsuits filed against the chain for mislabeling French fries and hash browns as vegetarian, because their French fries and hash browns were found to contain beef extract added during production.
See also
- Carne asada friesCarne asada friesCarne asada fries are a local specialty found on the menus of taquería-like Mexican restaurants primarily in the American Southwest, including, but not limited to, San Diego, where it originated. This item is not normally featured on the menu at "traditional" Mexican restaurants.-Ingredients:The...
- Chip panChip panA chip pan is a deep-sided cooking pan used for deep-frying. Chip pans are named for their traditional use in frying chips ....
- Deep fryer
- Deep fryingDeep fryingDeep frying is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot oil or fat. This is normally performed with a deep fryer or chip pan; industrially, a pressure fryer or vacuum fryer may be used....
- Freedom friesFreedom friesFreedom fries is a political euphemism for French fries used by some people in the United States as a result of anti-French sentiment during the controversy over the U.S. decision to launch the 2003 invasion of Iraq. France expressed strong opposition in the United Nations to such an invasion...
- Fry sauceFry sauceFry sauce is a regional condiment served with French fries. It is usually a simple combination of one part ketchup and two parts mayonnaise. When spices and other flavorings are added, it is similar to—but thicker and smoother than—traditional Russian dressing and Thousand Island dressing...
- Home friesHome friesHome fries, house fries, or cottage fries are a type of basic potato dish made by pan or skillet frying diced, chunked, wedged or sliced potatoes that have been par-cooked by boiling, baking, steaming, or microwaving....
- Pommes dauphinePommes dauphinePommes dauphine are crisp potato puffs made by mixing mashed potatoes with savoury choux pastry, forming the mixture into dumpling shapes, and then deep-frying them at 170° to 180°C....
- Pommes duchesse
- Pommes souffléesPommes souffléesPommes soufflées are a sophisticated variety of french fried potato. Slices of potato are fried twice, once at 150 °C and then again after cooling, at 190 °C . The potato slices puff up into little balloons during the second frying and turn golden brown....
- Potato wedgesPotato wedgesPotato wedges, also called jojos in some parts of the United States, are a variation of french fries. As its name suggests, they are large, often unpeeled wedges of potatoes that are either baked or fried....
- PoutinePoutinePoutine is a Canadian dish of French fries and fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy or sauce. Sometimes additional ingredients are added.Poutine is a fast food dish that originated in Quebec and can now be found across Canada...
- Vacuum fryerVacuum fryerA vacuum fryer is a deep-frying device housed inside a vacuum chamber. It was originally developed for potato chip production.Vacuum fryers are fit to process low-quality potatoes that contain higher sugar levels than normal, as they frequently have to be processed in spring and early summer before...
- Tater TotsTater TotsTater Tots, a registered trademark for a commercial form of hash browns made by Ore-Ida, are a side-dish made from deep-fried, grated taters. Tater Tots are widely recognized by their crispness, cylindrical shape and small size....
External links
- The Official French Fries Pages – information and fan site (1996-pres.)
- News on French Fries and Potato Processing
- The ultimate chip and perfect mash – Heston BlumenthalHeston BlumenthalHeston Marc Blumenthal OBE is an English chef and owner of The Fat Duck, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Bray, Berkshire voted Best Restaurant in the UK by The Good Food Guide 2007 and 2009, and voted best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine in 2005...
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