Les Jones

Food & Drink > French Fries: Is There Anything They Can't Do?

So I was reading about the chip butty sandwich. (It's two pieces of buttered bread with fries (chips), usually served with ketchup and vinegar, but sometimes with gravy or curry.)

That lead to the Wikipedia entry for French fries. I had no idea there were so many variations.

French fries are almost always salted just after cooking. They are then served with a variety of condiments, most notably tomato sauce, ketchup, curry, curry ketchup (mildly hot mix of the former), hot sauce, mayonnaise, tartar sauce, tzatziki, fry sauce, Ranch dressing, barbeque sauce, gravy, brown sauce, honey, vinegar (especially malt vinegar), piccalilli, pickled cucumber, gherkins, or very small pickled onions.

In the United Kingdom the traditional accompaniments are salt and malt vinegar. More recently, particularly in the North of England and Wales, gravy and curry sauce are available from some chip shops. In the north of the United Kingdom including northern England and Scotland, Chips, Cheese and Gravy is a popular dish.

In the Pacific Northwest, especially the Seattle area, fries are often served with tartar sauce, which may sometimes be mixed with mustard. In California, especially San Diego, 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 Philippines they are often served with a sprinkling of cheese powder.

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

In Pakistan, they are served on the street with a mint cilantro sauce, pudina ki chutney.

According to that article the best way to prepare French fries is to cook them in two stages. Once, at about 350°, F to cook them through. Then remove, let cool slightly, and cook again at a higher temperature of around 375° F to brown the outside.

A third method, invented by the celebrated French chef 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.