On the surface, the french fry is one of the simplest foods around. Yet buried in that simplicity is a world so deep and complex I am still failing to crasp its wonders. This document is my on-going journies and discoveries into the world that is simply, the french fry.
French fries can be made from most any potato but that does not mean they should. Take baking potatoes for example. They are large and in a generally uniform shape. That makes it easy for them to be cut and sliced into a variety of french fry sizes. Yet, during the frying process, the potato easily falls apart into tiny potato morsles, making them too small, too crunchy and entirely flavourless.
But take a yukon gold potato and a world of dining delights opens in front of you. Although not optimum size and shape for french fries, the yukon gold is the premier frying potato. Each fry swells under the heat and expands without losing its physical constitution. To properly fry a yukon gold takes a bit of time, but it is well worth the weight as it is a much flavourful potator without being overpowerful and demanding of salt and pepper.
Once the potato is chosen, it can be cut numerous ways. For frying ease, the thinner the better. The shoestring french fry is a clever method employed by commercial establishments to simulate the french fry experience of a crispy meal and deliver it quickly so as to lessen cooktime and financial expense. Unfortunately, this does nothing for the flavour of the meal. With little to nothing inside the fry’s crispy exterior, no flavour can be stored within. The consumer of this french fry is forced to add more flavour to the french fry through seasoning or dipping sauce. At that point, it would be easier to just eat the seasoning and sauce and ignore the french fry altogether, as it brings nothing to the tongue.
For the true potato enthusiast, the thicker the french fry the better. Cooking of a thick french fry is a more difficult process. The oil temperature must be lowered and the cooking time increased to ensure a proper french fry, cooked all the way through. Some restaurants will actually employ a multi-stage frying process to ensure a french fry is cooked both properly and served on a timely fashion.
When beginning to make a meal of french fries, this one thought should always go through the mind of the chef: skin, on or off? This is a debate that will rage on forever. Leaving the skin on the french fry can make it more difficult to cook by making it harder to see the french fry’s crispiness. But when cooked properly, again, worth every effort.
Seasoning on a french fry is a tricky predicament. Contrary to popular belief, salt on a french fry is not required. Sure, most establishments will put salt on the fry before serving, often to hide and mask the french fry’s unacceptability to be served and considered a meal. I personally, prefer the french fry without any salt. I want to taste the potato. I’ll add pepper, but only on some occasions. If the french fry is fine by itself, it needs not any condiment. Gravy too can be used, but not spread across the dish like sauce over pasta. The gravy should be kept to the side so that the french fry can be dipped in the gravy.
I found a seasoning called “cajun” that is a mixture of dried ingrediants. In the right proportions, cajun seasoning can be a welcome addition to a french fry. But it must be used carefully, too much can offend the potato flavour and not enough can create an uneven spreading of the seasoning’s base ingredients. When applied to an undercooked french fry, the wet and oily potato will sop up some the flavours, but not all of them, creating a taste imbalance.
Some french fries are battered instead of seasoned. This is an extra step performed before the frying process. It is something that is all to rare. Battered french fries are wonderful. A crispy cakey coating over the french fry, which I’m sure, is none-too-healthy, but certainly a tasty treat.
McDonalds is well known for having a much favoured french fry. Some time ago, it was revealed that the fry was flavoured with among other things, beef. Since the vegetarians complained, the beef flavouring was replaced with an artificial flavour that managed to keep the fry tasting the same but without use of animal products. It is that light battering that made the McDonalds fry what it is today. It is not the best french fry on the market today, but it is still up there. Maybe if it were thicker, it would be the best, but still as a shoestring, there isn’t much potato goodness to savour on the McDonalds french fry.
Even when a proper french fry is served, some people do awful things to them. Some people go so far as to put ketchup on their french fries. Ketchup is vile. I want it stricken from existance, Catsup, you too can begone.
Then there is the French-Canadian speciality, poutine. Take a nice bowl of french fries, then just before it is to be consumed, some unholy monster throws a whack of gravy and cheese curds atop the fries. Poutine is disgusting in both flavour and appearance. And it is sacriligious (note: not sacrilicious) for what it is doing to the french fries.
French fries are best served hot and fresh from the fryer. They should be properly drained of any excess oil. Leaving the fries to sit, even under a hot lamp, for too long can dry out a french fry. But leaving the fry inside a container that does not let the heat and steam vent creates moisture in the container. This moisture returns to the french fry in an unwanted manner. The potato soaks up the moisture and becomes soft and flacid.
Special thanks must be made to those who have touched my life with the mighty french fry. Johnson, you know you changed my life in ways I never thought possible. Thank you very much sir. My high school cafeteria ladies were incapable or unwilling of making the french fry experience something of note. It is you Johnson, you and your New York Fries that saved my teenage soul.
