French fries

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"Fries" redirects here. For other uses, see Fries (disambiguation).
French fries
Fries 2.jpg
A serving of French fries
Alternative names Chips, finger chips, fries, frites, hot chips, steak fri
es, potato wedges, wedges, skinny chips
Course Side dish or snack, rarely as a main dish
Place of origin Belgium or France
Created by Disputed
Serving temperature Hot, generally salted
Main ingredients
Potatoes
Oil
Ingredients generally used
Salt
Pepper
Herbs
Garlic
Parsley
Variations Chili cheese fries, poutine, sweet potato fries, curly fries, sh
oestring fries, or steak fries
Other information Often served with a side of ketchup, mayonnaise, vinegar
, barbecue sauce, or other sauce
Cookbook: French fries Media: French fries
Pommes frites with a salad mayonnaise packet
French fries (American English), chips (British English),[1] fries,[2] finger ch
ips (Indian English),[3] or French-fried potatoes are batonnet or allumette-cut
deep-fried potatoes.[4] In the United States and most of Canada, the term fries
refers to all dishes of fried elongated pieces of potatoes, while in the United
Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand, thinly cut fried pota
toes are sometimes called shoestring fries or skinny fries to distinguish them f
rom the thicker-cut chips.
French fries are served hot, either soft or crispy, and are generally eaten as p
art of lunch or dinner or by themselves as a snack, and they commonly appear on
the menus of diners, fast food restaurants, pubs, and bars. Fries in America are
generally salted and are almost always served with ketchup, but in many countri
es they have other condiments or toppings, like vinegar, mayonnaise, or other lo
cal specialties. Fries can be topped more heavily, as in the dishes of poutine a
nd chili cheese fries. French fries can be made from sweet potatoes instead of p
otatoes. A baked variant of the French fry ("chunky oven chips") uses less or ev
en no oil.[5]
Contents [hide]
1 Preparation
2 Etymology
3 Culinary origin
3.1 Belgium
3.2 France
3.3 Quebec
3.4 Spain
3.5 Subsequent history
4 By country
4.1 Belgium and the Netherlands
4.2 Canada
4.3 France
4.4 Germany, Austria, Switzerland
4.5 Scandinavia
4.6 United Kingdom and Ireland
4.7 United States
5 Variants
6 Accompaniments
7 Health aspects
8 Legal issues
9 Techniques
10 See also
11 References
12 Bibliography
Preparation[edit]
French fries are prepared by first peeling and cutting the potato into even stri
ps. These are then wiped off or soaked in cold water to remove the surface starc
h, and thoroughly dried.[6][7] They may then be fried in one or two stages. Chef
s generally agree that the two-bath technique produces better results.[6][8][9]
In the two-stage or two-bath method, the first bath, sometimes called blanching,
is in hot fat (around 160 C / 320 F) to cook them through. This may be done in ad
vance.[6] Then they are more briefly fried in very hot fat (190 C / 375 F) to cris
p the exterior. They are then placed in a colander or on a cloth to drain, salte
d, and served. The exact times of the two baths depend on the size of the potato
es. For example, for 2 3mm strips, the first bath takes about 3 minutes, and the s
econd bath takes only seconds.[6]
Most French fries are produced from frozen potatoes which have been blanched or
at least air-dried industrially.[citation needed] The usual fat for making Frenc
h fries is vegetable oil. In the past, beef suet was recommended as superior,[6]
with vegetable shortening as an alternative. In fact, McDonald's used a mixture
of 93% beef tallow and 7% cottonseed oil until 1990, when they switched to vege
table oil with beef flavoring.[10][11]
Etymology[edit]
Thomas Jefferson had "potatoes served in the French manner" at a White House din
ner in 1802.[12][13] The expression "French fried potatoes" first occurred in pr
int in English in the 1856 work Cookery for Maids of All Work by E. Warren: "Fre
nch Fried Potatoes. Cut new potatoes in thin slices, put them in boiling fat, an
d a little salt; fry both sides of a light golden brown colour; drain."[14] It i
s apparent that this account refers to thin, shallow-fried slices of potato it i
s not clear where or when the now familiar deep-fried batons or fingers of potat
o were first prepared. In the early 20th century, the term "French fried" was be
ing used in the sense of "deep-fried" for foods like onion rings or chicken.[15]
[16] It is unlikely that "French fried" refers to frenching in the sense of juli
enning, which is not attested until after French fried potatoes. Previously, fre
nching referred only to trimming meat off the shanks of chops.[17]
Culinary origin[edit]
Belgium[edit]
Some claim that fries originated in Belgium; there is an ongoing dispute between
the French and Belgians about where they were invented, with both countries cla
iming ownership.[18] From the Belgian standpoint the popularity of the term "Fre
nch fries" is explained as a "French gastronomic hegemony" into which the cuisin
e of Belgium was assimilated because of a lack of understanding coupled with a s
hared language and geographic proximity between the two countries.[18]
Belgian journalist Jo Grard claims that a 1