Crispy Shades of Gold (Final)

You stand there staring at the temptation before your eyes. Savory, mouthwatering, inviting.

You inhale, and your body responds to the familiar scent before your mind does.  Involuntarily, your feet move you forward, trying to get closer.  You stand impatiently, waiting for what your entire being has been craving since you arrived.  Anticipation races through your veins as the moment you’ve been waiting for arrives.  Your stomach growls in protest of your lack of action.  Finally, you make your move.  The initial roughness on your lips leaves a trail of tingles. As it touches your tongue, your insides rejoice.

So bad, yet so good.

So consumed by your emotions, you can only describe this feeling in one word: heaven.  These deep-fried potato strips have beguiled their way into your heart and you’re sure you’ve found golden perfection.  Each bite drags you deeper into bliss.  French fries have left their mark on your life, one that you won’t forget anytime soon. 

A History Shrouded in Mystery

One cannot call themselves an expert on the savory fried potato unless you know the history of french fries. The truth is that the origin of how the french fry came to be is unknown.  There are varying tales of its beginnings, but most can agree that it was either invented by the Belgians or the French (Menuism).  The more plausible option of the two is that the Belgians developed the idea to fry potatoes.

The potato itself was introduced to Europe by the Spaniards. In the late 1530s, the Spanish discovered the potato in Colombia.  After originally facing resistance in Europe, the potato eventually rose to popularity.  Around this time, Spain controlled much of modern-day Belgium.  This fact has led many to believe the notion that Belgians were the first to innovate new ways to prepare food from potatoes (Hiskey).  Thus, in the late 17^th century, the trend to fry thin strips of potatoes began.  

Despite being the suspected creators, Belgians were not the ones to make fries known to Americans.  That title belongs to the French.  The story goes that during World War II, while in the trenches with their French allies, the American soldiers were introduced to "frites", the French word for fries.  As such, we Americans call these savory fried potatoes French Fries.

Endless Choices

Since the initial introduction of French fries, there have been dozens of creative chefs who have invented new ways of how to fry a potato.  There are many variations of french fries.  From waffle to wedge to curly to your standard cut fry, the options seem endless.  The large variety begs the question, which style of french fry is best?

  

To answer that question, we need to delve deeper and examine the many components that go into an award-winning fry.

Crispy or Soft

Most people believe that the crispier the french fry, the better.  Nick Kindelsperger, the Chicago Expert for Serious Eats, believes that the only fries worth eating are the ones with an extra crispy exterior because he hates “dealing with limp specimens” (Kindelsperger).   It's true that crispy fries bring extra goodness.  There's just something about crunching on golden perfection that adds to the prolonged french fry bliss.  Despite Kindelsperger's expertise, I believe there is a line where extra crispy becomes too crispy.

An example of overly crisped would be beer battered fries.  While undisputedly delicious, the crispy texture can scrape the roof of your mouth leaving you in slight pain for a few days.  This problem could be solved with dipping sauce; the right amount of ketchup, ranch or mayonnaise--a European craze--could soften the fry enough that you won’t endanger your mouth.

Others prefer their fries softer with less crunch.  However, soft can also be a bridge word for soggy.  Often, people can achieve a softer fry by either letting their fries sit for a while or by covering them and letting steam lessen their crisp.  Still, a limp french fry is hardly on anyone’s list of topnotch fries.

Thick-Cut or Thin-Cut

When decided on your favorite type of french fries, you have to keep in mind the thickness of the fry.  You want the fry thick enough to have substance, but not too thick that there’s no crisp.  Wedges are the extreme option if you prefer thick fried potatoes.  Shoestring, also called matchstick, french fries are on the opposite end of the spectrum.  Both are tasty, but the main differences lie in how they’re prepared and fried.

Thick-cut fries are known to have a good amount of potato inside their skins.  Wedges are potatoes cut into thick slices at an angle to give a more triangular appearance.  These fries don't have a lot of crisp, but they do provide potato substance that thinner fries don't.  A less drastic version of thick-cut is steak fries.  Steak fries don’t lack in crispiness or substance.  Unfortunately, similar to wedges, they've been known to not be fully cooked inside either.

Thin-cut fries usually have less potato inside.  Shoestring, curly, and julienne fries are the most common thin-cut fries.  Fast-food chains often prefer these types of fries because they take less time to cook.   Thin-cut fries are generally deep-fried twice before being served. The first time is to cook them, and the second time is to add another layer of crispness to disguise the lack of potato.

Crinkle-cut and standard fries are often categorized as thick-cut but are thin enough to be placed in the middle.  They are thick enough to provide a fair amount of potato and are thin enough to have an adequate crunch.  Mid-tier fries are the best of both worlds.  They have substance, are cooked fully, and are crispy enough to fulfill your crunch needs.

Curly or Straight

This argument cycles us back to the thick or thin debate.  The main issue with curly fries is the lack of potato in them.  You don’t get the same fluffy and delicate inside with a curly fry that you do with a straight fry.  In this case, if you enjoy crispy fries you probably favor curly fries as well.

That’s not to say that straight fries are any less crispy.  The thick-cut steak and crinkle-cut fries are very crispy while simultaneously keeping a fair amount of potato

There is also the argument made by Dan Myers from The Daily Meal in which Myers claims that all curly fries taste pretty similar (Myers).  He bases this idea on the fact that there are very few curly fry suppliers and as such, there is less variety.  They look, feel, and even taste the same.

Salted or Seasoned

One question that remains is whether you like your fries salted, seasoned, or plain.  Most prefer lightly salted or seasoned fries.  You don’t want the french fry to be overpowered by too much salt or seasoning.  There are some who favor plain french fries with no salt or seasoning.

Let’s take a closer look into the fast-food chain market for french fries.  McDonald’s fries are thin, crunchy and always tasty.  As mentioned earlier, this famous chain deep fries their batch of potatoes twice to give them extra crisp.  While a popular favorite, the most common complaint about these shoestring trend starters is the overwhelming amount of salt.  In-N-Out fries are medium-cut, softer, and an undisputed favorite in Southern California.  Their fries are fresh cut and left unsalted.  The problem with these is that they taste like cardboard without salt or seasoning.  Burger King's french fries were an underdog fry.  A more traditional fry, these are standard-cut with a nice crispness, lightly salted, with a pinch of seasoning.  Surprisingly, I had very little complaints about these fries.

And the Best French Fry Is…

Now, for the moment you've all been eagerly anticipating.  As a professional french fry connoisseur, I recognize that everyone has their own preference.  People have very strong feelings regarding which french fry deserves to rank number one.

Despite varied opinions, the best french fry is without a doubt the traditional standard-cut.  It's simple, classic and undoubtedly the best french fry on the market.  What others fail to understand is that to claim the title of "Best French Fry" there must be a balance.  The standard french fry is evenly cut medium-thin, proportionately salted and seasoned, deep fried once to avoid being too crispy or too soft, and takes on a convex shape to appease the curly fry lovers.

To be fair, this is my own opinion.  A true french fry expert knows that everyone has their own taste and despite my personal beliefs, potatoes are delicious in all forms.  Once you realize that, you can enjoy life and all of the crispy shades of gold it has to offer.

Cited Sources

Hiskey, Daven. “The History of French Fries.” Today I Found Out,

TodayIFoundOut.com, 23 Sept. 2010,

www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/09/the-history-of-french-fries/.

Kapadia, Jess. “All The Styles of French Fries, Ranked.” Food Republic, Food Republic,

29 Mar. 2016, www.foodrepublic.com/2016/03/29/all-the-styles-of-french-fries-ranked/.

Kindelsperger, Nick. “Do You Like Your Fries Crispy or Soft?” Chicago | Serious Eats,

Serious Eats Inc., 23 Jan. 2012, chicago.seriouseats.com/2012/01/do-you-like-your-fries-crispy-or-soft.html.

Menuism. “French Fries: Everything You Need to Know.” The Huffington Post,

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 30 July 2012, www.huffingtonpost.com/Menuism/french-fries_b_1687800.html.

Myers, Dan. “Why Do All Curly Fries Taste Exactly the Same?” Fox News, FOX News

Network, 28 June 2016, www.foxnews.com/food-drink/2016/06/28/why-do-all-curly-fries-taste-exactly-same.html.

Nazario, Marina, and Hollis Johnson. “French Fry Taste Test - The Big Four.” Business

Insider, Business Insider, 19 Nov. 2015, www.businessinsider.com/best-fast-food-french-fries/#but-looks-can-be-deceiving-these-floppy-fries-are-underwhelming-they-lack-the-crunch-and-seasoning-we-expect-from-such-a-fry-although-gorgeous-in-appearance-chick-fil-a-fries-are-somewhat-bland-at-185-for-a-large-its-simply-potato-nothing-more-9.