Zac Williams - French Fries

Simple foods serve as our daily companions throughout life. A slice of toast with jam for breakfast. Maybe the sandwich in our lunch box at school. Or a crisp salad with our dinner. These foods are like old friends that we take for granted but certainly miss when theyre not around. They make everything else seem complete. In some sense, they give order to what we eat and, by extension, give us just a little more stability as we go about our lives.

Of all the foods we can count on, none is more universal than the french fry. A singular french fry is a stick of potato generally fried hot and crisp with a sprinkle of the oldest and simplest of seasonings: salt. When eaten in the plural, french fries are a small-change mini-feast served in a cardboard box that tempts us to indulge in finishing every last one. Maybe it is something ancestral that stirs inside us as we rejoice at the bounty of hot, salty deliciousness that sits before us. More is always better than less.

French fries are reliable. They can be counted on as a familiar taste regardless of whatever else might be on the menu. The french fry is usually a safe bet for the pickiest of palates, and it is the vegetable that children eat most. Millions of dollars are spent to ensure the consistency of your favorite fast-food fry.

Familiarity can lead to overlooking a truly unique potential. The fry often suffers this fate. Forever dunking it in ketchup, we miss the possibilities offered by this blank slate of sliced potato. When we use our imagination, the fry can be liberated to take on new flavors and structure. By combining the familiar with the exotic, we create food that is as delicious as it is fun.

The origins of the french fry are lost to history, although it is generally accepted that the fry as we know it came into being in Belgium or northern France sometime in the early nineteenth century. The evolution of the fry certainly began much earlier as Spanish conquistadors returned from the New World with the potato, which had been harvested for millennia in the regions around Peru. While viewed with much skepticism by the majority of Europeans for the next few hundred years, the potato finally gained acceptance in the late 1700s, assisted by celebrity supporters such as Marie Antoinette.

The french frys popularity exploded in the United States following the First World War and the return of troops who had enjoyed the street food while in France and Belgium. When teamed with such popular convenience foods of the day as hot dogs and hamburgers, the french fry quickly became synonymous with a fast-paced lifestyle and good times. The advent of the automobile as the primary mode of transportation, particularly on the West Coast, began a new chapter in the life of the fry. Drive-ins and drive-thrus relied on the french fry as the sidecar to the burger.

The requirement for commercial fryers and equipment often stymied cooks attempting to prepare french fries at home, leaving the dish in the domain of professionals. With the better-equipped home kitchens of today, creating the simple french fry no longer stands as a challenge to all those who crave the taste of a perfect fry.

The best potato for french fries contains high solids and not a lot of water. The sugar content must be just right as well to produce a nice golden color. The flesh of the potato should be textured and full and never waxy. Fortunately, one of the most readily available potatoes, the Russet Burbank, fits these requirements perfectly.

The Russet Burbank is the most commonly cultivated potato in the United States today. The thin brown skin and earthy potato flavor are well suited to most dishes. Of most interest to prospective french fry cooks, the Russet Burbank has a high solid or starch content that cooks up fluffy and light.

Russet Burbank potatoes are generally sold in two grades: a number one and a number two. The number one grade is selected for uniform appearance and size and is packaged in a cardboard box. Potatoes are also graded for size determined by how many will fit in the fifty-pound carton. The ideal Russet Burbank for french fries is generally a 70-count potato, meaning a carton comes with 67 to 74 potatoes. This works out to be potatoes that are about 10 to 13 ounces each. The number two grade potato is packaged in burlap, paper, or plastic bags and doesnt have as good an appearance as a number one spud. Either grade will work magnificently for french fries.

Fresh unpeeled potatoes should be stored in a cool dark place at around 55 degrees F. Temperatures below 42 degrees F, such as those found in a refrigerator, cause the starch in potatoes to turn to sugar, which leads to discolored, lower-quality fries. Too much light can also cause greening of the potato due to the formation of chlorophyll. While harmless, the greening does detract from the beauty of a perfect fry and can taste bitter.

While the Russet Burbank is a great starting point, there is a wide world of potato varieties that can be used for french fries. The Bannock Russet is a recently cultivated potato that produces a generally lighter fry color due to a lower concentration of sugar. The Kennebec potato is the most popular for home gardeners and makes a delicious fresh-tasting fry.

Niche varieties such as the Ida Rose, Yukon Gold, and Yukon Rose are better suited to baking techniques, but all bring new colors and textures to the table when served as fries.

Besides the star potato, the type of oil used for frying has the next biggest effect on the flavor and quality of a french fry. The ideal oil has a high smoke point and does not impart unpleasant flavors to the fry. In times past, beef tallow was considered the most delicious natural fat in which to cook fries. With the increased understanding of how different types of fats affect the health of our heart and circulatory systems, vegetable-based oils high in healthy unsaturated fats are now preferred.

The most common oil used in commercial kitchens is generally a vegetable oil derived from soy oil, which is high in polyunsaturated fats. It has a mild flavor and a high smoke point. Canola oil, pioneered in Canada, is produced from rapeseed and is also very commonly used. Canola oil can have a slightly more noticeable taste and odor when used to fry than peanut oil. However, it does offer the greatest potential health benefits with a high monounsaturated fat content including omega-3 acids. While canola oil is certainly very acceptable, I find I prefer a soy-based vegetable oil for deep-frying when a neutral flavor is needed.

My personal favorite oil for french fries is refined peanut oil. Peanut oil has a rich nutty taste that enhances the flavor of compatible foods such as fries and onion rings. It has a high smoke point and tends to have a more pleasant odor when heated. It also contains resveratrol, which is also found in the skin of red grapes and may be a beneficial antioxidant. Peanut oil adds a distinct flavor that cant be found in other oils.