It was French Fryday!

It was French Fryday!

The second Friday of July yesterday, came and went, I was not even aware that the Americans went on to celebrate the day in honour of everyone’s biggest favourite among all potato dishes – the humble French fry. I say, isn’t this one occasion we too should be celebrating?

Who doesn’t love French fries, or potato chips as the British call them? What can be simpler for lifting one’s mood and satiating hunger than potatoes deep fried till crunchy, in hot smoking oil, and dusted with salt? You begin with just one fry, then have another, one more, just one more, a small one, a long one, the crispiest one, and soon you have finished the whole pile!

Earlier, the National French Fry Day was fixed for July 13^th, but since last year, it is celebrated on the second Friday of July.

The story goes that during World War I, American soldiers went to Belgium, and it was there that they first tasted fried potato. It is further believed that the official language of Belgium at that time was French, so the name stuck with fries too. Thus, there is very little French about these fried potatoes. Belgians, however, claim that during the 1600s when lakes froze and no fish was available, they cut and shaped potatoes as fish and fried them, hence the term.

Some also say that like cutting string beans into long thin slices is called ‘frenching’ them, so are potatoes cut into strips called french fries.

One theory is that US ambassador to France Thomas Jefferson brought French fries to America in 1802.These food historians are sure that he wrote with his own hand the recipe for french fries that his French chef Honore Julien gave him.

Spanish claim to have introduced this slim comfort food full of fat to Europe in the 16^th century. It found mention in La Cuisiniere Republicaine (The Republican Cook), a French cookbook in 1795. French fries were available with street vendors in Paris around this time.

There is also no clarity about how the day began to be celebrated. 

French fries are not merely served as appetizers or a snack but as a side dish with burgers, sandwiches, eggs, bacon, fish, steak and of course, by themselves almost everywhere. While the British call fish and chips (with salt and vinegar on top) their favourite food, Canada has elevated it to their national dish with brown gravy, adding fresh cheese on top. Hash browns are a breakfast staple in most western countries.

The people of Cape Town like their ‘slap chips’ thick, limp, and soggy with vinegar and a spice mixture. They eat them like a sandwich filling, with bread or roll, or as a side dish with batter-fried ‘hake’ fish.

You can cut the potatoes in normal strips or juliennes or keep them chunky, curly, even grate them. You may fry them once or double fry them.

Easy peasy method to make fries:

Wash and scrub potatoes, peel them if you like.

Cut them into sticks/curls/wedges.

Soak them in cold water for about 20 minutes to wash away some of the starch.

Deep fry them in hot oil.

Drain them on paper towel.

Repeat as many times with more potatoes as you like.

The purists season these fried tubers with salt, some use pepper or red chilli powder or chat masala too. Now different powders and spices are available in India, you may add a little garlic/onion powder/chipotle/Cajun spice. In fact, Kenyans like their fries with garam masala. 

To each his/her own. Eat them as they are, or dunk them in tomato ketchup/mustard sauce/mayonnaise/ranch dressing or desi style with dhaniya/pudina/aam/tamatar (coriander/mint/mango/tomato) chutney as companions. And wherever I go, at least one (vegetarian) person orders honey chilli potatoes!

There is no law against not piling your fries with cheese, sour cream, chillies or onions. You can have ‘dirty’ fries- pour a cupful of spicy coconut curry sauce on the heap. Meat Factory, a London restaurant, says its most popular order is fries with duck, spring onion and cucumber, covered in hoisin sauce.

I read somewhere that Koreans bake the fries in oven, season them with Korean chilli powder, add onions and caramelised kimchi on top, not forgetting melted cheese with or without spring onions and bacon bits.

Go ahead, change the future of French fries and Indianise yours with spicy chat masala, dahi (yogurt), tamarind chutney, allam pachadi (spicy Andhra ginger chutney) and kachoomer salad. Why not have them with achar (Indian pickles)?

If you are a gourmet and a connoisseur, but more importantly, love to cook, you may dive deep into the science of making French fries- study the aging, smoke point and flavour of the oil, the specific gravity and starch content of your spuds, blanch/boil/pre-freeze the cut potatoes, coat them with cornflour, fry and freeze and refry etc.

But from whatever I know, here in India you just have to make do with what you get, there is no large variety of potatoes available at all times.

We all may crib it is criminal to eat so much of fried carbs, but aren’t they just great?

If you are a health food/fitness freak, bake your ‘fries’ instead of frying them; else use an air fryer to make a batch of sweet potato, carrot, beetroot fries. But I warn you they would not be the same.

Think of it. Newspapers had a great time reporting that former U.S. President Trump had credited (McDonald’s) French fries for his hair.

https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/no-wonder-i-didnt-lose-my-hair-donald-trump-credits-mcdonalds-fries-for-his-hair/articleshow/78425838.cms

and

https://nypost.com/2020/09/30/trump-says-mcdonalds-fries-are-secret-to-his-signature-mane/

If you love food but not cooking, enjoy a belated French Fry day with a pile at any of your favourite fast-food joints. There is no time specified for when to eat them. You may have them for breakfast, meals or as a snack. Ignore the portion size and get more.

French fries should be termed heavenly food. Perhaps with the belief that the dish could bring world peace, singer John Calvi even write a song about it in 1982, ending it with

‘But in heaven do they have French fries?

… Some may think the army, the bombs and the guns

Will one day save all of our lives,

I don’t believe it-heat up your pans

Make peace, and lots of French fries.’

If you do not want to eat alone, share them. Keep your friends and family close but your fries closer. Beware, nobody will have just one!

                                                                                            -Anupama S Mani