French fries Vs thick cut chips on the menu? Your opinions & why...

[tukicook]

Not sure if there is already a previous thread on this topic but I am interested in your opinions & experiences

[gfweb]

Two different things, really. 

Im not a fan of thick cut chips.  French fries are great. 

Thick chips have a bad surface to volume ratio. The surface has the fried goodness. The interior is just mealy russet potato. If they are on my plate I might eat two. Maybe.  

Unless there is mayonnaise. 

[Lisa Shock]

Yea, I'm shoestring all the way.

The only time the thick cut ones are ok for me is if we're having cheese fries, or green chile cheese fries.

Even with battered 'scallops' I don't like them too thick.

[FeChef]

Steak fries 7 minutes in a deep fryer, with a side of brown gravy. There is nothing better. Comfort food at its finest.

[liuzhou]

I like both. They both have their place.

[tukicook]

I'm a fan of thin cut or French fries, especially as a side. Reminds me of really good bistro not to mention they cook quicker... Not a loaded (pardon the pun) question just curious as to what ppl like from both sides of the fence ✌️

[Lisa Shock]

Oh yeah, crinkle cuts always remind me elementary school. I like them, but feel like I'm eating the kids' meal. (does the meal come with a little carton of milk and a bowl of gelatin cubes?)

[Tri2Cook]

I'm more picky about how they're cooked than how they're cut but steak fries with malt vinegar is a favorite if it's an option. Other than that, I don't really care as long as they're not super-thin crunchy strings. I want some interior fluffy spud with my crispy exterior.

[kayb]

Given the choice of steak fries and shoestrings, I'll almost always take steak fries. But they have to be fried with a good crispy exterior, and eaten with lots of salt and a pool of ketchup on the side.

 

They're also good fried, then sprinkled lightly with some grated cheese, and run under the broiler.

 

Crinkle cuts are also good, if they're fried nice and crispy. More surface crunch to inner creamy.

[paulraphael]

I admit to liking the big fat ones, if they're done well, with a crisp outside and the right firmness inside. But everyone I know who expresses strong opinions about fries tells me this is sacrilege. They're all skinny pomme frites or go home.

Edited March 17, 2018 by paulraphael (log)

[Katie Meadow]

Modest or meduim or average size fries. Not too teeny or too fat. Good quality potatoes to start with. Fried in tallow. Golden brown and crispy on the outside, creamy, not mealy on the inside. Served with a choice of aioli or home-made ketchup. Or a dip made with smoked paprika...

 

What exactly is meant by steak fries / frites? Is there a fry-size implied? I don't typically order steak frites but I do like moules frites. Those fries are often small to medium size, but not like shoe string. 

[Dave the Cook]

1 hour ago, Katie Meadow said:

What exactly is meant by steak fries / frites? Is there a fry-size implied? I don't typically order steak frites but I do like moules frites. Those fries are often small to medium size, but not like shoe string. 

 

Yes, it would be helpful to introduce some rigor to this discussion. Can we agree on dimensions for "french fry," "steak fry" and "shoestring"? (For that matter, I've seen different sizes in moules frites, so I'd have to call that mussel a red herring.)

[Tri2Cook]

53 minutes ago, Dave the Cook said:

 

Yes, it would be helpful to introduce some rigor to this discussion. Can we agree on dimensions for "french fry," "steak fry" and "shoestring"? (For that matter, I've seen different sizes in moules frites, so I'd have to call that mussel a red herring.)

When I say "steak fries" I'm thinking longish planks maybe 1/2" or a little less in thickness and roughly double the thickness in width. I think the reason they're at the top of my preference list is a childhood thing. There was a place I walked past on the way home from school at one point in my childhood that sold fish and chips. If I happened to have some money, I'd stop on the way home from school and get an order of the fries. They were served in a cardboard boat. If you wanted, they'd toss some of the crunchy batter crumbs from the fish on top. I always wanted. I'd soak the whole thing with the bottle of malt vinegar they had on the counter and eat them while I walked home.

[kayb]

I'm with you on steak fries' dimensions. I consider "shoestrings," in the French fry world, to be the size of McDonald's fries; maybe a quarter-inch square. 

[Tri2Cook]

55 minutes ago, kayb said:

I consider "shoestrings," in the French fry world, to be the size of McDonald's fries; maybe a quarter-inch square. 

I just call those "fries".  Anything smaller than a steak fry and larger than those literal potato strings that cook up crunchy (what I think of as "shoestrings") are just "fries" to me. The only differentiation I make in that range is straight or crinkle cut.

[Doofa]

Anything the size of a McDonalds to me isn't a fry. I like big fat chips with mayo salt and vinegar. I don't make them very often now, the frozen ones are adequate for most applications. Just like I rarely make mash anymore. I'm pretty lazy too!! D

[liuzhou]

This seems relevant here.

 

Quote

So, the chips: not the offensive chunky kind, which speak of a kitchen that can’t be fagged to cut the potatoes properly. Not matchstick-thin either. These are Goldilocks chips, fried to golden brown. They are properly crisp so you can snap them. Shake the bowl and they rustle, like taffeta on taffeta. But bite in and there’s still soft, steamed potato inside. You’d think chips would be one of the easiest things to get right, but no. All too often I come across a serving which feels like a waste of potatoes and calories and hope; which are a masterclass in slackness and disdain. If a kitchen can’t be bothered to get the chips right, the entire staff should be taken out and shot as a warning to others. Or at the very least given a stern talking to.

 

Jay Rayner

[Anna N]

3 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

This seems relevant here.

 

A paragraph I could read over and over and over again whether or not I happen to like french fries. 

[kayb]

11 minutes ago, Anna N said:

A paragraph I could read over and over and over again whether or not I happen to like french fries. 

 

As Viscount Halifax said in the closing lines of Darkest Hour, "He mobilized the English language, and sent it into battle." 

 

A truly excellent piece of writing.

[gfweb]

There was a time when Rayner was a regular participant on eG

[liuzhou]

1 minute ago, gfweb said:

There was a time when Rayner was a regular participant on eG

 

Yes,  I remember.

 

[David Ross]

I myself am partial to the old fashioned crinkle cut fries.  They remind me of my childhood when pretty much any hamburger joint served them but only a few places in town now do so.  And like a good burger, I think the fries I make at home are the best, but if the restaurant has crinkle fries, I'll order them everytime over regular fries or steak fries.

 

For years I was on a quest to find a fancy cutter for crinkle cut fries, but settled on an inexpensive hand held cutter.  I like how the crinkle fries have ripples and the higher edges get more crispy.  I do like regular French fries, curly fries not so much and thick cut, so-so.  But if you're up to it as I am on occasion, fry your potatoes in beef tallow, (like McDonald's did for years).  I guess you've all just inspired me to make some crinkle fries!

[SLB]

On 3/16/2018 at 11:20 PM, gfweb said:

Two different things, really. 

. . .

 

If they are on my plate I might eat two. Maybe.  

 

For me, this is the utility of the fatties:  I won't eat as many.  They function like a true "side".  

 

Cause with [any variety] of French Fries, I'll eat a mountain of them in bliss, and then lick the salt off the plate after.  It's not really the taste that gets me all fiended out, it's more like the texture or something.  I don't know.  But I get so lost in french fries I sometimes can't remember nothing about the protein.  

[chileheadmike]

There's a barbecue joint in KC, Gate's and Sons. I think their barbecue has gone downhill. They used to be one of my favorite joints in KC. The last few times I ate there, it was bad, almost inedible bad. That said, their fries are the best ever. They use steak fries, and they fry the hell out of them. Super crispy outside and fluffy, potatoey goodness inside that goes very well with their barbecue sauce and pickles. Almost worth ordering the barbecue to get the fries. 

[Doofa]

On 18/03/2018 at 1:59 PM, gfweb said:

There was a time when Rayner was a regular participant on eG

 

On 18/03/2018 at 2:01 PM, liuzhou said:

 

Yes,  I remember.

 

I went to see him in early February. He visited the Island with his "Ten Food Commandments" book tour. He did an hour or so on his new book ( very Funny ) Then he did an hour Q&A and general discussion with the audience. I asked him where does he get his nice jackets from and he told me and then why he wasn't on here anymore. He didn't know we were still going. I put him straight on that one. I was a reference he made in a book that got me to these boards. 

He finished with " A nightingale Sings in Berkeley Sq" played on a beautiful grand piano. Great fun. D