French fries (North American English), chips (British English and other national varieties), finger chips (Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are batonnet or allumette-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. They are prepared by cutting potatoes into even strips, drying them, and frying them, usually in a deep fryer. Pre-cut, blanched, and frozen russet potatoes are widely used, and sometimes baked in a regular or convection oven; air fryers are small convection ovens marketed for frying potatoes.
French fries are served hot, either soft or crispy, and are generally eaten as part 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. They are often salted and may be served with ketchup, vinegar, mayonnaise, tomato sauce, or other local specialities. Fries can be topped more heavily, as in the dishes of poutine or chili cheese fries. French fries can be made from sweet potatoes instead of potatoes. A baked variant, oven fries, uses less or no oil.
In the United States and most of Canada, the term french fries, sometimes capitalised as French fries, or shortened to fries, refers to all dishes of fried elongated pieces of potatoes. Variants in shape and size may have names such as curly fries, shoestring fries, etc.
In the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand, the term chips is generally used instead, though thinly cut fried potatoes are sometimes called french fries or skinny fries, to distinguish them from chips, which are cut thicker. In the US or Canada these more thickly-cut chips might be called steak fries, depending on the shape. The word chips is more often used in North America to refer to potato chips, known in the UK and Ireland as crisps.
Thomas Jefferson had "potatoes served in the French manner" at a White House dinner in 1802. The expression "french fried potatoes" first occurred in print in English in the 1856 work Cookery for Maids of All Work by E. Warren: "French Fried Potatoes. – Cut new potatoes in thin slices, put them in boiling fat, and a little salt; fry both sides of a light golden brown color; drain." This account referred to thin, shallow-fried slices of potato. It is not clear where or when the now familiar deep-fried batons or fingers of potato were first prepared. In the early 20th century, the term "french fried" was being used in the sense of "deep-fried" for foods like onion rings or chicken.
Origin
Belgian food historian Pierre Leclercq has traced the history of the french fry and asserts that "it is clear that fries are of French origin".Fries are first mentioned in 1775 in a Parisian book, and the first recipe for modern French fries is in the French cookbook La cuisinière républicaine in 1795. They became an emblematic Parisian dish in the 19th century. Frédéric Krieger, a Bavarian musician, learned to cook fries at a roaster on rue Montmartre in Paris in 1842, and took the recipe to Belgium in 1844, where he would create his business Fritz and sell "la pomme de terre frite à l'instar de Paris", 'Paris-style fried potatoes'. The modern style of fries born in Paris around 1855 is different from the domestic fried potato that existed in the 18th century.
In 1673, Francisco Núñez de Pineda mentioned eating "papas fritas" in 1629, but it is not known what exactly these were. Fries may have been invented in Spain, the first European country in which the potato appeared from the New World colonies. Professor Paul Ilegems, curator of the Frietmuseum in Bruges, Belgium, believes that Saint Teresa of Ávila of Spain cooked the first french fries, and refers also to the tradition of frying in Mediterranean cuisine as evidence.
The French and Belgians have an ongoing dispute about where fries were invented.
To read a lot more about French fries, go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_fries
- 1 (32-ounce) bag frozen French fries
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup yellow mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1/2 cup sliced dill pickles
- 3/4 cup cheese sauce, warmed
- Place frozen French fries on baking sheet and bake according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet over high heat, cook ground beef 6 to 8 minutes, or until browned; drain off excess fat.
- Stir in ketchup, mustard, salt, and pepper; mix well and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes, or until heated through.
- Place French fries on a large platter, spoon meat mixture over the fries, sprinkle with onion and pickles, and evenly drizzle cheese sauce over everything. Serve immediately.
****Feel free to drizzle extra ketchup over the top, if you'd like.
Fun Facts:
- In 1775, the Second Continental Congress established the Constitutional Post–the first organized mail service in America.
- As the nation’s first Postmaster General, Benjamin Franklin established many of the conventions we are accustomed to today.
- Postage stamps were invented in 1847.
- On April 3, 1860, the famous Pony Express officially took off.
- In 1863, free city delivery started, and in 1896, free rural delivery began.
- In 1963, the Zip Code began.
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