It’s not necessary to go to the McDonald's fast food restaurant to treat yourself and your friends with such a dish as french fries. It is quite easy to cook it yourself, at home. Even if you don’t have special equipment (for example, deep fryers), an ordinary pan is suitable for frying, and the result of the work, so to speak, can exceed all expectations and even tastes better than in a fast food restaurant. Deep-fried potatoes are good as a treat for children and as a snack for a beer for adults. You can use it as a side dish for many meat and fish dishes of European cuisine.
Homeland french fries
Some countries - Belgium, France, Britain, the USA - previously fought for the primacy. According to European tradition, the homeland of french fries is Belgium. And not the United States, as one might speculate. According to the Belgian National Museum, crispy fries appeared already in 1700! In those years, Belgian fishermen fried a small fish whole in a pan and ate. But when the winters became severe and the rivers froze, people could not go fishing. Then they cut out various figures of fish from potatoes, fried them in oil and ate. The museum also houses a collection of old deep-fat fryers, collected by one of the admirers of dishes, paintings of the Belgian bistro, photos of pink potato tubers from Peru used for frying.
Legend
But what about "British" chips and "French" potatoes? The cooks-representatives of these countries fundamentally disagree with the “Belgian” version of the origin and dispute it in every way. However, the Belgians have a spare for this case, proving that the homeland of french fries is their country. During World War I, American soldiers, while in French-speaking Wallonia (Belgium), tasted this dish and mistakenly gave it the name "French."
Old recipe
So, the birthplace of french fries is Belgium. Let's try, paying tribute to the traditions, to cook this dish according to the classic old Belgian recipe (as was prepared in a bistro).
We need: potatoes - one kilogram, beef fat - 200 grams, salt. As a deep fat fryer, if it is not at hand in the kitchen, you can use a large pan with a thick bottom and high sides or a pan.
French fries (photo on the right) are peeled and cut into “straws” (or you can cut fish figures from tubers, as in old times). Next - melt the beef fat in a deep fat fryer over medium heat so that it actually boils. Until golden brown, fry the slices in fat, constantly turning them over. Then we get out with a special spatula and set aside for ten to fifteen minutes. Then we make secondary frying of the product within a few minutes. French fries (photo below) according to the old Belgian recipe is ready. A characteristic feature of this dish is that the product is fried twice in beef fat. In addition, fish figurines carved from tubers give a special piquancy to the dish. In the country where fries were invented, you can still try a dish prepared in this way in the old-fashioned way in a bistro.
Deep-fried
Modern french fries are cooked, of course, not on pure beef fat. For such frying, deep fat is used (from the French word "roasting"). The cooking method, by the way, is called similarly - in deep fat. Usually a mixture of vegetable and animal fats is used for it.
The cooking method itself is quite old. Even in China, similar dishes were known. The product being cooked is, as it were, cooked in a mixture that should completely cover it. The total mass of fat should exceed the mass of potatoes by about four times. Deep-fried potatoes should be cut into strips, not more than one centimeter thick (preferably thinner). When frying, slices of potatoes should be free to move in a bowl (deep fryer or pan replacing it).
Mix Recipes
Here are a few recipes for preparing deep-fried potato mixes:
- 50 percent vegetable oil; 50 percent melted beef;
- 40 percent of vegetable oil, 30 - pork, 30 - beef fat;
- 50 percent vegetable oil, 50 percent cooking oil.
As a vegetable oil, it is recommended to use refined sunflower, corn, peanut. Best of all - olive.
Butter is not suitable for mixtures (sometimes, however, ghee is used, for donuts) and margarine.
Modern recipe at home
In a deep fat fryer or a thick-bottomed pan, heat the deep fat mixture (use the recipe above). It should almost boil. Peel and cut the potatoes into strips. Salt, let dry. Some cooks dry the pieces with a cotton towel. In any case, there shouldn’t be water on the potato, since when it comes in contact with deep-frying it will produce a “firework”! When the mixture boils, lower the straw into it so that the deep fat covers the product completely. Fry for three to five minutes until golden brown. We get out of the pan using a slotted spoon. Let the oil drain the potatoes. Serve hot, traditionally with ketchup.
Ketchup recipe
Sauce for french fries can be prepared independently at home. In any case, it will be much tastier than a shopping store.
We need: a kilogram of tomatoes, two large tablespoons of sugar, salt, garlic, spices - to taste, fresh chopped herbs, ground pepper, a little table vinegar (you can use lemon juice).
Finely chop the tomatoes. We put all the ingredients in a blender and mix until a homogeneous mass is formed. Delicious ketchup for french fries is ready! Bon appetit to all!