Frites are invented in Western Europe and it’s still disputed where exactly. Good contenders are Spain and Belgium. Spain imported them from South America, but Belgium has the oldest known recipes for it.
Luckily, we can all agree that the French are still not able to make quality frites. We can also all agree that Mac Donald’s makes the worst frites in our known history. So, let’s do it right!
Oil
Just no, no and no. You don’t fry fries in oil, but in duck fat or beef tallow. Duck fat is the best but crazy expensive and it’s supposed to be a poor people’s dish. So, beef tallow it is.
Potatoes
The best potato are Rooster, Russet or a Maris potato. Moisture is your enemy it’s essential to get the perfect crunchy texture. You have to use fresh potato. Precut or oven ready fries are the worst! Slice the potato in 1 cm thick long strips. Put the strips in a bucket with water and a little bit of vinegar to avoid browning.
Blanching
Before you fry the potato you first boil it for 10 to 20 minutes in water. Than you directly dry them and let them steam dry to remove moisture. Let the fries completely cool down or put them uncovered in the fridge. Don’t put them in a plastic bag because you want to remove moisture!
Double Frying
- The first-time frying will be at 140 degrees Celsius (284 F) for around 10 minutes. Most don’t have an industrial frying pan. When you add cold fries to a small pan you will have trouble keeping the temperature on 140 degrees. A simple trick is to heat up the pan to 160 degrees and then add the frites. Trial and error is the only way to find this out for your setup.
- The second-time
The frites have to cool down for 10 minutes before they are ready for the second dip in the hot pan. The target temperature is now 180 degrees (356 F). Fry them till golden brown.
Seasoning
There are many options in seasoning fries. The most common are salt, garlic powder, paprika powder, pepper, thyme and oregano.
Here below is a how-to of a famous cook with a Michelin star.
