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Discussion » Questions » Food and Drink » It occurred to me recently that anyone under the age of forty has never tasted an actual french fry.

It occurred to me recently that anyone under the age of forty has never tasted an actual french fry.

I remember back in the 1960s watching the staff at McDonald's place large potatoes on a rotary peeler and then pushing it through a slicer, then deep frying the pieces. I was reminded of this when Wendy's introduced their "new hot and crispy fries" (guaranteed hot and crispy) with incessant TV ads last year. I looked up the ingredient list for these new fries, it was a page long. Real french fries ingredient list is two ingredients only, potato and oil, period (salt, sauces, and condiments are an add on by preference).

Posted - May 25, 2022

Responses


  • 16197
    They're also not remotely French, but Belgian. I prefer English-style chips, thick cut and dressed not with catsup but vinegar.
    What you Yanks call "chips" are properly called crisps.
      May 25, 2022 6:53 PM MDT
    3

  • 2627
    I like them thin and crispy.  When they're thick (steak fries here in the states), they're usually mushy inside.  I also prefer them just lightly salted.  What I like best, are sweet potato fries - delish.
      May 25, 2022 7:51 PM MDT
    6

  • 32527
    Sweet potato fries are the best. 
      May 25, 2022 7:59 PM MDT
    3

  • 2627
    Yes, they are.
      May 25, 2022 8:30 PM MDT
    3

  • 32527
    They are not called "French fries," they are "french fries." The name is from the way the potatoes are cut not where they originated. 
      May 25, 2022 7:57 PM MDT
    2

  • 1919
    What you Brits call "crisp"are properly called chips. 
      May 26, 2022 2:46 PM MDT
    3

  • 16197
    I'm Australian, not British, and they were crisps long before America called them chips. Chips are thick cut, served hot, and Brits eat more of them per capita than anyone else in the world.
      May 26, 2022 8:11 PM MDT
    1

  • 1919
    I thought they were only called crisp in Britain had no clue that's what they were called in Australia, anyway here in America they're just chips . :)
      May 27, 2022 1:42 PM MDT
    1

  • 32527
    Unless they are Pringles then they are "crisps" in America.  Legally forbidden to be called chips. 
      September 4, 2022 5:21 PM MDT
    0

  • 32527
    I have made french fries at home all my life. 
      May 25, 2022 8:10 PM MDT
    2

  • 845
    Then you know what I mean. Are you under 40?
      May 27, 2022 9:56 PM MDT
    0

  • 32527
    No. I am not. But my children are and they have my fries.
      May 28, 2022 5:41 AM MDT
    1